The Best Winning Blackjack Strategies

There are several free resources on blackjack strategy available online. To understand basic strategy, you must understand how the cards on your hand and the cards on the table affect the way you play. After you grasp the basics of betting strategy, you can then expand your horizons to include specific betting systems.

Blackjack Betting Systems

Since the game of blackjack was developed, players have tried to reduce the house edge. In some betting systems, like the Martingale System, you double your bet every time you lose until you win. Progressive betting strategies employ a strategy whereby when you win, your wager increases, and when you lose you return to the original bet size. In some cases, players use flat betting strategies or try to stick as closely to their basic strategy as possible.

Below are some of the most commonly used online blackjack strategies:

Counting Cards

Counting cards suggests that one should place large wagers when the shoe is heavy on aces and higher cards, and smaller wagers when the shoe is skewed heavily toward lower cards. Counting cards effectively depends on the number of decks in the shoe. Blackjack with six decks is ideal for card counting, while single-deck games have limited application. During a blackjack game, counting cards entails keeping a running tally of the cards that have come out during the initial deal.

Martingale System

With the Martingale System, you double your bet every time you lose a hand to try and offset losing streaks. No matter how many hands you lose in a row before that, you can always get even using the Martingale System. In simple terms, it is a method for negative progression. You’ll need a substantial bankroll to avoid ruin in real money blackjack games, even when the stakes are the lowest. It’s not uncommon to lose ten hands in a row or more while playing blackjack, so unless you have a large bankroll, you won’t benefit much from this strategy.

Oscar’s Grind

One can apply Oscar’s Grind to any game offering even money payouts. Making a natural blackjack, for instance, does not pay 1:1 odds, as it pays at different odds. Using the Oscar betting system, the wager size does not change after a loss but increases after a win. Then you return to the original bet size if you’re up one unit. The system attempts to win one bet unit per series to achieve this goal, then restart the series with the original stake. With Oscar’s Grind, the series goes on like this until you win the series.

Winning Streak

Positive progression strategies, aka winning streak strategies, operate in the opposite direction from the Martingale System. Increasing the wager after a winning hand is one method of maximizing the value of a hot streak. Positive progression must be stopped at some point during a winning streak to ensure victory. You may want to stop after three consecutive victories.

Eventually, your current hot streak will end, and a positive progression strategy will only work if you stop after a few wins.

Conclusion

No matter how good your blackjack strategies are, the house edge will always win. It is a universal truth that, when it comes to all forms of gambling, the player always loses to the house in the long run. Don’t chase losses if you lose your pre-determined bankroll, but instead play only with a bankroll that you are comfortable losing. Consider the bankroll required for each of the systems outlined above, as well as what the system aims to achieve, before using it.