Can You Make Money Playing Blackjack?

On 05.12.11, In Blackjack Tips, By Vivi

While it is true that blackjack is a gambling game and that you stand a chance of losing money, blackjack is one of the casino games in which players have a decent shot at making some money playing. But there are do’s and do not’s when trying to turn a profit with blackjack, be it online blackjack or blackjack in a brick and mortar casino.

First of the do’s is to play with a blackjack strategy, preferably using basic strategy. Blackjack for real money is not a guessing game. Guessing or “intuitive” playing is a quick way to lose your bankroll. Also, when I say strategy I do not mean some pseudo strategy. Strategy for blackjack has to be based on math, on numbers, statistics and odds. That is what makes something as simple as basic strategy so effective.

Basic strategy is simple a chart with the best statistical play for every hand in blackjack against any of the dealer up cards. It is a simple way to play out every hand while being effective. Playing blackjack according to basic strategy can lower the house edge to 0.5%.

Now it is time for a do not. Do not ever (and I do mean not ever) take insurance. Or play in a blackjack variation with a side bet. Side bets are another way for the house to very quickly swipe your bankroll out from under you. Understand this: insurance and side bets do not have player favorable odds. That is why they should be avoided. Stick to standard blackjack games. And no insurance!

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Online Blackjack and Insurance

On 01.06.11, In Blackjack Tips, By Vivi

There are some blackjack strategies floating around out there that can help players know when to take insurance, when it might be profitable or when it can cause a positive shift in their odds. But such strategy tips are meant for blackjack played in a brick and mortar casino, and not in online blackjack.

This is not to say that such strategies for blackjack and insurance are not accurate—I am sure they work just fine in a brick and mortar casino…if the person expounding upon said strategy does indeed know what he or she is talking about. But when it comes to online blackjack, the strategies can work a bit differently.

For example, the most common insurance strategy for blackjack revolves around card counting. And card counting does indeed work in a brick and mortar casino. But card counting—and ergo the insurance strategy that uses such a skill—will not work in online blackjack.

The reason card counting will not work in online blackjack lies in the very construction of the game, and by that I mean in the programming to make online blackjack an electronic game playable online—not in the basic rules of the game.

Online blackjack games are essentially run by an RNG. The RNG is programmed with every possible way the cards could be dealt, and each time a player clicks ‘Deal’ the RNG pulls from all possible ways the cards could be dealt, and I do mean all.

Because each round begins with all possible outcomes of the cards being dealt it is like no cards have been eliminated from play. And if no cards are eliminated from the possibilities to be dealt it is impossible to count cards, as counting cards is all about tracking the kinds of cards—low or high—that have been removed from play.

If all cards are possible, then counting in online blackjack is futile, and it likewise makes using card counting to tell if insurance is a good bet or not futile. Your best bet when it comes to online blackjack and insurance it to just say no.

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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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Do Not Insure You Blackjack

On 06.25.10, In Blackjack Strategy, By Vivi

In blackjack you will sometimes hear of players who insist on insuring their blackjack against a dealer’s Ace. They perceive it as guaranteeing that they will receive a payout, that in that they are saving money and their blackjack odds.

However, they will lose money and take a hit to their blackjack odds in the long run. And it is all in the math.

Part of what helps a player’s basic blackjack odds is that they receive a 3-2 payout when they are dealt a natural blackjack, while the dealer does not receive a payout when he is dealt a natural blackjack. Blackjack odds are based on a player’s opportunities to make money. The better the opportunity the more it improves your blackjack odds.

This is why receiving a 3-2 payout is so important. It is always why players should avoid blackjack games and variations that do not offer a 3-2 payout.

When you take insurance on your blackjack against a dealer’s Ace you are giving up your chance of receiving that 3-2 payout for the guaranteed even money. Players who believe in taking that even money just to make sure they are getting money feel that if they are receiving some money so they must be doing good. After all, receiving money is good right?

Actually in this case it is wrong. Taking even money, a 1-1 payout, for a natural blackjack can have a big negative impact on your blackjack odds. How big? A 1-1 payout for a blackjack hits your odds for 2.27%.

So you have a choice. You can take the even money and the 2.27% hit to your blackjack odds, or you can decline insurance and take the chance at the 3-2 payout and keep a hold of your odds.

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Avoid Insurance

On 03.19.10, In Blackjack Strategy, By Vivi

Insurance is one of those sly plays that casinos have snuck into blackjack games. The option to take insurance has been around for a long, long time, but many novice blackjack players miss what insurance actually is.

Insurance is a side bet on whether the dealer’s hole card a 10.

Insurance is only offered when the dealer is showing an Ace. Since an Ace is a must for a natural blackjack and is less numerous in the deck than 10 valued cards. So if the dealer has an Ace showing his chances of having a natural blackjack are higher than if he had a 10 card showing. So insurance is offered to ‘insure’ your bet.

When you insure your bet you pay half of your original bet; so if you had bet $10 insurance would be $5. And if the dealer does in fact have a 10 for a hole card you would be paid 2-1.

The problem with insurance is that, with an Ace, the dealer can still have a strong hand without having blackjack. In those instances you would lose the round and your original bet. But since the hole card is not a 10 you would also lose your insurance bet too.

And that is what makes insurance a bad idea. It has been proven that over time a blackjack player will lose more money by taking insurance than if he just played blackjack without taking it.

The best way for a novice blackjack player to play is according to basic strategy so that he has a strong starting point for blackjack strategy. Card counting can always be added later. But if you look at a basic strategy chart, you will notice that nowhere on the chart does it tell you to take insurance.

