Blackjack -- How Do You Practice Strategy? Part 1

We are often asked about what an online gambler, whether it is a beginner or so-called intermediate player, needs to do in order to stand a better chance of winning in the casino. Our answer, of course, is to play one of those games in which you can change the houses odds against you with more skillful play. That only makes sense, doesn't it? The game we recommend more often than not is blackjack, because the better you play, the more of a chance you have to win. You can even get a break-even game with the house if you employ your strategy correctly, and that, by definition, means that you will have a very respectable percentage of winning sessions.

In order to play blackjack the best you can in an online casino environment, you will play something called the Basic Strategy, in which you will learn a complete set of plain decisions that represents the best mathematical move against the dealer. However, it is not enough to just sit there and stare at this set of rules, or a chart, and declare yourself having fully digested, absorbed and learned it. There are certain things that are imperative for you to do in order to play the strategy perfectly. After all, it needs to be second nature to you, so that you don't have to be bogged down by playing hunches.

What we will take you through quickly here is by no means the only way for you to learn a Basic Strategy. It is just a way for you to easily your self into the process so that it can become very comfortable for you to learn and play the best non-counting game you possibly can. We are assuming that you know what the values of the various hands are; for instance, when you are dealt and Ace and a seven, you will realize that it can be counted as eight or 18. The best thing for you to do it first is grab a deck of cards. Sit down somewhere, whether it is at a kitchen table, or your bed, or wherever else is comfortable, and simply start dealing hands to yourself. Do it slowly at first, so that you can minimize mistakes, but always have a copy of the Basic Strategy nearby, so that you can make the right moves winning doubt and correct your mistakes when you have done wrong.

Deal they hands over and over and over again, gradually picking up speed. It should get to the point where you are making the correct strategy decisions almost without even thinking about it. That is what we meant when we said "second nature." Make sure you become very proficient with this manual approach, and then you can move on to the second phase, which we will tell you about in our next post.