How To Know When To Bet Big In Blackjack

• How To Know When To Bet Big In Blackjack Real Money
• How To Know When To Bet Big In Blackjack Winnings

• Recreational blackjack players enjoy these side bets because there's potential for a big payout. Experienced blackjack players tend to avoid these bets because they have a negative expected value. Regardless of the blackjack rules for the base game, these bets often have a good house edge for the casinos.
• In Blackjack, understanding what to bet and when can be a daunting task. Using card counting, you can determine when the advantage shifts from the casino to.

Since blackjack is the one casino game where skill truly matters, it's important for players to test different strategies and start incorporating them into their gameplay. But before you test any of the blackjack systems out there, there's a simple truth you must realise – every valid blackjack strategy is based on logic and maths. Therefore, the best strategy you can adopt right away would be to leave your superstitions behind, forget about your ‘winning rituals' and trust only the numbers. Now that we have that out of the way, let's take a look at the best tactics you can adopt to help you win at online blackjack every time you play.

Something to the effect of always bet the same amount and double the bet on a loss each time until you win then go back to the original wager. Makes sense if you had the bankroll I guess. Personally, I stick with my bet until I feel the table is on a roll (even if it's only me on a roll) and then I will start to increase it. Typically, any true count over 1 or 1.5 (depending on the rules) is in your best interest to raise your bet. For a six deck game you should have your max bet on the table by a tc of +5 or better.

Tip #1: Pick the Right Casino

Players often ignore this all-important step, so I decided to start precisely with it. I cannot emphasise enough how big of a factor picking a good casino site is for your future success at beating the game. And that process is not even that hard – the trick is to pick a reputable, well-known casino that features a lot of blackjack games and generous bonuses that you can use on them. Here are three stellar examples:

But how in fact does your choice of casino impact your winning chances? Truth is that not all online casinos are safe and trustworthy. Moreover, even if you have won fair and square, some of them might refuse to pay out your winnings. By choosing a licensed and regulated casino, such as the ones we recommend, you secure yourself a fair chance at winning and, most importantly, guaranteed payouts.

Tip #2: Pick the Right Blackjack Variant

Picking the right game variant is yet another important part of an all-encompassing blackjack strategy. The most important detail about each game is undoubtedly the house edge – the lower it is, the better. Here is a comparison between the house edges of some of the most popular online blackjack games in the UK:

As you can see, the house edge of these games is already quite low (just for reference, most slot games have a house edge of 4%-6%). Still, this is the first thing you should check before trying a new blackjack game. There are, in fact, some online blackjack games that have a house edge over 1% and even over 2%. If your goal is to win and not just to have fun, then you should definitely stay clear of those.

Tip #3: Know Your Game Inside Out

Not all blackjack games are made from the same mold. In fact, there are hardly any two blackjack variations that have exactly the same rules. Therefore, applying the same basic strategy for different games simply won't work. Every little detail about the game matters as it affects the house edge. You can learn about the specific rules of each variant from the help section of the game. Here is what information you should be looking for if you want to find the best blackjack strategy for the game you've chosen.

• How much does a blackjack pay?
• How many decks are in the shoe?
• Can you double on any two cards or only with specific total?
• When can you split your hand and up to how many times?
• Are you allowed to double after splitting a hand?
• Are you allowed to hit split aces?
• Do you have the option to surrender and in which cases?
• Does the dealer hit a soft seventeen?
• Is there a 5-, 6- or a 7-card Charlie?

Another particularity you should be aware of when searching for a suitable online blackjack strategy is that there are some blackjack games that bear the same name but have different rules and, consequently, different house edge. This is due to the fact that the games are provided by different software developers. For example, Classic Blackjack by Microgaming has a house edge of merely 0.13% while the game of the same name developed by NetEnt has a house edge of 0.35%. A big difference, indeed.

Tip #4: Use a Basic Blackjack Strategy Card

Hopefully, you've followed our tips for playing blackjack and have already chosen a specific game to play, where to play it and you've familiarised yourself with all its rules. Now it's time to find a basic blackjack strategy card specific to your game of choice which will help you make the right decision in any situation.

