
Last 10 Tips - Money Management Tips	Next 10 Tips - Slot Machine Gambling Tips

Blackjack Gambling Tips and Strategies

21. Understand that blackjack has some of the best odds in the casino, even if you don't know how to count cards. The odds change based on the playing situation, but most casinos offer a blackjack game with a house edge of between 0.5% and 1%, if you're playing with perfect basic strategy. Some game conditions are truly awful though, and we talk about those in some of the other tips on this page.

22. Learn basic strategy. In blackjack, when someone talks about basic strategy, they're talking about the mathematically correct play in every given situation. Some situations are positive expectation situations, and some situations are negative expectation situations, but you do have choices. You always want to choose the option with the best mathematical advantage for you.

23. Learn to count cards. Counting cards isn't as hard as you think. You're not actually tracking specific cards, but instead, you're giving certain cards a score, and keeping a running score that represents the ratio of high cards to low cards. The more high cards left in the deck, the more you should bet, because you're more likely to get a blackjack.

24. Don't play 6/5 blackjack. Ever. In a normal blackjack game, a blackjack pays off at 3 to 2. This is one of the reasons the odds and payout percentages for the game is so generous. But in 6/5 blackjack, the casino only pays $6 for every $5 you bet. So a $10 bet, which would normally pay off at $15 for a blackjack only pays off at $12 on a 6/5 blackjack table. This increases the house edge (which is already between 0.5% and 1%) by 1.39%, which makes blackjack a far less attractive game.

25. Don't play blackjack if the casino charges an ante per hand. In some parts of the country (like Oklahoma) casinos will charge a 50 cent ante per hand. This doesn't seem like much, but it adds a tremendous amount to the house edge. In fact, if you're playing for $10/hand, you're giving up 5% back to the casino. You'd be better off playing roulette.

26. Don't tell other people how to play. Even if you're telling them the right way to play, they won't believe you, and they won't like it.

27. Don't pay attention to other people who tell you how to play. Anyone who doesn't follow rule #26 above probably doesn't know how to play correctly anyway, But if you're paying attention, and you've learned basic strategy the way we told you to in tip #22, you won't have to worry about it, because you'll already know the right play in every situation.

28.Never deviate from basic strategy based on a hunch. The math doesn't change just because of a gut feeling. And heaven forbid that you deviate from basic strategy and actually win, because then you'll remember that, and you'll go down a slippery slope where you'll be betting wrong all the time.

29. Always split aces and eights. This is part of learning basic strategy, but it's such a simple rule to remember that we had to include it in our list of blackjack tips.

30. Never split fours, fives, or tens. Another basic strategy guidelines, and also an easy one to remember. Although a lot of people get confused about splitting tens, since it's a reasonably good thing to have a ten. (That still isn't the correct play though.)

Click here for information about blackjack online or here for online blackjack odds. My friend Nick also has a website about online blackjack that's worth checking out.

101 Ways to Win at Gambling Index