Basic Blackjack Tips for Playing at Live Casinos

Like most card-based Paddy Power live casinos online games, blackjack is a game of skill. Because it is heavily skill-based, it’s one of the more popular games played both in-house and online. Here are some top tips for all blackjack players.

The 'basic blackjack strategy' is arguably one of the best ways to play blackjack. Like every strategy, the main aim of the basic strategy is to win as often as possible. However, this strategy also helps to maximise your winnings (through double-down), reduce the chances of busting, and can also help you minimise your expected losses (by choosing not to double-down or through surrender). Even though this strategy doesn't completely remove the house-edge, it does reduce this significantly and gives players.

Doubling-down is also a very good way of reducing the house edge when playing blackjack. If you’re in a very strong positon, you can double down to swing the balance of power away from the dealer. Top players recommend doubling down if:

• You get a count of 11 and the dealer's card is a 10 or an ace
• You get a count of 10 and the dealers card is a 9 or less
• You get a count 9 and the dealer's card is between 2 to 8
• Your cards total 9 and the dealer's cards are either 4, 5, or 6
• You get a soft 13 and soft 14 when the dealer’s cards are 5 or 6
• You get a soft 15 and soft 16 when the dealer’s cards are 4, 5, or 6
• You get a soft 17 and soft 18 when the dealer’s cards are 3, 4, 5, or 6

Although doubling down doesn’t guarantee success, it can help reduce the house edge (as mentioned earlier).

Another tip which can help you improve at blackjack is knowing when to split. You are only able to split when you receive a pair. Although it may be tempting to always split when you receive two of the same card, you should only use the option to split when needed. You should always split if you receive two aces or two eights. You should never split 5's. If you decide to split other numbers, you should always consider the card the dealer has. For example, if you receive two 2's or two 3's, you should only split if the dealer’s car is between 4 and 7. Knowing when the split is a vital part of high level blackjack

Card counting is also a valid strategy used in blackjack by professional players, but is frowned upon and can result in you getting removed from a casino is you are caught. If you are going to use this method at a casino, be sure to get a good deal at practice to make sure you will not get caught by casino security staff. Although this method can be used at a casino, it cannot be used online as the deck is re-shuffled each new hand.

Finally, if all other options fail in your blackjack session, you can surrender your hand and half of your stake. Although this is not an ideal scenario for any player to be stuck in, it can help you escape from an unfavourable position and also help you lose less in the long term. The basic strategy recommends that players surrender the player has a hard 15 and the dealer as a 10, or when the player has a hard 16 and the dealer has a 9, 10, or an ace. It is worth noting that other strategies may recommend surrendering in different scenarios. If for some reason you are not able to surrender in your session, players are recommended to ‘hit’ instead.