Below, you can see an example of a strategy card that's especially created for Playtech's Blackjack Pro. The image clearly shows how you should play against any given dealer upcard according to the hand you're holding. The complete strategy chart for each different blackjack variation should consist of three parts – one for hard hands, one for soft hands and one for pairs.

The easiest way to find an optimal blackjack strategy chart for the game you want to try is to generate it yourself using one of the many blackjack basic strategy calculators you can find online. Using these strategy cards is very suitable for beginners since they are extremely easy to read and at the same time they are math-based. Still, there are some things that these cards don't cover. They don't tell you what to do with the side bets, how much to bet and whether card counting could help you. Those are exactly the topics that we're going to cover next.

The Perfect Blackjack Strategy for Side Bets

As we have already established in the previous paragraphs, strategy cards can be very useful when playing most blackjack games, especially for the beginners. Yet, as you may have noticed, they don't cover any side bets whatsoever. After all, the perfect blackjack strategy is the one that takes into account all aspects of the game and this includes whether or not to place bonus bets and if yes – how much to bet.

The truth is that blackjack is a casino game with an extremely low house edge. On top of that, skilled players are able to reduce this minimal advantage even further by adopting various blackjack strategies. This is why, in the hopes to increase the house edge and, consequently, the revenues, the casinos started adding extra decks to the different blackjack variations and came up with different side bets. And while these side bets definitely add fun and variety to te game, they make players lose money, slowly but surely.

So, it's easy to see that the best strategy for blackjack side bets is actually not to place any! Just stick to the strategy cards until you've gained enough experience to start testing more advanced tactics.

What About Card Counting?

When most new players hear the words ‘blackjack strategies', they immediately think of card counting. While this strategy may still be possible in some brick-and-mortar casinos (although, in general, it's against the house rules or at least it's frowned upon), it is virtually unfeasible in online casinos where the deck is shuffled after each hand. The only exception to this rule is live dealer blackjack. So, if you want to try some card counting techniques while playing online, your only option is to play live blackjack games.

But what actually is card counting and can it really help you beat the casino? Card counting is a blackjack technique that helps you follow the number of high and low cards in the shoe thus giving you some insight as to what type of card might come next – a bit of knowledge that can, indeed, tip the scales in your direction. The easiest card counting system in blackjack is called Hi-Lo and works like this: for each low card (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) you see you add one point and for each high card (10, J, Q, K, A) you deduct one. The higher the count, the bigger the chances to get 10-valued cards, which are generally considered ‘good' for the player (and bad for the dealer).

Which Is the Best Blackjack Betting System?

As we have already established, using a blackjack strategy card can help you make the right decision in any given situation, but it doesn't answer the important question players always ask themselves ‘How much should I bet?' As you probably already know, there are many betting systems out there, many of which claim to be a sure way to beat any online blackjack game. A huge part of those systems are progressive betting systems which are based on the idea that if you've lost a number of times, you're bound to win soon. This, of course, is not true and is often referred to as gambler's fallacy – a mistaken notion that has claimed many victims through the ages.

The plain and simple truth is that no betting system on its own can help you beat the house, but some can help you improve your odds even more when combined with other blackjack strategies. For example, when using card counting and basic strategy, you can allow yourself to increase the bet amount when the count is high, as then the strategy cards are considered to be ‘more correct' and your chances at winning are higher. But, as we already said, this can only work if you're playing live dealer games. The best betting strategy for RNG games, on the other hand, is to simply bet the same amount over and over again while wagering some convenient casino bonus – a topic that we're going to discuss a little bit further down the page.

Tip #5: Test in Demo Mode

Now that you have a complete overview of an all-encompassing online blackjack strategy, you probably feel ready to finally start playing. But before you go and bet real money, it's highly recommended that you first test your skills with play money. Going back to our example with Blackjack Pro by Playtech, we've prepared a demo version of the game below that you can try for free. Don't forget to use the strategy card that we presented to you to secure yourself the best odds.

