The basics of blackjack online are pretty standard…six deck shoes, half a percent advantage in favor of the casino, typical payout for a blackjack…you all know the drill. So how do you pick a table? Good advice, choose smart. Don’t be sucked in to lower deck enticements that sound good. The truth is, underneath the two-deck sexy appearance lies different rules that’ll skew the odds against you – even to the point of stacking them 0.75% in the house’s favor.
Of course, if you’re a poor blackjack probability player, it won’t make that much of a difference, mostly because you’ll be sacrificing multiple percentage points simply by the choices that you make at the table. However, if you study up and know what you’re doing, picking the correct table can greatly benefit you.
How do the blackjack rules differ? Many different ways. What’s the soft 17 rule? What’s the double down rule? How many decks are we talking about? What’s the re-split situation after a double down?
That 0.5% I cited is generally accepted as the standard house advantage, but the truth is, depending on the rules that can vary a quarter percentage point in either direction. Usually, one rule variation here or there will only sway the percentages a slight amount, but as they stack up, it can make a difference. And if you’re talking play over many hours or days, you could be talking about hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.
Blackjack Tip: Be wary of lower deck online casino gambling games. Two-deck or even one-deck games often come with 6:% blackjack odds, limits on double downs (usually just to 10 or 11), and the dealer will usually hit on soft 17…these hurt your odds as a player. You might think you’ve struck gold by happening upon a two-deck game, but the truth is you get what you pay for in everything.
The best place to play blackjack, believe it or not, is in Vegas. You’ll find big name casinos that offer lower-deck options with typical higher deck rules, minimizing the dealer odds, and making it worth your while to order a few vodkas and park yourself in for the night.
But know the rules before you sit down at a casino com website, and know what you’re supposed to do in each situation. That should be the first thing you need to do if you care about the odds you face at each table.