The Ultimate Guide to Online Blackjack

Online blackjack is one of the most popular online casino games in the industry. The game has been around for many years. There are at least 14,000 online casinos where you can play blackjack for real money. You can also access free blackjack games in some online casinos. With free blackjack, you don't risk losing any money which means that you can use different strategies before risking with real money. However, playing blackjack for real money has many benefits including offering you a chance to earn from bets. Just like other casino games, online blackjack has different variants including Super Fun 21, Spanish 21, Blackjack Switch, and Free Bet Blackjack. In this article, we are going to explore how online blackjack works. We will also discuss the rules, security, and support.

How Online Blackjack Works

Online blackjack borrows almost everything from traditional blackjack. With blackjack, the aim is to get a hand having a value that is as close to 21 as possible. However, you shouldn't cross 21. Each player gambles to beat the dealer's hand. The suits don't count in the game. Number cards carry values equal to the number on them, while picture cards have values of 10. Aces in the game contain values of either 1 or 11.

One good thing about online blackjack is that you can play the game effectively even if you don't have prior experience. This is because online casino software guide players with the intricacies involved. To make bets, you start by picking the amount that you wish to bet on a hand. The bets vary depending on the casino you choose. However, you might come across amounts such as $1, $5, $25, or $100.

You then proceed to receive cards by clicking on the 'Deal' option. After the cards are dealt, you will be prompted to either stand, hit or double down. Hitting a pair allows you to split. After you select an option, the software deals you and the dealer cards. After the round has been played, you get paid depending on your hand's outcome. You will have an option to either re-bet or manually pick the next bet.

There is always a help screen to help you out if you aren't sure of anything. It is provided despite the game being straightforward. With the help option, you can go through the rules of the game. This includes the house rules, the worth of each card, how to win and how to play. After winning at online blackjack, casinos provide you with secure payment options. However, the payment options are different at all casinos.

Blackjack Rules

Online blackjack is an entertaining game that you can play for fun to pass time or to win real money. Whether you are playing real money or free blackjack, you must come up with winning strategies and test these strategies to see if you can act under pressure. To become a successful player, you must understand the rules involved. Without knowing the rules, you might end up losing or making wrong moves that you could have made otherwise. There is however a slight challenge due to the fact that blackjack rules may vary because there are many blackjack variants. This makes it difficult to learn and perfect the blackjack strategy. The good news is that most big online casinos have similar variants. There are at least 14 basic rules that every player needs to know if they want to succeed in blackjack. For instance, the aim of every player is to score a value that beats the dealer's hand.

The value that a player scores shouldn't be more than 21. Face cards have a value of 10, aces have a value either 1 or 11, depending on which one makes a better hand. The choice is yours. It is advisable to start the game with two hands. The dealer hides one of the cards till the end. If you ask for another card, you 'hit'. If a player holds on to their total, they 'stand'.

If a player goes beyond 21, they 'bust' and the dealer ends up winning despite the dealer's hand. You've got a blackjack if you're dealt 21. A dealer hits until their card totals at least 17. A split is done when you have two similar cards. Splitting will also double your bet. A split or double is only possible on the first move you make. But remember, you can't play two split aces.

Online Blackjack Security

No player wants to play a game that doesn't guarantee them security. Apart from online blackjack being secure in itself, online casinos that offer blackjack undergo strict evaluations to ensure security. Almost all online casinos use 128 or 256-bit SSL encryption. This is done in an effort to protect the personal information and the financial transactions of all players. To know whether a casino uses SSL, check for an SSL certificate on their site.

To protect players and to ensure fair payouts, blackjack games use Random Number Generators (RNG). The RNG ensures that the outcome of each hand played is totally random and that no human interference is possible. Online casinos are constantly regulated by independent bodies to ensure that they adhere to gambling regulations. When offering blackjack and other games, they must have a licence from a relevant government authority such as the UK Gambling Commission or MGA.

Blackjack Support

Every blackjack player is likely to face challenges in the course of their playing career. When this happens, they will need a reliable and professional customer support system to assist them in solving any possible issue. Some of the issues that you might require support for include understanding how to manage your earnings or how to master the rules. The good news is that almost all blackjack casinos have dedicated support that is available 24/7.

