Playing Online Blackjack

Join us as we explore the top things to avoid when playing online blackjack at US casinos like Bovada. Blackjack is straightforward enough for most players to play with little to no experience at US online casinos. However, there is more to playing blackjack than simply aiming to land twenty-one to win. In fact, that strategy is one of the worst things you can do. Confused?

Playing for a Blackjack

Blackjack is a misunderstood game, which is quite surprising given how simple it is to play. Many US online Casino players falsely assume that the objective is to try and land a twenty-one-point hand. That’s not true – not even close. In blackjack, a twenty-one is the most you can have without busting, and it gives you the best shot of winning.

However, it isn’t your objective. Playing for blackjack is the wrong way to go about it. Instead, simply try to beat the dealer. You are, after all, playing against the dealer. Don’t worry so much about hitting twenty-one and focus more on forming a hand that gets “close” to it instead.

Insurance Bets

If the blackjack dealer has a ten or an ace peeking, you may be entitled to take insurance. This side bet (of sorts) means that you will win 2:1 if the dealer has blackjack, even if you lose the hand. That may sound tempting, but it’s often a terrible strategy. The dealer’s odds of having blackjack aren’t that high, so we don’t recommend taking insurance bets often.

Side Bets When Playing Online Blackjack

Just like insurance bets are often a poor decision to take, so, too, are side bets. The odds-on side bets are often even worse than insurance, even if the payouts are arguably better. Of course, we wouldn’t want to dissuade you from having the odd punt here, but it is generally best to stay away from these options. If you’re using a betting strategy, you certainly want to avoid side bets, as they cannot be worked into the system.

Splitting 10s When Playing Online Blackjack

If your blackjack game permits splitting, it sounds awfully tempting splitting a pair of 10s, doesn’t it? However, we urge you not to. If you’ve got a pair of 10s, you’ve got a twenty-point-hand, which, as we’ve mentioned, is vital since you’re objective isn’t to get to twenty-one, but merely to beat the dealer. If you split those tens, the chances are that you’ll end up with two lower-scoring hands than the dealer. Even if just one beats the dealer, you won’t have gained anything. You’ll have lost your split bet and only made money on your ante, thus breaking even (unless you have a blackjack). You’ll need both hands to beat the dealer to make any profit here.

Counting Cards

Counting cards is kind of useless in most blackjack games since they use at least four, if not eight decks. Moreover, RNG blackjack games (which regularly appear at US casinos) are shuffled after every hand by an algorithm, so your chances of successfully counting cards are nigh on nil.