Online Blackjack Bonuses

On 09.24.10, In Online Blackjack, Online Casino, By Vivi

If you are a player who wants to play blackjack online something to keep your eyes open for when looking at online casinos are blackjack bonuses. Some online casinos offer players bonuses that are aimed at being used on a single popular casino game. And since blackjack is one of the most popular online casino games, some online casinos will offer blackjack bonuses.

One online casino with such an offer is Rushmore. For new blackjack players at their online casino they are offering a 200% deposit match bonus worth up to $1,000. This means that the maximum amount that a player needs to deposit to receive the maximum amount of $1,000 from Rushmore is $500.

Players can use the extra amount of money to extend their bankroll. The bonus money gives players more room to wager with, by either increasing the amount of time they can play or by allowing them to wager more per round.

However, online blackjack bonuses can only be used with online blackjack games. Players have wager requirements to meet before they are allowed to withdraw any of the bonus money. They can withdraw from the money of their own they deposited, but unless the wager requirement is met, bonus money cannot be withdrawn.

A wager requirement is a set amount of money that must be wagered on a specific type of game. In the case of online blackjack bonuses, players must wager in online blackjack games in order to meet the requirement on the bonus money.

Despite the sound of the wager requirement, online blackjack bonuses are beneficial because they do bolster a player’s bankroll. Not to mention that once the wager requirement is met, players can keep the bonus money. Special bonuses are another benefit of online blackjack.

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Splitting Pairs as a Part of Your Blackjack Strategy

On 09.17.10, In Blackjack Strategy, By Vivi

Once a novice player becomes comfortable working with hard and soft hands in blackjack, the next part of their blackjack strategy to work on is pair splitting.

Kind of like how soft hands require a little extra thought to play at first, so too do pairs in blackjack. The biggest trap in dealing with a pair is the just knowing that it is a pair, and that you have an extra playing option that is not available with hands that are not pairs.

Because of having this extra playing option to split a pair into two new hands and possibly win twice as much in a single round, players make the mistake of splitting every pair. Unfortunately this is not good blackjack strategy.

Just because it is a power and the player has the power to split it does not mean that every pair should be split.

For example a pair of 5s and a pair of 10s should not be split. The pair of 5s can be played like a hard 10 and be doubled down on. Doubling on a pair of 5s has better odds of winning and making a profit than splitting the 5s does. Likewise, a pair of 10s is stronger as a hard 20 than split. This is because there are only two hands with which the dealer can beat you with: hitting to 21 or having a natural blackjack.

But then there are pairs that should always be split simply because the player has a better chance of building two stronger hands than beating the dealer by standing on the pairs. Those two pairs are a pair of Aces and a pair of 8s. It is more advantageous to split those two pairs.

Basic strategy is a good pair splitting strategy tool. It should be used as the base of your blackjack strategy because it tells players the most advantageous play to make.

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Odds of Winning Insurance Bets and Why Not to Include it in Your Blackjack Strategy

On 09.10.10, In Blackjack Strategy, Online Blackjack, By Vivi

Insurance is the one play in a regular game of online blackjack that needs to be talked about a lot. Many players truly do not understand why insurance is so bad for their blackjack odds and why they should not include it in their blackjack strategy.

In their eyes they are not losing money if the dealer does have a natural blackjack since they are getting the amount of their original wager back. Yes, with insurance you do break even, but the dealer has to have a 10 for a hole card in order for that to happen. And the odds are actually not in the house’s favor to have a 10 hole card.

There are thirteen different types of cards in a deck, with four of each type. Of those thirteen cards only four are worth 10 in blackjack and could create a natural blackjack when the dealer is showing an Ace: 10, Jack, Queen and King. So that is four out of thirteen cards, or a 31% chance of the dealer getting that natural blackjack.

On the other hand the other nine cards would keep the dealer from having a natural, which would cause you to lose your insurance bet, which is a 69% chance of losing the insurance bet.

Just looking at the odds you can see that the odds are in favor of the player losing their insurance bet, which is what casinos and online casinos want since insurance is a money-maker for them.

And speaking of money, let’s turn those odds into money so that you can see what a player stands to lose blackjack odds-wise from insurance.

If you were wagering $10 game of online blackjack, insurance would cost $5. Based on the odds, you stand to win $10 (insurance pays 2-1) four times for a total amount of $40 won. But you would have odds of losing your insurance wager nine times, which totals for a $45 loss.

Even if you won insurance four times and then lost it nine times, you still would not break even—you would still lose money. Which is exactly why insurance should not be a part of any players blackjack strategy. The odds are designed for the player to lose.

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Surrender as a Part of Your Blackjack Strategy

On 09.03.10, In Blackjack Strategy, By Vivi

Eventually novice blackjack players will come upon surrender. This is a play that is not always available in blackjack games, although it is available more often in blackjack games in brick and mortar casinos than it is in online blackjack.

Surrender is a blackjack play that should be a part of your blackjack strategy, ready in the wings should you find yourself in a blackjack game that allows for it. In a basic definition, surrender is when a player gives up half of their wager to give up playing out the round. It is similar to folding in poker, only your entire wager is not lost.

There are two types of surrender in blackjack: late and early.

Late surrender is only possible after the dealer has checked to see if he has a natural blackjack. If he does not, then players can surrender if they would like. But if the dealer does have a natural blackjack surrender then there is no surrender, and chances are you are going to lose the round. When made at advantageous moments, late surrender can hit the house’s edge for 0.08%.

On the other hand there is early surrender. This type of surrender differs from late surrender in that players can choose to surrender before the dealer checks to see if he has a natural blackjack. Even if he is showing an Ace and your hand is one that basic strategy says to surrender, you can still surrender and keep half of your wager. And you have the satisfaction of hitting the house edge for 0.6% as well.

And speaking of basic strategy and knowing when to surrender, those times are as follows:

Hard 15 versus a dealer 10
Hard 16 versus a dealer 9, 10 or Ace

The important thing to understand about surrender and your blackjack strategy is that you should only surrender when it is advantageous to do so. Surrendering just because you do not like the cards you have been dealt is not a reason to do so. Keep it in your blackjack strategy to only surrender when those four hands and dealer up card combinations are on the table.

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