This is because, while following basic strategy can lower the house edge (the whole point of having a blackjack strategy), insurance will raise the house edge. Since taking insurance raises the house edge it is not advised on a basic strategy chart. And since basic strategy offers the best statistical plays, it follows that insurance is not a good statistical play.

Because it raises the house edge and will cost blackjack players more over time it is best to avoid insurance and never take it.

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Why Basic Strategy Makes Insurance Not Necessary

On 02.03.10, In Blackjack Strategy, Online Blackjack, By Vivi

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Basic Strategy was created and then tested to give players the best play possible for the hand that they are dealt against the dealer’s up card. And while this does not mean that you will win every time you play according to basic strategy, you will tend to win more in blackjack.

This is because basic strategy has taken into consideration the cards that dealers are more likely to bust on and which ones they are less likely to. This explains why you stand on stiff hands when faced with anything below a dealer’s 6. Those cards, 2 through 6, are the ones the dealer is more likely to bust on. This does not mean that they will but the chances are higher with a 6 than with a 10.

By playing blackjack according to basic strategy you can lower the house edge to about 0.05%. This happens over time. And some blackjack players feel that once they are winning more that they need to protect their strong hands against a dealer’s Ace.

Not only is the Ace the least likely card a dealer will bust on, it is necessary for having a natural blackjack. A dealer will offer you insurance.

As a basic strategy player you should decline.

Insurance is essentially a side beat that casinos have in blackjack that can help to not only increase their profit, but to also raise their edge. This is because the chance of winning versus the chance of losing creates, on average, an edge increase of 7%. And it is in the house’s favor.

Taking insurance has the potential to undo the work you have done to lower the house’s edge in blackjack to 0.05%. That impact has the potential to lower the house edge to below what the average blackjack game’s house edge is to begin with.

Most blackjack games will have an average of 2-5%. If you play basic strategy and lower the house edge to 0.05%, taking insurance will bounce the edge back to the house around 6.5%, which is likely to be worse than where you started.

When you are playing basic strategy never take insurance. If you watch you will see that serious players will not take it. And if they are not then neither should you.

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Making Insurance Profitable Rather Than a Loss

On 12.04.09, In Blackjack Strategy, Online Blackjack, Uncategorized, By Vivi

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In my last post I covered what insurance really is. Also discussed was why taking insurance will cost you more money in the long run. However, there is one instance in which it is actually profitable to take insurance.

If you are a card counting player then you are able to distinguish the one instance in which it is good to take insurance.

In order to be in that one instance two circumstances must be in place first:

You must be playing with a remaining deck that is rich in ten value cards. You must also have been dealt a natural blackjack.

Now, let’s examine the two profitable results that can happen once you find yourself in that instance of a high card rich deck and are holding a natural.

For this example, we will say that you are playing at a $10 table. You have been dealt a natural blackjack and the dealer’s up card is an Ace. You have been counting the deck as the game has been played. You know that the deck is rich in ten value cards. Because of the dealer’s Ace you are offered insurance. Because this is that one instance when it is favorable to take insurance, you take it.

The first result is that the dealer’s hole card is a ten value card—he has a natural blackjack too. You will collect on your insurance bet—this is because insurance is really a side bet on whether or not the dealer’s hole card is a ten value, and since it is you win the side bet with a 2-1 payout: $10. As for you both having naturals, that is a push and your original bet is returned to you. But you still made a net gain of $10 all because you took insurance. If you had not taken it, while you would not have lost any money, you would not have gained any either.

The other result is that the dealer does not have a natural, so you lose the insurance bet. But since you have a natural blackjack you won the 3-2 payout. You win $15 minus the $5 insurance bet. Your net gain is still $10.

This is how insurance can in fact be profitable for you.

But you must be dealt a natural blackjack. And you must have been card counting and know that the deck is rich in ten value cards.

If you do not have both of those then do not take insurance.

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What is Insurance?

On 11.24.09, In Blackjack Strategy, Online Blackjack, Uncategorized, By Vivi

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As you play blackjack, there will come a time when you are offered insurance. This seems like a nice thing for a casino, online or land based to do, offering to insure your bet. But taking insurance can actually cost you more in the long run. It is one of those little things a casino does to try to take a bit more of your money.

There are two parts to understanding insurance: knowing what it really is and how it really works, and when it is profitable to take insurance—there is only one instance that it is.

First what insurance is.

You are offered insurance when the dealer’s up card is an Ace. Insurance is offered because an Ace is necessary to having a natural blackjack. On the surface, the casino would like you to believe that taking insurance will protect you from losing your bet if the dealer has a natural blackjack.

What insurance really is, is a side bet that the dealer’s hole card is a ten-value card, the other card required for a natural blackjack. With insurance there are three chances of winning, one pushing and two losing chances. Again, on the surface it sounds pretty good, but it is not.

And here’s why. We are going to look at insurance from a statistics point of view, considering an infinite shoe—and since most casinos use six to eight decks and online casinos use Random Number Generators, the numbers and probability are very close. There are 9-4 odds against the whole card being a ten value card.

Translating this to money, we will say that you make 1300 $5 insurance bets. You would win your insurance bet 400 times, making $4,000. But you will also lose 900 times, losing $4,500. That means you will lose $500 for taking insurance.

In my next post I will explain the one circumstance under which it is advisable to take insurance.

Look for Making Insurance Profitable Rather Than a Loss.

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