Blackjack is a hugely popular game and whether playing at an online casino, in your local bricks and mortar casino establishment, or at one of Vegas’ mega resorts, there is a right way to play and a wrong way. The right way is using basic strategy to optimize your returns and reduce the house edge to the bare minimum.
Throw in a few other little ideas, such as playing at a great casino that offers a nice welcome bonus, picking a blackjack variant with a low house edge and knowing when to stop (ideally when you’re winning) and it’s quite easy to win on a regular basis at this marvelous game.
However, far too many players make some simple, avoidable mistakes that ultimately mean they give more of their money than they should to the casino and here we take a look at some of the worst mistakes.
Splitting 10s
Oh dear! Never split 10s. No matter if the dealer is showing a six. Naturally, any deviation from basic strategy is bad for the house edge but this is one simple error that’s easy to cut out and easy to remember. Never split 10s! Unless you’re counting cards, but then if you’re a card counter you knew that already!
Insurance
Avoiding insurance, just like never splitting 10s, is one easy element of basic strategy to remember. It’s a bad bet, plain and simple.
Short Pay Blackjack
As well as how you play, what you play is important, and if you choose to play blackjack that pays a “natural” blackjack at odds of lower than 3/2 then you’re just throwing money away. On fairly standard rules, the difference between a 3/2 payout and a reduced 6/5 payout is that the house edge moves from, for example, 0.45% up to a relatively huge 1.8%!
Knowing When to Stop
When playing blackjack it’s advisable to have a maximum budget you are prepared to lose. When you reach this figure, which hopefully you won’t, just stop. Always avoid the temptation to chase your losses. Conversely, set yourself a target profit, for example 50% or 100% of your budget. Once you reach that result, walk away. If you keep playing and playing there is only one result: you walk away with nothing.
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