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Don’t lose eye of your objective in blackjack

The biggest mistake a lot of players make when they start playing blackjack is they get mixed up with the object of the game. Some people believe the aim is hit to 21, or get as close to the total as possible. Although this aids your chances of winning, the sole objective is to beat the dealer’s hand.

Bearing this in mind, this is why it is very important to consider the dealer’s upcard on the table before you decide whether you need to stick or twist. If the dealer shows a face card, you should be concerned about them reaching a high total so you may decide to take an extra risk in search for a higher hand. Anyone playing Betfair blackjack online should remember this.

Although it is very unlikely, it is possible to win a blackjack hand with the value of two, of course you would need the dealer to bust their hand to come out on top. There is no minimum total you need to reach to stick with your cards in the game when you play casino online.

If you find that you tend to bust more hands than you stick with, it is likely that you are playing on too much. Try sticking on anything above 14 to see if it has any effect on your results.

Blackjack is an easy game to practise outside the online casino room. All you need is a pack of cards and you can deal as many hands as you like to see how often certain totals hold up and get beat. Also do take into consideration the card that the dealer shows you and try to have some kind of system in your head with regards to the total you would be content at reaching.

Subtle Rule Changes at the Table … Be Careful Where You Play

A few weeks ago, I went to a casino and found out something interesting…. which goes to prove that you MUST make sure that you know the rules when you sit down to play.

As if they don’t make enough money, casinos have been making subtle changes to the games, which makes them much less player-friendly.

For instance the rule about whether a dealer stands or hits. For many years, dealers were required to stand on all 17s, and hit on 16 or less. Nowadays, many casinos have changed this so that the dealer must hit their soft 17. (A soft 17 is any hand that contains an Ace counted as 11. If the dealer has an Ace-6, she must hit.

Look, this is a big deal.

Although the dealer busts more often when she has to hit soft 17, the rest of the time she often will get a hand that is greater than 17 and will beat you. Overall, this rule change increases the casino edge over players by 0.2 percent. It also requires a change in playing strategy compared.

The changes in playing strategy for an h17 game (meaning dealer must hit soft 17) for a typical 6-deck game are:

Double down an 11 against a dealer Ace.
Double down on soft 19 against a dealer 6 upcard.
Double down on soft 17 against a dealer 2 upcard.

So listen: Ask the dealer before you sit down.

Many casinos have tables with the s17 rule (dealers stand on soft 17), and others with h17 (hit soft 17) and they aren’t going to tell you which is better.

Given a choice, you are much better off playing blackjack where the dealer stands on soft 17 (s17 game), so it’s best to scout the tables before you sit down and play.

Got it?

And Now for Something Completely Different: Jump into the Pool, Play Blackjack (in Atlantic City)

Harrah’s casino brought blackjack to its Pool Bar this past week, becoming the first casino in Atlantic City to offer betting in a non gaming space.

It was a Halloween celebration at the pool but more importantly a single bet on the blackjack table by a celebrity pop star was one to remember.

“Kevin Jonas of the Jonas Brothers had the first bet on our table games in the pool after dark and were just really thrilled with the experience our customers will now have in the pool, where they will be able to play and gamble inside a night side venue” said a company official.

What used to be a dream for all casinos in Atlantic City has now become reality with Harrah’s becoming the first to issue betting in a non gaming space. Officials say the time was right for the expansion of gambling beyond the casino floor.

“It’s a new feature and we have a great partnership with the DGE to make this happen and I don’t think this would have happened a year ago” says John Smith, Senior V.P., Marketing, Caesars Ent.

Officials say that one black jack table is only the beginning of new gaming inside of Harrah’s Pool Bar, as they are looking to expand with more tables in the near future.

“We will have it in our loft area and have 6 games in the whole pit coming pretty soon so this is very exciting. In Atlantic City, gaming is a big thing. But non gaming is really what is going to be the future. And with the competition around Philadelphia and New York and soon to be here in Atlantic City, you have to continue to innovate and do things differently” says John Smith.

Blackjack, a History (Stranger than You Think)

I’ve been writing about blackjack so often … a friend recently asked me, “hey man, how did it all start? How old is the game?”

The French are usually credited for inventing Blackjack, believed to be an offshoot of French card games “chemin de fer” and “French Ferme”. The game “vingt-et-un” (twenty-and-one) originated in French casinos around 1700 A.D., and migrated to the United States in the 1800′s.

Vingt-et-un (21) while sounding similar to Blackjack, was actually quite different. The goal was to reach a “natural” with cards totaling 21, but the cards were dealt in rounds followed by betting on each round. Only the dealer could Double and if he got a Natural, the other players would pay him triple.

Another game which may have contributed to Blackjack as we know it is the Italian game “Seven and a Half”. This game was played with only 8′s, 9′s, 10′s and face cards, with face cards counting as the “half”. The King of Diamonds was wild. This is reputed to be the first game where the player would automatically “bust” if the cards totaled over the desired number of “seven and a half”.

The Spanish game “One and Thirty” had similarities to Blackjack, though the desired total was 31 rather than 21, and the game was played with 3 cards instead of 2.

Doubling down a key blackjack tactic

The double down strategy in blackjack should be seriously considered as a way of making sure you take advantage of the good hands you are dealt in the game. Read more

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• And Now for Something Completely Different: Jump into the Pool, Play Blackjack (in Atlantic City)
• Blackjack, a History (Stranger than You Think)
• Doubling down a key blackjack tactic

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