Every advantage blackjack player is familiar with the house edge term, also known as the casino's mathematical advantage.
This indicator is expressed as a percentage and means what part of the total bet amount the client will theoretically lose. For example, if we are talking about 1%, the casino will win one dollar out of every hundred the customer wagers.
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Before we discuss the house edge in blackjack, here is a list of fair internet casinos offering numerous blackjack games, various promotions, and loyalty programs.
Blackjack House Edge Basics
This is how all gambling games are arranged, but the house edges in casino games differ. In some, it can reach 30%, which is awful for players. In the best games, the customer may even get an edge over the club.
Blackjack is a game with a relatively low house edge. That is why it is so attractive to pro gamblers.
Casinoz experts will introduce you to several important facts about the house edge. The article will help you understand why the casino beats amateur blackjack players and teach you how to play more efficiently.
The house edge is the most critical factor in blackjack.
The higher it is, the more you will lose. For example, if it is 2%, you'll lose $2 out of every hundred at stake. If it's a game with a 5% house advantage, you'll lose $5 out of a hundred.
In blackjack, you play several hands per minute. Calculate the total amount of your bets per hour, day, or month, and then estimate how much the casino gets. This will teach you to fight for every tenth of a percent.
The house edge comes into action in the long run.
Imagine playing blackjack with a house edge of 0.8%. Let's say you bet ten dollars. In one round, the following options are possible:
- You lose ten dollars.
- You win ten dollars.
- You win fifteen dollars if you get a natural blackjack.
- You keep your money if it is a push.
- You double down or split cards, increasing the total bet twice. As a result, you can lose or win twice as much.
You are expected to lose eight cents (0.8% of $10), but such an outcome is impossible in one game. To lose an average of eight cents per hand at this rate, you must play many times.
Even for a thousand hands, the result can significantly differ from the theoretically expected. But the longer you play, the closer it will be to the casino's advantage.
The house edge in blackjack is lower than in most gambling games.
In any reputable online casino, you will find blackjack with a house edge of less than one percent. For comparison, in European roulette, it is 2.7%. In the latest video pokies, it is most often 3% - 5%. In table poker, it is also much higher.
What does this mean in practice? For every hundred dollars at stake, you will lose less than a dollar at blackjack and more than two and a half dollars at roulette.
Do not forget that you have to play the optimal strategy to achieve maximum results.
The basic strategy lowers the house edge.
The standard recommendations of the so-called blackjack basic strategy are enough to reduce the advantage of the casino to half a percent. Of course, we are talking about the best varieties of blackjack with the most favorable rules.
It seems that this is too little for the club. Why do casinos take such risks? The answer is simple:
Most customers do not know how to play blackjack correctly. They make mistakes and just do not want to follow the advice of professionals. As a result, they get several percent of the house edge.
To succeed in blackjack, learn at least the basic strategy and master techniques of advantage gamblers.
In blackjack, you can get an advantage over the casino.
You cannot win in the long run if the club has a mathematical advantage. Therefore, you need to turn the situation in your favor. The easiest way is to count cards.
Do not think that only brilliant mathematicians or mega-professionals can count cards in blackjack. Almost anyone can master the simplest system.
The thematic articles on Casinoz discuss methods of card counting in detail, so here we will not dwell on them in this piece. Let us mention the basic principles:
- The more high cards in the remaining part of the shoe, the more favorable situation for you.
- The counters classify the cards as high, low, and neutral.
- When a high card comes from the deck or shoe, the counter subtracts one point from the count.
- When a low card is sent to the discard tray, the counter adds one point to the score.
- Neutral cards do not matter.
- According to the count, the player increases or decreases the bet, adhering to a specific algorithm.
Of course, this is an elementary technique. But it allows you to get rid of the house edge.
But there is no point in counting cards in RNG online games because used cards are not stored in the discard tray. They go back to the virtual shoe right after every deal.
All blackjack rules affect the house edge.
There are dozens of varieties of blackjack. In each of them, additional variations of the rules are possible. Each of these nuances reduces or increases the house edge.
The number of decks and hands, the availability of surrender, the rules for doubling down and splitting, and other factors affect the casino's advantage.
You need to understand how different rules change the house edge to learn how to determine the most profitable games. By the way, the optimal strategy of the game considers all points and makes necessary adjustments.
The more decks, the higher the house edge.
This is surprising for beginners, but experienced players know that blackjack with one deck is more profitable than games with six or eight decks. The more cards involved, the higher the mathematical advantage of the casino. Let's see how their number affects this parameter.
Until the dealer starts dealing cards, the number of decks does not affect the house edge. The differences arise in the course of the game. Let's explain by example.
- You get an ace in a one-deck blackjack. The dealer has a low card. In the deck, there are sixteen ten-point cards. The odds of getting a natural blackjack are 16 to 51, or 31.37%.
- You get an ace in an eight-deck blackjack. There are 415 cards still in the shoe, and 128 of them are ten-point ones. The odds of getting a natural blackjack are 128 to 415, or 30.84%.
Blackjack is paid 3: 2. The lower the probability of getting it, the higher the house edge. All other things being equal, this figure in games of one and eight decks differs by approximately 0.25%.
Look for games with one deck and other favorable rules.
If the dealer hits on soft 17, the house edge increases.
Classic blackjack rules imply that the dealer hits on sixteen and stands on seventeen. But in some games, the dealer must hit on soft seventeen, which is seventeen with an ace.
If the dealer hits on soft 17, the house edge increases by 0.2%.
Sitting down at the blackjack table, pay attention to what is written on the layout:
- Dealer Must Stand on all 17's;
- Dealer Hits on Soft 17.
The first option is preferable for the player.
Doubling down after the split reduces the house edge.