Something else that you can do while playing in demo mode is to practice your card-counting skills, even though in all RNG games the shoe is virtually shuffled after each hand. After all, there are no demo versions of live blackjack, so your only option is to practice on their computerised versions.

Tip #6: Sync Your Bonus and Blackjack Strategies

Some of the biggest advantages of playing on the Internet vs playing at land-based casinos are undoubtedly the generous bonus opportunities that online casinos offer. Even if the casino has a slight advantage in any given game, playing with extra money that isn't actually yours and being allowed to keep the winnings surely gives the players some edge. When it comes to blackjack, combining the already low house edge of the game with a solid math-based strategy and a suitable bonus is the most certain way to beat the casino. Of course, every bonus comes with its terms and conditions that are sometimes favourable but other times – not so much.

First of all, there's always a wagering requirement that you have to fulfil before you can withdraw the winnings generated from the bonus. This requirement in most cases is set at 20 to 40 times the bonus plus the deposit amount. Furthermore, it's important to take into account the fact that blackjack games don't contribute at 100% toward the wagering requirement due to the fact that they have a pretty low house edge and give the players great winning odds. Usually, the wagering contribution for the game is set anywhere between 5% and 10%, the higher it is, of course, the better. Other important details you should take into account are the validity period of the bonus and the minimum deposit required to claim it.

All that said, let us present to you an easy-to-claim bonus that is perfect for beginners and offered by a casino that has a great array of blackjack games with both classic and innovative variants – Ladbrokes. At the moment, they offer a 100% bonus up to £500 to all new players that make minimum deposit of £20 at the casino – a pretty sweet deal, if you ask me. If you agree with me and are ready to start playing for real money, then click the link below and you'll be safely redirected to the official website of the operator:

Sure enough, this is not the only available bonus offer that is suitable for playing blackjack online, in fact, most UK casino sites give you the opportunity to wager bonus money on all their blackjack games. So, if you want to find more great opportunities to play blackjack with bonus money, then make sure you also check out our dedicated bonus page.

Final Thoughts and Advice for Long-Term Success

In conclusion, the best blackjack strategy you can adopt is the one that fully corresponds to the game variation you've chosen to play. Be careful to only use a game plan that has been created for the particular type of blackjack you're playing. Otherwise, you won't be able to achieve the results you expect.

Beginners, find yourselves a strategy card for the variation you play and stick with it. Combine it with a good bonus and you can expect a moderate return in the long run. Your number one priority should be to practice and learn. The more experienced players can, on the other hand, test their card counting skills against some unsuspecting dealer at a live casino of their choice – remember, you can see them, but they cannot see you! Furthermore, to make sure that you get the whole picture as to how to beat this game, you can also take a look at some game strategies analysed.

Last but not least, don't forget to have fun! After all, it's a game and its main purpose is to entertain you. Not getting too stressed about winning is a good tactic as it will help you keep a cool head and make better decisions while playing.

[Editor's note: Stay tuned tomorrow for Part 2 of this article.]

Roulette is not luck. Roulette, believe it or not, is a skill game.

But isn't gambling luck? Absolutely not. Putting money on 'red' at the roulette table is poor skill at gambling, not luck.

If you put $1 on red and the ball lands on red then you get your $1 back and another $1 as your 'winnings.' In other words, the game was GIVING you 1:1 odds (put in $1, get back a profit of $1).

2:1 odds means put in $1, get back $3 ($2 profit).

This is the key to gambling, investing, and all decision making. Every decision in life.

The casino is PAYING you 1:1 odds. But are you GETTING from the roulette table 1:1 odds.

1:1 odds means that you have to have at least a 50% chance to win. If you have a 50% chance to win, then half the time you get $1 profit and half the time you lose the dollar you put in. In the long run, with a 50% chance to win, you will make on average $0 (you won't win money and you won't lose money).

The invention of probability was entirely because people were being GIVEN odds but nobody was calculating what the actual correct odds were.

