If someone tells you they have a winning recipe for slots, they’re either lying or they’re cheating. But there is a winning recipe for blackjack, and it’s real.
Every recipe requires specific ingredients, and playing winning blackjack is no different. In fact, it’s actually fairly simple because it ends up being a step-by-step process.
I’m going to give you six ingredients you need to use for winning blackjack play in this article. These are all the right factors necessary to win at blackjack. You’re going to have to add a final ingredient to make it all work, and that’s hard work and dedication. Mix it all together and start winning at the tables!
1 – Play at the Right Place
You can play blackjack at more places now than in any other time in history. More casinos have opened around the world, and the game is available in almost every online casino. Mobile casino gambling has added even more places where blackjack games are available.
By the end of this article, you’re going to know that there’s only one option for winning blackjack play, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use some of the other options as tools to help you develop your skills.
I’m not going to make you wait until the end to tell you what the only option is for winning blackjack play. But I do urge you to read the entire article so that you understand exactly why. If you want to be a winning blackjack gambler, you have to play in land-based casinos.
You can play blackjack in online casinos and mobile casinos, but you can’t beat these games in the long run. Still, you can use online and mobile play, especially the free tables, to practice the skills you need to have. These skills include using correct strategy and counting.
You can even use software designed to help you build these specific skills. Some of this software is free, and some of the tools cost a little bit. While you don’t have to buy any of these tools to find what you need, a small investment can save you a lot of time sometimes.
2 – Know More Than Anyone Else
Your goal needs to be to know as much or more than anyone else about blackjack. You need to learn about every blackjack rule and how each rule variation makes it easier or more difficult to win.
For example, winning blackjack players know that they have a slightly better chance of winning at tables where the dealer has to stand on a soft 17. They know that they can win at table where the dealer hits a soft 17, but the other rules have to be favorable.
Once you learn about every blackjack rule, you need to learn what combinations of rules produce certain results. Take a stroll through as many land-based casinos as possible and write down the rule combinations that each table uses.
Then, run the numbers on each combination to determine the base house edge and return. In order to use some of the other ingredients listed in this article to win, you need to find blackjack tables with a house edge of .5% or less. .25% is even better.
3 – Avoid Temptation
The lesson in this section is simple but I’m going to do more than just give you the information. I’m going to show you exactly why insurance bets are a temptation you need to avoid.
Blackjack dealers offer players the chance to take an insurance bet when the dealer has an ace. This is presented as a regular part of the game, but it’s really a side bet that casinos use to increase their profits.
The simple rule if you want to win as a blackjack player is to decline the insurance bet. Once you master card counting, there will be a few times where insurance is the right play. But you should never take it until you know why it’s profitable in a certain situation.
Insurance costs half of your original bet and pays 2:1. This works out to paying the same as your original bet when the dealer has a blackjack. This is why it’s sometimes called even money. You break even on the hand when the dealer has blackjack.
The problem is that the odds are only 2.25:1 of the dealer having a blackjack. This simply means that you lose money in the long run taking insurance.
4 – Follow Directions
The next ingredient deals with how you play each hand. You need to understand that there’s a mathematically correct and incorrect way to play every hand. When you play a blackjack hand the right way, you get the best average return.
When you play a hand any other way, it reduces your average return. And you have to maximize the return on every hand in order to make a long-term profit.
The common name for all of this is strategy, or basic strategy. You can use math to determine the best strategy for every hand, or you can simply follow the instructions listed on a blackjack strategy card. You can find strategy cards online and in stores or shops in many casinos.
Using a blackjack strategy card is easy. Simply look down the lefthand side of the card to find your hand. It doesn’t matter if you have the two cards you started the hand with or if you’ve drawn one or more cards; every possible combination is listed on the left.
Now, find the card the dealer has listed at the top of the card. Where your hand and the dealer hand intersect, the card lists the way to play the hand that gives you the highest average return.
5 – Simple Addition and Subtraction
Every ingredient in this article is important, and the first five ingredients work together. You can’t use four ingredients, forget about the other, and hope to win. So, there’s not really one factor that’s more important than the others. But the ingredient in this section is used by almost 100% of profitable blackjack gamblers.
Most gamblers don’t realize how easy it is to count cards. All you really need to learn how to do is use simple addition and subtraction to count. Or course there’s a little bit more to being a great card counter than this, but this is how you get started.
After you master the first four ingredients in this article, start learning about the most used counting systems. Research them until you decide which system to use, then learn more about your system.
The most common system is the Hi Lo, but I prefer either the Red 7 or KO. Any of these systems will help you win; in the end, the choice is up to you. As long as you become a master at your chosen system, you can be a winning blackjack player.
6 – Sharp Eyes
The final ingredient isn’t one that you have to use in order to make a profit playing blackjack. But it’s one that you should keep an eye out for because it can give your profits a big boost. The reason why I titled this section “Sharp Eyes” is because that’s what you need to take advantage of this opportunity.
When the dealer passes out the cards, they’re supposed to use a specific technique that makes sure that nobody can see the value of the cards. But not all dealers use proper dealing techniques. And when a dealer gets sloppy, they give players who know what to look for a chance to see the value of some cards.
The most valuable card to know the value of is the dealer’s face down card. If you know what the dealer has, you can make profitable strategy decisions.
Watch the dealer’s hands and the cards closely on every deal. Eventually, you’re going to find a dealer that does a poor job of protecting the value of cards. This isn’t something that you’re going to see often, but when you do, you can use it for profit.
Conclusion
The best thing about blackjack is that you can follow a step-by-step plan that leads directly to profitable play. Most gamblers never learn about this path, and the ones that do rarely put enough effort into it to make it work.
Now, you have all of the information you need to beat blackjack games. It’s up to you whether or not you decide to dedicate enough effort to win.
Winning blackjack plays boils down to a few simple things. Get a complete understanding of the rules, follow proper strategy, and get an advantage one way or another. I recommend counting, but other advantage methods can work as well.
