A Few Tips to Winning Ways in Blackjack

Learn to manage your bankroll, understand house edges and practice, practice and practice. And soon you will be winning oftener at the blackjack tables.

Managing Bankrolls

Managing bankrolls correctly allows you to play longer with your money. Given below are some tips on bankroll management.

• If with a small bankroll you play on tables with high stakes your funds will run out quickly. The ideal minimum table stake should be less than 5% of the bankroll. This enables players to ride out rough times and at least gives them value for money.
• Set cut loss limits on tables. Once you lose a set amount on a table then change the table or maybe even the casino. Somewhere you will strike it lucky.
• Set limits to winning as well. Once you have won that amount get up and go. If you give in to the temptation of one last game you may lose it all.

Practice Makes Perfect

It is common sense that the more you play the better you will become. There was a time when players had no option but to learn the ropes playing in casinos. This often proved to be an expensive tuition. But today as a result of computer technology excellent demonstration games are available. These offer several advantages.

• The demonstration games can be downloaded for free from the Internet.
• They provide error prompts when the player makes a wrong move.
• If the player is unable to correct himself after a number of tries the program offers to show the correct move with an explanation as to why this is the correct move.
• As the player improves he can turn the prompts off and test his play.
• These games enable the player to differentiate between the correct move and the winning. The correct move will not win all the time but it will win more often than the incorrect move.

Understanding House Edges

The house edge is the percent by which the odds favor the house or the casino. After all, the casino has to pay for its cost and provide a return to its stakeholders. Like other casino games blackjack too has a house edge. However the house edge in blackjack is very small compared to other games and this accounts for its popularity. Over the years many variations have been introduced into the game. These variations inevitably affect the house edge. In order to succeed at blackjack players must be aware of these variations and how they change the house edge

• Between one and eight decks are used in the game of blackjack. The more the number of decks the greater the house edge.
• Some casinos give better payouts for blackjack. These greatly reduce the house edge and therefore are not that common.
• The surrender option given to the player reduces the house edge by allowing him to exit a bad game with less loss.
• Some casinos allow players to re-split hands if the same card is dealt again. This also decreases the house edge.
• Some casinos do not allow players to split on all cards but impose restrictions like players may not split aces. This increases the house edge.