Best Betting Strategy For Online Blackjack

If you ever find yourself in the circle of lovers of this casino game, then you’ll probably learn a thing or two about all the different bets you can place. Also, you’ll most likely be exposed to different blackjack progressive betting strategies, so it won’t hurt if you know what this means. This system teaches you how and when to increase or decrease your wager. In the most general sense, there are two types of progressive betting strategies:

  • Positive progression — if you were to follow this, then you’d bet more after each win. With this, players want to maximize their profit and minimize their losses.
  • Negative progression — this one includes raising your wager after each losing round. It strives to lessen the effects of losses.

Now that you’re acquainted with this, we can delve deeper into the most popular systems you can follow. However, before we start, we should put a disclaimer of some sorts — no matter which strategy you use, it cannot help you determine the outcome. They can only help you plan your bets accordingly before you start playing. In the end, nothing can exert an impact on the results.

Basic blackjack strategy. The single most important thing that you need to understand about the game of blackjack is that it is a game of player decisions. Unlike any other game in the casino, when playing blackjack your decisions can have an outcome on how the hand plays out and thus can contribute to the wins or losses of the players at the table. Blackjack strategy cards simplify everything. They’re basically a “cheat sheet” you can keep on hand to tell you what the best move is in any situation. The big advantage of playing blackjack online is that you can comfortably use these cards without worrying about casinos forbidding them or other players at the table getting irritated.

  • We’ll call these betting systems. On the other hand, betting strategies that offer you ways to maximize your advantage or limit your risk of going broke when you already have the edge can be an important part of a professional blackjack player’s overall strategy. Editor’s Picks for Best Online Blackjack in 2020.
  • If you want to make the best bets at blackjack in my opinion: Play blackjack games that have the best player-favorable mix of playing rules. Always play every hand accurately using the basic playing strategy. Bet more only when you know you have the edge. Don’t play on any table that uses a CSM. Don’t make the insurance or even money bet.

The Martingale System

One could trace the roots of the Martingale system back to 18th century France. It has withstood the test of time, as evidenced by the fact that most novice players have heard about it. The overarching strategy is the following: it’s inevitable that you’ll face losses while playing blackjack. However, at some point, you’re bound to win. So why wouldn’t you double your wager until you emerge as a victor? Of course, some experts might suggest that believing in this might be the prime example of the gambler’s fallacy, but to each their own.

What’s more, you’ll notice that some blackjack players opt to adhere to this betting system. They increase their wager by 2, hoping that they’ll recover all the squandered money. In theory, this sounds appealing and seems like a plausible solution. But in practice, it comes with certain risks. Let’s say that you decide to play at a $5 table and abide by this strategy. As you might know, it’s easy to lose 8 hands in a row, so this means that, during the 9th bet, you’d actually be required to bet quite a substantial amount — $1,280.

If you’re not a high roller, then this professional blackjack betting strategy might not be the best solution.

The Oscar’s Grind

Moving onto another blackjack betting system — the Oscar’s Grind. It was created back in 1965 and mainly applied to the game of craps. Nevertheless, it started spreading to other games as well, including blackjack. It abides by the following this notion: all of your losing streaks will be countered by one winning hand. If this turns out to be true, then you’ll decrease the amount you’ve lost and get a payout, albeit a small one. However, no one can guarantee that this will happen, as the outcome is unpredictable.

So before you toy with the idea of using this system, you should contemplate your betting range. You’ll need to commence with a minimum bet and gradually increase it throughout the game — if you win, that is. It’s recommended you start with a wager that isn’t too high. Let’s say you decide to place $1. If you lose, then you won’t need to change the bet amount. However, if the third round turns out to be the winning one, then you should bet $2 on the following one. Another win increases the wager to $4.

Also, you should stop the moment you have a profit of 1 unit. As with the Martingale, you should use the Oscar’s blackjack betting strategy at your own risk.

The Manhattan System (2-1-2)

Some players believe in the existence of hot and cold streaks. You might even hear some of them lament that they’ve failed to make use of a hot streak. Of course, experts would assure you that this phenomenon doesn’t exist and that you should just enjoy the game itself. Well, it seems that the proponents of the blackjack betting strategy 2-1-2 side with the players on this issue and want to help them win real money.