With most blackjack casinos, the games have rules written in different languages. Customer support is also available to assist you in a number of languages. Most blackjack casinos have a reliable Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section where you can find quick solutions without having to involve customer support. Through the FAQ section you can also learn the rules and strategies. You can also contact support directly for help through live chat, email or phone call.

Live Blackjack

Online blackjack is an easy-to-learn and straightforward game where strategy and intuition can assist a skilled player to earn more profits. Live blackjack allows you to sit opposite a real dealer and enjoy the excitement and fun of the game from anywhere and anytime thanks to video streaming. With the live option, there are real dealers dealing up to seven boxes on each table. You will also have eight 52-card decks that you can reshuffle periodically.

Hitting blackjack with the first two cards pays you with odds of 3:2. Insurance bets offer you 2:1 if you have blackjack and split aces results in a single card for each hand. There are also additional bets such as 'betting behind' and making optional side bets. Live blackjack has a theoretical RTP (Return to Player) of 99.28% and can be played on all types of devices. Live and RNG blackjack have exactly the same rules.

RNG Blackjack

There are two versions of online blackjack which include live blackjack and RNG blackjack. Live blackjack which we have discussed above, allows players to engage real live dealers from the comfort of their own homes. RNG blackjack allows gamblers to play in a less pressured and more calming environment against automated dealers. RNG means that all the outcomes from the games are random and free from manipulations from any third party or the casino.

It is important to note that RNG blackjack functions on the same rules that govern the standard blackjack game. Most online casinos offer players with RNG blackjack in form of free blackjack. This means that gamblers can either use their own real money or use free cash credits to play the game. The advantage of RNG blackjack over the live version is that it is available 24/7 through a device of your choice.

Blackjack Betting Strategies

Like any other online game, blackjack should be played for fun. A player should join a table to enjoy themselves and not with the intention of getting rich. Blackjack has a low house edge, which is appealing and social. Always set a budget before joining a table. It is also important that you bet what you can afford to lose. However, online casinos have many options that will help you to keep track of your budget.

The Martingale system is one strategy that you can use to win from online blackjack. The strategy is one of the oldest in the industry. It suggests that a person could avoid losing money if they double their bets after a loss. So, every time you lose a bet, you double your bet amount. When you eventually win, you bet your original bet amount. It is a negative progression system and quite popular.

There is also the Manhattan which is also called the 2-1-2 strategy. This strategy rewards blackjack gamblers who hit a good run of hands. With this strategy, a player start with a bet of 2 units. If the player gets a win, the bet is reduced to 1. If they win again, they should increase their bet to 2 units. If this results in a loss, the player should return to their previous bet amount.

There is also an Oscar's Grind strategy which is an archetypal positive progression strategy. The strategy results on wagers having an evenly distributed outcome between two things of equal value (such as flipping a coin). The strategy aims to win at a single unit for each series. The series starts with a gambler betting a single unit. After a win, they add another unit. If they lose, they will play with same unit as before.

RTP Perfect Play

The RTP (Return to Player) represents the total amount of money you'll win as a percentage of the total amount you wagered. The difference between the two is the house edge which is retained by a casino. The higher the RTP the higher your winnings. With blackjack, players deal cards based on the 'perfect strategy' which requires that a player either pre-selects, double down or auto-split. The online blackjack RTP averages at 99.5%.

The RTP of Premium blackjack is 99.67% while that of classic blackjack is 99.41%. For live blackjack, the RTP ranges between 99.35 to 99.6%. However, it isn't the RTP that sets online blackjack apart, but rather its speed and simplicity. The concept of perfect blackjack promotes a transparent perfect strategy. However, it is important to understand that an ideal RTP rate doesn't exist and casinos settle for differing percentages. Strategy is far more important than RTP.

Card Counting

While playing online blackjack, a dealer is required to expose the card that is dealt. If there is a careful accounting of an exposed card, then a player can make the right inferences about the cards that haven't been dealt yet. The inferences help players to make large bets when they have an advantage. Depending on the compositing of the dealt cards, players are able to deviate from a basic online strategy.

The aim of a card counting system is to assign points to card ranks. For instance, -1 point for 10-A, 1 point for 2-6 or 0 point for 7-9. A card counter employs this strategy to make playing and betting decisions according to a card counting table they have memorised. A freshly shuffled deck starts with a count of 0. There are however unbalanced counts that depend on the number of decks available.