Beginner BlackJack Tips

As I said before, I don't consider myself an expert at Blackjack, or online blackjack, by any means - I would just call myself an enthusiast who has had a lot of experience playing in various environments. The following tips I've picked up from friends, books and forums, and have found that they help me bet sensibly and with confidence. The secret is to learn basic strategy for hitting, standing, doubling down, and splitting pairs. A little time spent learning to play well can make your money go a lot farther in the casino.

The tips can be applied to both land-based casino and online casino gambling, so next time you find yourself infront of a table, whether real or virtual, keep them in mind before making your play.

1) Blackjack Strategy
This term has been thrown around for many years, and has recently been brought to general knowledge by the movie "21". Whilst it doesn't work quite as well as it did in the movies, it can still be applied to increase your advantage. Studies of millions of computer-generated hands have yielded a strategy for when to hit, stand, double and split, which can take the house advantage down to about 5% in a 6-deck game.

Basic strategy takes advantage of the player's opportunity to look at one of the dealer's cards. Since in a land-based online casino, there's all the stress and pressure involved, with online casino gambling, players can take as long as they want over the hand, and can, of course, even have the strategy sheet sitting right beside them for reference! With many sites offering free online blackjack, players also have a good opportunity to practice the strategy for free, before heading into the real casino to win some serious cash!

Typing -how to play blackjack- or -blackjack strategy- into your search engine will no doubt take you somewhere which outlines the strategy, so I won't bother going into it further here.

2) Never take Insurance
(Unless of course you're a genius card counter!) Insurance is almost always a waste of time, and it's not really insurance, it's just a side bet that the dealer has blackjack, but it's also a negative expectation bet.

3) Ace + 7 vs. dealer 10
Many players I see misplay this hand. They no doubt think, why hit on an 18? However, whilst 18 sounds good, it's actually a relatively poor hand. You'll often go bust by hitting on it, but statistically standing loses you more money than hitting.

4) Splitting

Always split Aces and 8s
Never split 10s, 5s or 4s
Split 9s if the dealer has 9 or less
Split 7s, 3s and 2s if the dealer has 7 or less
Split 6s if the dealer has 6 or less

5) Doubling Down

Double Down (hard hand)

Always double on 11 unless the dealer has an 11 (Ace) up
Always double on 10 unless the dealer has an 10 or higher up
Always double on 9 unless the dealer has a 7 or higher up

Double Down (soft hand)

Always double A6 or A7 if the dealer has 3, 4, 5 or 6 up
Always double A4 or A5 if the dealer has 4, 5 or 6 up
Always double A2 or A3 if the dealer has 5 or 6 up

6) Hitting / Standing

Hit / Stand (hard hand)

If the dealer has a 7 or higher showing, hit until you have at least 17
If the dealer has a 6 or less showing, hit until you have at least 12
If the dealer has a 2 or 3 showing, also hit a 12

Hit / Stand (soft hand)

Hit A7 if the dealer has a 9, 10 or Ace up
Always hit A2 through A6

The French are good at being wise with their time. So it comes as no suprise that I find a lot of them using online casinos, or casino en ligne as they like to call it to gamble online. It's easy and quick to find a site that suits you and claiming many of their sign up bonuses. Many major sites even have 24/7 support in French (among other languages).