So how does it all go down here? Well, as you might have inferred from its name, players begin by wagering two units. For instance, they can place $2. In case of a win, they don’t need to increase their bet — they actually decrease it by one unit. So the next one amounts to $1. And if this streak follows them, then they can wager $3. Each consecutive win after that, the players should increase their bet size by one unit. And if during the game, the dealer wins, then those following this system should return to their initial bet. The theory is that you should capitalize on your fortune until it starts declining.

The 1-2-3-5 Strategy

The progressive betting systems are quite prominent in blackjack. During a game, a bet could vary from one round to another — it never remains the same. There are different types of wagers here, but they all share one similarity. In other words, you’ll either increase or decrease the bet depending on whether you’re experiencing wins or losses. If you’re prevailing, then you’ll raise the amount of your wager after each hand. For instance, if you begin with $10, then you’ll put $20 during the next round.

Best betting strategy for online blackjack gamesBlackjack

Of course, there are different patterns that you can follow, and one of them is particularly well known — blackjack betting strategy 1-2-3-5. If you decide to try it out, then you’ll increase your wager following this pattern. However, the moment you lose, you’d go back to your initial 1 unit bet. Those who are in favor of this will try to convince you that you’ll get more money during those 5 consecutive winning rounds then you’ll ever lose in 5 losing ones. However, they fail to tell you that you can’t know when you’ll win.

The 1-3-2-6 System

Following the previous one, we would be remiss not to mention the blackjack betting strategy 1-3-2-6. Like the above-mentioned one, it’s simple to learn, and you won’t face any difficulties in implementing it. In essence, you can use it for other casino games as well, but it’s primarily popular in blackjack.

Basically, if you want to try it out, you need to opt for the initial wager. But bear in mind that this will serve as 1 unit in the sequence, so maybe choosing the lowest amount would be the best option. And once you’ve done this, you can start wagering. Naturally, if you win at blackjack, then this will lead you to increase the bet as per the sequence. And once it ends, you’ll need to go back to your starting stake. Additionally, this blackjack betting strategy differs from, say, the Martingale in the sense that you only need to keep increasing the amount if you’re successful. This way, you might recover all the lost money either in a land-based or an online casino.

Betting Strategy for Hi-Lo and Knockout Card Counting

The hi-lo and knockout card counting players have different approaches to wagering. Some say that you might increase your chances by adjusting your bets. And if you want to be successful, you should determine the true count by dividing your running one by the number of decks that are still remaining in the shoe. Then, you should wager the minimum amount when the true count is at 1, and then increase it when it is at 2. As the true count increases, so does your wager. And once it returns to 1, then you should return to your initial bet.

So before the game starts, you should select the wagering unit that you can use once you employ this blackjack betting system. Your betting unit increases as per the count. Also, always be aware of your bankroll and adjust your wager accordingly. The maximum wager, some say, should be 4 times your initial unit. Just make sure to be present in the game so that you could keep track of the count and your bankroll. Additionally, you can adopt this approach as your knockout blackjack betting strategy as well.

Practice Makes Perfect

Now that you’re familiar with a number of strategies, you can start practicing and opting for the ones you find to work the best for you. However, always bear in mind that there are more blackjack betting systems than actual strategies. After all, they don’t predict the outcome — they just tell you how to bet.

Nevertheless, if you want, you can try out some of the blackjack card counting strategies (which even help you beat the house edge) and see how far you’ll get. Who knows, you might even become a proponent of some of them or end up disappointed. Either way — good luck!

Have you ever thought that you could get an advantage over the house just by altering your bet sizes or what you bet on at the right times? Many betting strategies exist that claim to be able to do just that. They claim that by changing your bets based on recent results, you can gain an edge over the house in a game (like blackjack) that normally has a house edge for the casino.

Are these systems for real? Well, that depends. It might be best to divide betting strategies into two categories, just to separate the effective methods from those that are ineffective (and sometimes sold as scams). Any betting strategy that claims to be able to structure bets that all have a house edge and somehow make you a winner is bound to disappoint you, because it simply isn’t possible to take multiple bets with negative expectations and come out with an overall positive expectation. We’ll call these betting systems. On the other hand, betting strategies that offer you ways to maximize your advantage or limit your risk of going broke when you already have the edge can be an important part of a professional blackjack player’s overall strategy.

