Blackjack has the potential to be one of the most profitable casino games out there. By using a good strategy it is possible to win real money from this game.
As a game, blackjack has a very simple objective: beat the dealer without getting a card total of more than 21. This leaves a fair amount of opportunities to beat the dealer.
The best course to take to win real money in online blackjack is to use strategy. Thankfully it has one of the easiest strategies of all of the casino games. It is called basic strategy.
Basic strategy comes in the form of a chart. Across the top of the chart is every single up card the dealer could have. Running down the left-hand side are all of the potential starting hands that a player could have. Where each column of a dealer's up card cross the row of player hands is a play. But it is not just any play, it is the best statistical play for that player hand against that dealer's up card.
The basic strategy chart was created by the Four Horsemen of Blackjack. These four men spent a few years in the early 1950s working with calculators and their own brains to figure the odds on each hand against each up card. Thousands of simulations were done all to figure out what play would give the best chance of beating the dealer.
While a player will not win every round, they will win more by using basic strategy. This is because basic strategy points the player in the direction that of the play that will create the best opportunity to make a real money profit out of that situation. By winning more and by using the plays that create the best opportunity of making a profit, the house's edge decreases. In fact, it decreases from a range of 2-5% down to 0.5%, giving it the best odds of any online casino game.
For example, doubling down is one of the most profitable plays in blackjack. It also decreases the house's edge on its own by 1.6%.
Doubling down is when a player doubles the amount of his wager and receives only one more card. If he beats the dealer he receives twice the amount of money in the payout than he would have if he had won without doubling.
But doubling down is only successful in terms of money when it is made at the best strategic times. The basic strategy chart tells when hands against which dealer up cards provide the best opportunity to beat the dealer with a double down.
Thankfully basic strategy is also legal to use when playing online blackjack for real money so a player can use it as the basis of their strategy for online blackjack and not fear being called for cheating. Because of its value as a strategy, basic strategy is the best option to lower the house's edge and to create more opportunities to win real money in online blackjack.