Useful Facts About Blackjack

Blackjack is without a doubt one of the most popular games in the casino – card games as well as otherwise. 

But there are some facts about the ultimate game of 21 that not everybody knows. 

Below is a collection of some useful facts about the game, as well as information and trivia with which to impress your casino-loving friends. 

You Can Make A Living Playing 

It’s sad but it’s true: not all gambling games were created equal. In fact, to be successful at most casino games, one has to rely on pure luck. This is because most table games come standard with a house edge that cannot be beat by the player. 

But the good news is that Blackjack is the rare exception. And even better news is that learning to count cards isn’t the only way to enjoy this special advantage. Even when you’re not resorting to the morally grey area of counting cards, given the rules are fair towards the player, anybody can make the most of Blackjack’s “equal advantage” qualities.  Especially if you take advantage of an online casino welcome bonus to give your bankroll a boost.

This means it’s actually possible to make a living out of playing Blackjack. 

Decisions Matter

Aside from Video Poker, Blackjack is one of the only games in the casino where your decisions actually matter. Or in other words, it isn’t always luck that decides your fate. 

Blackjack is a game of numbers, and while those numbers differ depending on a few factors like the number of decks in play, the rules of the table, etc., they can still be calculated in such a way that the best possible value is found. 

Counting Cards Works

While counting cards has been around for a very long time, it only reached the limelight with the publication of Ed Thorp’s 1962 best-seller, “Beat the Dealer”. 

Before Thorp’s book made news headlines, smart players all had their own personal systems for working out the advantage, gaining and edge over the house, and generally pulling the wool over the eyes of the dealer. 

But since Ed Thorp was an actual mathematician and proved that counting cards actually works from a scientific point of view, the news soon spread like a wildfire. Suddenly, Blackjack was no longer a game of chance, but a game of skill. 

Counting Doesn’t Work Online 

For counting to work, the cards that have already been dealt have to be removed completely from the deck(s). Since when playing online, cards are simply shuffled back into the deck after every hand, every time a new round begins, the count will return to its initial value of zero. 

Both online casinos and live dealer casinos use a reshuffled deck of 52 cards each time a new hand is dealt. This makes it impossible to count cards while playing online Blackjack. 

Blackjack Is Old – Really Old

Blackjack is one of the oldest games in the casino. In fact, it dates back to the late 16th century. 

While cards and decks didn’t look exactly like they do now, the aim was always to end up with a total of 21 – not over.