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Betting Systems

Over the years, many people have tried to come up with betting systems that could beat various casino games. They appeal to a lot of players, especially those who don’t understand the math behind gambling. Often, they make some sort of intuitive sense, which leads people to come up with reasons to believe that their system must work. However, as we said earlier, no betting system can turn a series of bets with a house edge into a system that has an edge for the player.

Martingale System

Let’s take a look at one common betting system and see how it works – and why it doesn’t work.

The Martingale System is probably the best known casino gambling system in the world, and also the most popular. It is incredibly simple to use, and seems to offer a “can’t lose” way of playing games that offer bets that are around 50/50 propositions.

In the Martingale System, the player begins by making a small bet – usually the table minimum. If the player wins, they make that same small bet again. If they lose, they instead double their bet. If the player loses again, they double their bet again. The player continues doubling their bet until they win, at which point they revert to their original small bet size.

This means that in each iteration of the Martingale, the player will win the minimum bet size. For instance, a player might win their original $5 bet, thus profiting $5. Or they might have the following sequence:

Lose $5

Lose $10

Lose $20

Best Betting Strategy For Online Blackjack 2019

Win $40

Meaning they would lose $35 but then win $40, thus coming out $5 ahead yet again.

So, why doesn’t this work? Eventually, you will hit a string of losses that will be catastrophic, wiping out your bankroll and any small profits you’ve made so far. Many players believe a long string of losses like that is unlikely, and they’re right; however, it will happen often enough that the casino retains the house edge they had at the beginning of the game. Table limits make this occur even faster, meaning you’ll quickly hit a point where you simply can’t double your bet anymore.

For instance, take a table with a minimum bet of $5 and a maximum bet of $500. The player can double six times:

$5

$10

$20

$40

$80

$160

$320

After that, the player cannot double to $640. For the moment, let’s do an example with single-zero roulette, since the math is easier. If the player makes a bet on one of the even money bets – say, betting on black – they have 18 ways to win, and 19 ways to lose. This means the player will lose 51.3% of the time. This also means that at any given time, there’s about a 0.94% chance that they’ll run into a 7-spin losing streak, putting them in the position of not being able to double. That’s only one time in 106 (we’re rounding a bit, but that’s roughly accurate), but that’s still not good enough to make the Martingale work! The player will make $525 in the 105 times they win, but they’ll lose $635 the one time they hit a 7-spin losing streak.

The math for blackjack is a bit more complicated, since not all bets pay even money, you’ll sometimes have to spend extra money to double down or split, and the player wins fan less than half of the hands (especially when taking pushes into account). However, the principle remains the same – the player cannot overcome a series of bets that have a house edge simply by creatively structuring their bets.

Best Betting Strategy For Online Blackjack Games

Betting Strategies and the Kelly Criterion

On the other hand, can betting strategies help you when you already have an advantage? The answer is emphatically yes! In fact, betting strategy is critical for anyone who wants to be a profitable blackjack player. For instance, card counting relies heavily on betting strategy, as the player must bet more when he has the advantage, and less (or not at all) when things swing in the dealer’s favor.

But betting strategy can be much more complex than that. While it’s obvious that players should bet more when they have an edge, it’s harder to figure out how much they should bet on a typical hand. Figuring that out requires the player to take into account the size of their bankroll, as well as the size of their edge over the house.

One method of figuring out the optimal bet size is to use the Kelly Criterion. The Kelly Criterion is an attempt to maximize the rate at which a player can make money when they have an edge without having a significant risk of ruin. The formula is basically as follows:

f = (bp-q)/b

f = the portion of the player’s bankroll they should wager on each bet.

b = the odds the player is receiving on each wager (b to 1).

p = the probability of winning the wager.

Best betting strategy for online blackjack games

q = the probability of losing the wager.

For instance, imagine a game where the player receives even money odds (1-1), but feels as though they have a 55% chance of winning each hand. This would make the formula look like this:

f = (1*.55 – .45)/1

f = .1

In this case, the Kelly Criterion suggests betting .1, or 10% of the player’s bankroll, on each bet in order to maximize the growth-rate of the player’s bankroll. Of course, players rarely have such a huge edge, and blackjack is a bit more complex since the player sometimes wins differing amounts, and sometimes is forced to wager additional money on a hand. We’ll go into more detail on how to use the Kelly Criterion when playing blackjack in our article on Bankroll Management.

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