Blackjack is one of the casino games purported to have some of the better odds for players. However, blackjack strategies are often a complex combination of myth and fact.

Blackjack Rules

Traditionally Blackjack has some of the better odds for casino gamblers, especially in a single deck game. The point of the game is for a player to come close or equal to 21, playing against the dealer, or “house.” A “hit” means the player, or dealer, will take another card. “Stand” means the player will pass on additional cards. The dealer must hit on his hand until it is at least 17. A player or the dealer who goes over 21 is said to “bust.” A “blackjack” hand is one that equals 21 exactly on the first deal.

Single Deck vs. Multi-Deck Games

Blackjack games can be played with between one and eight decks of cards. The house edge goes up with each additional deck. The more cards, the more unpredictable the game, especially for serious card counters.

Card Counting

Card counting is a blackjack betting system with roots in mathematics and statistics. Very few experienced card counters exist with a reliable record. Expert card counters train themselves to count the number of high and low cards that have already been played during a game.

By doing so, they learn to predict the probability of the appearance of highs and lows as the game progresses. Card counters must take in all aspects of the game including other players’ hands and possess expert betting practices in order to be successful with this often controversial technique.

Shuffle Tracking

Another, less reliable, blackjack betting system is known as shuffle tracking. Like card counting, shuffle tracking has roots in probability and combinatorial mathematics. The basic theory is that most casino shuffles do not produce a random assortment of cards. In fact, they harbor pockets of cards that a seasoned shuffle tracker can monitor in order to use them to their advantage in making riskier bets.

Blackjack Seating Arrangement

Many people like to believe that the arrangement of seats will affect the outcome of their blackjack games. Experts argue that though a couple of seats might matter in the short term, especially in regards to first and last hands, in the long run where a player sits has no bearing. Play is against the house or Dealer.