How can I beat online casino blackjack?

When played well, online blackjack has one of the lowest house edges in the casino. It’s easy to play, and you can gamble on blackjack online for low stakes.

On every hand of blackjack, you have a series of simple moves to make. You can ‘hit’ and receive more cards to get as close to 21 as possible without going over. You can ‘stand’ and choose to receive no more cards. Alternatively, you can ‘split’ your pairs to create two unique hands. A regular payout in blackjack is 1/1, or even money. A blackjack (an ace and picture card) pays 3/2. A dealer’s blackjack will always beat a player’s blackjack.

Depending on where you play, some online blackjack variants also let you ‘double down’. This involves placing an additional bet to receive one extra card, and one card only.

Choosing which bet to make depends on the type of blackjack you are playing, and how many decks are in play. If more decks are being used, for example, there will be more 10-value cards in the shoe. This means the player will have more opportunities to double down. It can also mean the dealer has a better chance of hitting a winning hand.

Printing a cheat sheet is a good way to work out quickly what move is optimal. A cheat sheet displays the optimal moves to make based on both the player’s and the dealer’s cards. You can see when to hit when to stand, and where to double down.
A good strategy is to double down on 9, 10 or 11. This gives you the best chance of hitting a 10 and making a winning hand. Splitting aces and eights is a good move too. It’s the best way to win at least one of your hands and ensure an even-money return.

There are other bets to avoid if you want to beat online blackjack. The ‘Insurance’ bet pays 2/1 and is a safeguard against the dealer having a winning blackjack in his hand. The odds against the dealer having blackjack are far higher than the 2/1 Insurance, however, so it’s a bet worth avoiding.