Recently, we published an article on why video poker is a great game to play with deposit and no deposit bonuses. Now Jackpot Capital is publishing a similar article about blackjack. Use your deposit and Jackpot Capital no deposit bonus codes to access great bonuses and use that money to play a wide range of great games here at Jackpot Capital.
What Does Blackjack Have in Common with Video Poker?
Well, they are both card games!
But video poker is a poker variation and blackjack is also famously called 21. That makes it an arithmetic adding card game!
What they do have in common is that they are the main games of skill at Jackpot Capital, and gamers can achieve a very high return to player rate of about 99.5% with best strategy. This makes blackjack as much fun and challenging as video poker, in its own way.
The high return to player rate also means that even with the gamer using the best strategy, he or she will win a lot of hands and the dealer will also win a lot of hands. Best strategy is the strategy that enables the player to win his or her share of hands!
Do All Blackjack Games Have a Potential 99.5% Return to Player Rate?
We placed this question here because it points to a major weakness in playing blackjack at many land-based casinos. In order to win more and have higher revenues to pay off their massive operating costs, many land-based casinos now pay 6-5 for a blackjack.
A lot of players are thrown off the correct analytical track by the 6 in 6-5. Here at Jackpot Capital, we always pay 3-2. Now, 3-2 is the same as 6-4. So, when a land-based casino pays only 6-5, they are keeping a coin for themselves on every blackjack the players get!
What is the Key to Blackjack Strategy?
The one most important element in blackjack is that the player goes first. If he or she busts, they lose right away. It often happens at a land-based casino with several players at the blackjack table, that one player will bust with, say, 22 points and then the dealer busts with even more points.
The player who busted with 22 points still loses! Once again, if you bust you lose no matter what happens to the dealer later on.
The simple fact that the player goes first causes many blackjack players to adopt the strategy of always standing with 12 or more points.
This is not best strategy!
Next, We Have to Consider Restrictions on the Dealer
The dealer has to stand with 17 or more points. In some blackjack variations, the dealer hits on soft 17. This is an advantage, albeit a small one, for the dealer. But in all cases the dealer stands with 18 or more points even if it is obvious that the dealer will lose the hand!
The dealer has to hit with 16 or fewer points. This is the opposite of the popular player strategy to stand with 12 or more points at all times! The dealer has to hit with 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16 points!
A player will never hit with 15 or 16 points. In fact, if the game offers surrender, this would be a good time to surrender. This move loses half the player’s bet, not all of it when the dealer wins the hand.
We Have to Consider All of the Player’s Options
A player can split pairs. Is that always the best strategy? A player can double down. Is that always the best strategy? A player can buy insurance if the dealer’s up card is an ace. Is that always the best strategy?
The first thing the player has to do is actually two things that he or she should do simultaneously: look at your own cards and look at the dealer’s up card.
In the article on video poker, we talked about recognizing the potential value of a hand. The same strategy concept applies to blackjack as well.
Sign Up Now!
What if a Player Has 12 Points?
The potential value of this hand is one of four possibilities:
- The player stands. The hand is worth 12 points.
- The player hits and improves his or her hand.
- The player hits and gets 21 points with a 9.
- The player hits and busts.
As we said above, many blackjack players will choose to settle for only 12 points rather than risk busting.
This action belies the fact that there is an equal chance to improve the hand to the 18-21 point range as it is to bust. So, if the dealer is showing a 2, or 3, the best plan forward for the player with 12 points is to hit. The dealer with these point counts has many ways to improve his hand without busting.
The player needs to embrace that potential value as well!
The player with 12 points stands when the dealer is showing a 4, 5, or 6 since it is more likely that the dealer will bust with these holdings. Finally, if the dealer is showing 7 or better, the player has to hit! The potential winning point total for the dealer is so great that the player has to hit to have a fighting chance in the hand.
Does the Player Have a Hard Count or a Soft Count?
A soft count means that the player has an ace. Soft 16 is a 5 and an ace. Here the player absolutely must hit since a 10-point card still only gives him 16 points! That is not an ideal hand but the potential to get a much more favorable point count means hitting with many soft hands.
If the dealer is showing an 8 or better, it is also correct to hit with soft 17. If the dealer has an 8 and you have a soft 18, the best play is to stand. A good blackjack chart will tell you everything you need to know about basic hands.
Here we have not even covered splitting or doubling down. That discussion will have to wait for another time.
It should be clear that blackjack is a lot more complex than just standing with 12 points all the time! Here at Jackpot Capital, as we said in the article on video poker, we suggest new blackjack players play in our free play mode. This gives new blackjack players a good chance at zero risk to get the hang of this classic casino game!
Jackpot Capital Offers Many Classic and Neuvo Games!
We have slots which are a super classic genre but we also offer very modern slots with many ways to win and many exciting ways for the wild symbol to create wins.
We offer many classic table games such as baccarat and we also offer neuvo table games such as Caribbean Poker.
Finally, we tickle every gamer’s funny bone with the two great casual games Fish Catch and Banana Jones.
All in all, we think that it is clear that now is the time to….
JOIN JACKPOT CAPITAL ONLINE CASINO!