The ability to double the bet in a favorable situation significantly increases the odds of winning. If the double-down option is allowed after splitting, the rules become even better for customers.
Mathematicians have calculated that doubling down after the split reduces the house edge by 0.15%.
Doubling down on any cards also reduces the house edge.
In most blackjack games, double down is allowed only on the first two cards if they got nine, ten, or eleven points. In some casinos, doubling down is available only with ten or eleven points.
Professionals recommend looking for games with the most relaxed rules concerning doubling down. For example, if it is allowed on any two cards, the house edge is reduced by 0.2% compared to blackjack, where this option is available only on ten or eleven points.
The looser the split rules, the lower the house edge.
In almost all blackjack types, you can split the same cards into two separate boxes. This is a very attractive rule for customers. It allows you to run the game for more money in a favorable situation.
Gambling operators understand this and impose all sorts of restrictions. For example, they allow you to split once, do not allow you to divide into two hands different cards worth ten points, and so on.
Remember, the more opportunities you have in splits, the lower the mathematical superiority of the institution.
For example, if split is allowed up to four times on one box, the house edge is reduced by 0.05%.
Surrender reduces the house edge.
In a deliberately unfavorable situation, beginners often find it hard to give up half the bet. But any experienced player knows that surrender helps to achieve a positive result over a long period. This is why many casinos do not offer Surrender Blackjack or compensate for this rule by tightening other points.
Pay attention to the surrender type. In American blackjack, there are two variants:
- Early surrender – When the dealer has an ace, the player can fold the cards, thus losing half the bet.
- Later (late surrender) - If the dealer shows an ace, he first peeks at his cards to check for the natural blackjack.
Of course, the first option is preferable. Learn more about surrender in blackjack in a special article on Casinoz. We recommend it to novice players.
The payout for natural blackjack significantly affects the house edge.
According to traditional rules, a combination of an ace and any card worth ten points is paid 3:2. The exception is usually when these cards come to the hand formed after the split. In such cases, it is not a natural blackjack but just 21 points, and the payout for them is 1:1.
In some casinos, the payout for a natural blackjack is 6:5. the difference seems insignificant at first glance, but it is not. This rule increases the house edge by 1.5%.
Most unique blackjack games have low RTPs.
You can find unusual games with non-standard rules in different offline casinos and portfolios of many software developers. It can be varieties with the ante bet, electronic blackjack machines, games with bonuses, etc.
Before you risk real money in them, carefully study the rules and try to find reliable information about the house edge. As a rule, it is much higher than in the classic types.
Computer programs help calculate the house edge in blackjack.
Mathematicians have long calculated how specific blackjack rules affect the house edge. If you do not have information on the RTP of a game, you can figure it out yourself.
It is not necessary to perform computations manually. Many computer programs will do it for you. You only need to enter data on all aspects of the rules – and you will get accurate information.
Reviews of several similar programs are published in the Software section on Casinoz.
In the short run, you can win at any blackjack.
Even if you happen to sit at the blackjack table with a 5% casino advantage, you can play a few shoes and stay in the black.
This is called variance or deviation from the expected result. You can also consider it pure luck.
But such outcomes should not mislead you. Blackjack professionals always focus on the long run. In making decisions, they rely on mathematics, not on the whims of fortune. That's the only proper way.
Even the best blackjack players lose.
No gambler can always win at blackjack. Even professionals who gain an advantage over the house with the help of optimal strategy, card counting, and other tricks can lose shoe by shoe.
In the short run, the result of a blackjack game can be the most unpredictable.
That's why advantage players need a big bankroll. It allows them to wait out the losing streaks. They know that math will do its job sooner or later, and they will come out in plus.
Read articles about financial management in blackjack on Casinoz.
At online casinos, there are blackjacks with very high RTPs.
Operators of gambling websites can afford to offer customers varieties of blackjack with very favorable rules. They don't have to maintain huge buildings, pay utility bills, and bear other expenses inevitable in offline casinos. The cost of licenses for them is usually lower, and the staff is much smaller.
An electronic casino is much cheaper to maintain than a land-based club. That's why blackjack on gambling websites often has a very low house edge. In the best games, it can be 0.2% or even 0.1%.
This contributes to the growing popularity of online blackjack.
In RNG-based blackjack, players usually cannot beat the casino.
If the online blackjack manufacturer has specified RTP at 99.8%, you cannot eliminate 0.2% of the casino's mathematical advantage. You can only come close to this number by following the optimal strategy.
Card counting and other tricks of professional players do not work here. All cards from all decks are used in every round. Used cards are not stored in the discard tray. There is no way to track the shuffle. In general, you have to make the right decisions in each round.
The situation is somewhat more favorable at online casinos with live dealers, but the conditions for card counters are also far from ideal. They are described in a separate article on Casinoz.
Video poker may have higher RTP than blackjack.
The house edge is lower in some video poker games than in blackjack. For example, some titles have a house edge of 0.46% or even 0.05%.
But do not forget that in offline casinos, playing blackjack, you can use additional techniques: card counting, shuffle tracking, sequencing, etc. In video poker, such tricks are impossible or useless.
Note that we are talking about traditional varieties. In real casinos and online clubs, there are unique blackjack and video poker games in which the RTP exceeds 100%. In other words, the client can get an advantage over the house.
Conclusion
Taking into account all factors, we can say:
Blackjack is one of the best casino games for advantage gamblers.
Video poker has its fans, but blackjack offers more opportunities. Of course, it is not easy to achieve maximum results. You must master the theory, practice for a long time, learn different techniques, control yourself, understand the nuances of bankroll management, and constantly develop.
If you are ready to devote yourself to blackjack, be ready to learn and work hard.