Blackjack has its roots in 18th century France where it evolved from a game called, “vingt-et-un” (“twenty-one”). From starting as a table game in shady places, this game has come a far way, and now anyone can play it online anytime and anywhere.
The Basics of The Game
Blackjack is played with a conventional deck of 52 playing cards, usually on a semicircular table that can accommodate varying numbers of players. The game can be played with one or more decks of cards. The dealer stands behind the table and chip rack and the players sit on the other side.
A big difference from playing Poker games is that in Blackjack the other players’ hands at the table have nothing to do with winning the game. At the simplest level, all you are trying to do is beat the dealer.
You can beat the dealer by drawing a hand value that is higher than the dealer’s hand value, by the dealer drawing a hand value that goes over 21, and by drawing a hand value of 21 on your first two cards when the dealer does not. You will lose to a dealer if your hand value exceeds 21 or if the dealer's hand has a greater value than yours at the end of the round.
As we can read at BestOddSlots, all casino games, whether traditional table games or slots, operate on the basis of a house edge. The higher the edge, the lower are the chances of a player to win. Blackjack, unlike most others, provides an exceedingly low edge, and unlike games like slots or Roulette, also challenges player's skills. This is why people keep coming back to it time and again.
Great Blackjack Players
However, not only relying on pure chance but also having skills and knowing what you are doing is what separates beginners from experienced players. Here are some of the most noted:
Richard Munchkin – After he graduated from college in the late 70s, Munchkin moved to Las Vegas and started off working as a dealer and pit boss at The Castaways Casino where he learned to count cards. After a few years of this, he realized he was making more money playing blackjack than dealing, so he left the casino to become a full-time professional blackjack player.
He wrote a book called Gambling Wizards: Conversations with the World’s Greatest Gamblers and is now writing, producing, and directing movies and television shows.
David Irvine - Irvine was a part of the legendary team of MIT students described in Ben Mezrich’s book Bringing Down the House, which also inspired the 2008 movie 21. Using a method of card counting and a number of different strategies, he and the rest of the team made hefty amounts of money playing Blackjack in Las Vegas. After years of spending huge loads of money in clubs and hotels, in 2004 Irvin decided to ‘start a new life’. Together with Mike Aponte, a fellow member of the MIT Blackjack team, he created the Blackjack Institute, which teaches pro strategies to players.
Don Schlesinger - Schlesinger has set forth many advanced theories of how the game should be played and contributed massively to the game with his expertise, which includes optimal betting, risk analysis, card counting systems evaluation and more. Some of his most impactful works include the creation of the Illustrious 18, Desirability Index, SCORE (Standard Comparison of Risk Expectation), and research on the optimal blackjack composition-dependent basic strategy. He also has a lot to say about staying under the radar of casino pit bosses.
Tips and Secrets
If you’re serious about making a few bucks at the table and plan on playing at some decent stakes, mastering basic strategy is a must. There are numerous books and websites devoted to the subject, so check them out.
While you never split 10s, splitting aces is absolutely the best blackjack tip. When splitting, you’ll ante up another wager for the second hand, and then receive a card for the first with options to stand or hit. The same continues for the second hand. Some casinos allow for splitting if another of the same card is dealt again. With so many cards valued at 10, odds for blackjack is high.
Players who know the basic strategy will know when to double down at the tables. This allows the player to double the bet and receive one card. Simply doubling the initial bet may not seem like a big advantage, but in the long run, winning these bets can be the difference between a losing night or a winning night.
