Blackjack

Blackjack is one of the most popular casino card games. The reason for that is probably that it is a fairly simple game to learn. It is played between a dealer (representing the casino) and a player. Each of the parties has the choice of being dealt several cards from a multi-deck shoe. The aim is to get the cards’ values as close to 21 as possible without actually going over it. If any of the parties involved goes over 21, his hand is busted and the opponent wins. House rules usually establish a certain limit (18-19) at which the dealer must stand. The player can hit without restrictions.

As with every casino game, the house possesses an edge over the player. When you bust out the dealer wins even if he too busts out.

Blackjack is one of the few casino games where the house edge can be seriously diminished. If you learn basic Blackjack strategy properly, you’ll already have taken some of this edge away.

Blackjack strategy comes in the shape of charts, which basically tell you which action to undertake (hit, stand, double, split, surrender) depending on the cards you have, and on what the dealer has showing.

Card counting is a big thing in blackjack. Contrary to what most people believe though, basic card counting is pretty easy. You just assign values of -1,0,1 to cards in the 1-7, 8-9 and 10-A range respectively. you only keep a sum in your mind, to which you add 1, 0 or subtract 1 according to what card leaves the deck.

If there are lots of high-cards in the deck, it means the player has an advantage. The only problem with this card-counting method is, that it isn’t really of use in a casino: there are multiple decks in use for Blackjack games, so you’ll need much more complicated methods to efficiently count cards.

In addition to that, casino personnel is constantly on the lookout for card counters and cheaters, who will be promptly ejected if discovered.