Blackjack
Blackjack is the best game inside a casino because it gives the player nearly 50/50 odds when players follow proper basic blackjack strategy.
How to Play Blackjack
Lean how to play blackjack on TrustGeeky and follow our expert 21 advice to improve your chances of winning more and losing less when playing the game.
Blackjack Rules
Learning blackjack rules is pretty straight forward. The rules of the classic casino game are as follows:
- First you must place a wager in the bet box on the BJ table.
- Next, the casino dealer will deal two cards to each player at the table, including themselves.
- One of the dealer’s cards faces down and can not be seen by the players.
- Following the cards being dealt, you must make a decision about what to do with your hand (the two cards you were dealt).
- Options include taking a hit, or hitting, which is asking the dealer for another card.
- You can stay on your hand, which means that you’re not going to take any more cards.
- Sometimes you can double down on your hand, which means placing a 2nd wager to double your bet/wager amount and draw only 1 more card.
- Finally, you can split your cards if they have the same face value. 10s, Jacks, Queens & Kings all have a value of 10.
- To learn more BJ rules, pagat.com has an excellent BJ resource page explains the rules of the card game.
Learn How to Play BJ from the Experts
BlackjackApprenticeship.com is an excellent guide where you can learn how to play blackjack from experts of the casino card game (from Collin Jones and Team). In addition to instructions on how to play, you can also learn how to count cards using the Hi-Low card counting strategy.
The Objective of Blackjack
The objective of the casino game is for the player’s hand value to beat the dealer’s hand value (have a higher value) without going over 21.
To beat the dealer in BJ, the players hand total must be greater than the dealer’s.
Also, if the game’s dealer goes over 21 this is called a bust or break. When the dealer busts, all players still in the game are paid as winners.
Finally, the best way to win in the game is to get a 21 on your first two cards. This is called blackjack and pays 3 to 2 odds on the wager.
Bust or Break
If your hand value goes over 21 this is an automatic loss known as a bust or break Likewise, the BJ dealer can also bust on their hands when they go over 21. This is an automatic win for any players with wagers still on the table. If the player busts on their hand before the dealer, their bet looses and the dealer’s bust doesn’t matter.
Blackjacks
When the first two cards value 21 points this is what is called “blackjack“. The nice things about blackjacks is that they pay 1.5X the bet amount. So if you bet $100, you get paid $150 when you get one.
When the dealer is showing an Ace as their up facing card then they will offer you “even money” on your bet. This means you’ll automatically be paid even money (1:1) on your wager amount. Since “blackjacks” are paid at 3:2 odds taking even money, or taking insurance, on your hand is not recommended.
Basic Strategy
Basic blackjack strategy is the essential lifeline to the game of black jack (21). Take the time to learn basic strategy and it will payoff a lifetime of fun BJ gaming at the casinos.
Personally, I started playing using basic strategy 26 years ago at the age of 18. Now at 44, I play the game on another level all together and I’ll share some of my advanced strategies as we develop the TrustGeeky gaming guides further. It took me many years of playing the game before I learned how to outsmart the casino playing 21 against the dealer.
Unique Strategy Tip for Splitting Aces
Basic strategy advises 21 players to always split their aces when the dealer delivers two aces for the player’s first two cards. In most casinos these days, you’ll only get 1 card for each ace when you’re splitting aces. There are still some casinos which allow you to draw additional cards and split your aces up to four times however such places are not very easy to find.
Some places still have older rules in place which allow the player to draw more the one card when splitting aces.
These casinos are advantageous for the players as this increases the likelihood of making a good hand with the option of drawing additional cards.
The most common outcome when splitting aces is winning one hand while loosing the other hand, resulting in a net tie.
EXPERT BJ TIP: Instead of splitting your aces when playing 21, try drawing the hand out by playing one hand with a starting value of 2 or 12. I’ve played this out over thousands of hands already in real life and I’ve gotten much better results long term by NOT splitting aces in black jack. This goes against everything else you’ll read FYI. Its just my personal tip as an expert BJ player with 25 years experience playing the game.
Blackjack Online
Casino players looking to play online blackjack for real have lots of world class internet casinos to choose from. TrustGeeky has reviewed for you below the best casinos for playing blackjack online and winning money.
Like it is with anything else on the internet, take your time researching the different online gambling sites available on the web.
In the table below we’ve included referral links to our top casino choices for playing 21 online. We get paid for sending visitors to the casinos through these links so thanks for trying them out and showing your support of TrustGeeky!
| Casino | Bonus | License | Software |
|---|---|---|---|
| Las Atlantis | 280% to $14K | RTG TST | RTG, Visionary iGaming |
| Bovada | 3X 150% to $1.5K | Kahnawake | RTG, BetSoft, WGS |
| El Royale | 250% to $12.5K | RTG TST | RTG, Visionary iGaming |
| Bitstarz | 100% to 1 BTC | Curacao | NetEnt, Evolution, SoftSwiss + |
| Red Dog | 225% to $12.5K | RTG TST | RTG, Visionary iGaming |
| Cafe Casino | 350% to $2.5K | Kahnawake | RTG, BetSoft |
| Fortune Jack | 100% to 6 BTC | Curacao | NetEnt, BetSoft, iSoftBet + |
| Slots.lv | 300% to $1.5K | Kahnawake | RTG, BetSoft, WGS |
On TrustGeeky.com we’ve used referral links to the recommended online casinos we review and list here. We earn money for sending visitors through these links so thank you so very much for your support!
Free Blackjack Apps
Play free BJ games with these blackjack apps free from the Google Play app store.
Download loads of excellent free android apps and enjoy free online casino gaming in place of actually betting real money.
Following this strategy is going to be much better for your long term financial position.
Free Blackjack Game (21)
TrustGeeky offers a free blackjack game for playing 21 from NetEnt iGaming software. Ages 21+ Only.