Increasing Your Blackjack Odds

Like in brick and mortar casino, blackjack is one of the most popular online casino games. Blackjack enthusiasts will find not only standard blackjack, but blackjack variations and progressive blackjack games.

Not only that, but players will also find online blackjack tournaments as well. Not every type of online casino game will have tournaments offered at online casinos. The only ones that do are blackjack, slots, roulette and video poker. Naturally there are only poker rooms, but they are a bit different from online casinos.

When it comes to playing blackjack online it is not too much different from playing blackjack in a brick and mortar casino. And just like when playing in a brick and mortar casino, you will want to use strategy to increase your blackjack odds. Increasing your odds through strategy is the best way to increase your winnings.

The first aspect of strategy you want for online blackjack is a basic strategy chart. A basic strategy chart tells you the best statistically play to make for every hand against any dealer up card.

These can be found easily online. Most online blackjack games are played with six to eight decks, although online casinos generally will not tell you how many decks. So make sure you find a basic strategy chart for either a six or eight deck game. There is not too much of a difference between the two so either will do.

Once you have found a chart, leave it open in another window so that you can reference it easily. All you need to do is check the chart for the hand you were dealt against the dealer’s up card, and see what play basic strategy tells you to make. Then make that play. Playing with basic strategy can lower your online blackjack odds to around 0.5%.

Next would normally come the advice on card counting. But there really is no advice for card counting in online blackjack. This is because card counting in online blackjack is not possible.

The way the cards are dealt and discarded in online blackjack can be likened to games in a brick and mortar casino that use a continuous shuffle machine (CSM). When a round is finished, all of the discarded cards are not removed from play. They are fed into the CSM and shuffled back into the deck. Without cards being removed from play, card counting cannot happen.

Because the Random Number Generator (RNG) in online blackjack games pulls all game outcomes, including all cards dealt, all cards are in play at the beginning of each round. With no cards being removed from play in online blackjack, card counting is pointless to try.

Using a blackjack strategy is the best way to increase your online blackjack odds. And increasing your odds is your first step to increasing your winnings.

Payout Percentages at Online Casinos

One of the benefits of playing at an online casino is that they will often have a better payout percentage than a brick and mortar casino. And a better payout percentage is good news for you.

A payout percentage is the percentage that an online casino pays back out of the wagers made there. It is calculated by adding up all of the winnings paid out to players and then divided by the total amount of all the wagers made at that online casino; that number is then multiplied by one hundred, and there you go, you have the payout percentage.

As an example, we will say that an online casino has paid out $90,000 in winnings while it was taken in $100,000 in wagers. This is how its payout percentage is calculated:

90,000 / 100,000 = 0.9 x 100 = 90 or 90%

That means the online casino in the above example has a 90% payout percentage. In real life the amount of winnings and wagers made is a lot higher. And most online casinos have a payout percentage higher than 90%.

The reason that online casinos have higher payout percentages than a brick and mortar casino is because they do not have the overhead that brick and mortar casinos do. Online casinos have smaller staffs so they do not have to pay as much in employee wagers, overtime and benefits. Because they take up less physical space their rent is less and their utilities are less.

They also do not have the upkeep costs that brick and mortar casinos have. They do not need to call in someone to fix a broken slots game since the slots game is virtual rather than an actual machine.

When looking for an online casino, check out the payout percentages of those that are out there. Take those percentages into consideration. The higher the payout percentage the more money that is going back to players either in larger payouts or in more frequent payouts.

A higher payout percentage does not guarantee that you will win more, but it increases your chances of winning more.

Choosing the Right Online Casino

Choosing the right online casino is like choosing a fine wine. It can look good on the outside, but once you get in and taste it, you could be unpleasantly surprised. There are a number of things to consider before signing up so get your pen and paper ready.

First, look at the selection of games available on the website. Do they suit your interests? If you like to play card games, you might not necessarily care that they have 100 different slot machines to play. Instead, look for a wide range of poker games. Test out the streaming quality of the website. Make sure it offers 24/7 customer service. Most websites offer this in case you encounter problems with software loading, payments or withdrawals. Shop around for the best welcome bonuses. Some get up to the thousands depending on how many deposit matches are available. Other types of bonuses may come on your birthday, holidays or participation in tournaments. Most online casino games offer better payouts than land-based casinos so check on those as well. Do they offer free play for practice as well as playing with real money? Are there classes offering free games and tutorials on how to play? These are especially important for beginners who need practice.

Above all else, make sure the online casino is a licensed operator. Check for symbols from third party auditors like eCOGRA (eCommerce and Online Gaming Regulation and Assurance) and TST (Technical Systems Testing). When you make payments and withdrawals, you can link up your bank account to the online casino. Be careful of identity theft by making sure your credit card and banking information is kept on a secured server. If you don’t find anything on the website that says it is licensed, it could be a fraud. Rogue online casinos have become a serious issue. Do an internet search on the casino and get some reviews on it. Some illegitimate casinos share content so copy a paragraph from the website and paste it into an internet search engine. If you find the exact same content on other websites, steer clear. Are the terms and conditions clear? Don’t fall prey to a hidden agenda on bonuses like wagering requirements.