Reno poker tournaments 2020. For instance, if I am making a 1:1 bet (an even-odds bet) but I'm only going to win 25% (1 out of 4) of the time, then I am making a horrible bet.

Let's say I have to pick the only Ace out of 4 hidden cards. I'm only going to win 25% of the time. Let's say the rules are that if I pick the Ace, I double my money. So $1 turns into $1 in profit and I get my original dollar back.

If I play 100 times with 25% odds then I will win (on average) 25 times (the 1 out of 4 times I guess correctly where the Ace is) and I will lose 75 times. So I make $25 but lose $75. So my net loss will be $50.

Not because I was unlucky. But because I was stupid.

If the game is GIVING you odds of X% (1:1 = 50%, 2:1 = 33%, etc.) then you need AT LEAST X% odds of winning in order to bet / invest.

Why is roulette bad? Because there are four choices: red, black, 0, and 00. And if I bet on red, the casino pays me at 1:1 odds. So I need at least 50%. But because of the 0 and 00 I only have a 47.26% chance of winning each time.

This is how casinos make billions of dollars. Slowly but surely, I'll win some, lose some, get on a big winning streak, a big losing streak, go to the buffett, go back and go on another losing streak, etc. Slowly but surely, the casino takes all of my money.

Every game in a casino (except poker) is set up that way. The odds are always SLIGHTLY on the casino's side. With absolutely correct play in blackjack, you can reduce the advantage the casino has to just under 1%. That is the best bet in the casino but my guess is you don't know perfect blackjack play. And I've known card counters. You and I are not card counters.

By the way, the person who 'invented' the first wearable computer was a gambler. He used a computer attached to his foot to calculate, based on where the ball was when the roulette wheel was spun, where it would end up when it landed.

Eventually he found it too hard to make money this way (although he did make money, defying the odds… or changing them) so he switched to stocks and made millions.

His book is excellent. 'A Man for All Markets' by Ed Thorp. But you might also know him from his classic book, which has sold millions since the '60s—'Beat the Dealer'—where he outlined for the first time the principles of card-counting in blackjack.

Ugh! I just wanted to write an article about political bets. But first I want to explain why it's fun and why it's a valuable lesson about investing.

We take it for granted that, given a casino game, we can figure out the odds of winning or losing. If we have two choices, then it's 50%; that's easy, right?

Many games are a bit more complicated. But, like with most things, vice leads to innovation.

Bovada online casino rigged slot machines. War led to nuclear power.

Porn fueled the rise of the internet.

And gambling created the entire mathematical theories of statistics and probability.

Gerolamo Cardano was a very 'Choose Yourself' person. Maybe too much so but I think I would have liked him.

First off, very vulnerable in his writings. He stated that his mother didn't want him and tried 'various abortive medicines' that obviously didn't work. He also states that he had many illnesses as a child including 'impotence.' I'm honestly curious how he arrived at that conclusion. Was it a physical thing or (my M.O. when first dating someone) psychological?

He wanted to be a doctor but couldn't get a license in Milan, where he lived, so he moved to a small town and just started practicing medicine. He 'chose himself' to be a doctor.

Only in recent society are we shamed into doing one thing in our lives. 'FOCUS!' all the people who are afraid to take risks start yelling at us. But imagine the person who focused on driving horse carriages in the 1890s. He would've been out of a job.

My father had a software business when I was a kid. By the time I was 12 years old, I was begging him to change his software to work on this new thing 'microcomputers.' I had my first Apple II+. But he wouldn't do it. 'Mainframes aren't going anywhere,' he said. By the time I graduated high school he was bankrupt and had a nervous breakdown. For years he cried every day. And then for the years before he passed away he sat every day and listened to music all day long.

Cardano was not focused. Yes, a practicing doctor. But then he also became a professor of mathematics. A biologist. A chemist. An astronomer. He wrote over 200 books. I wonder if anyone ever said to him, 'You can't do that!' which is the common phrase I hear when I try to do more than one thing.

But this is not why I bring him up.

He was a gambler. And why not? He gambled when he practiced medicine without a license. Hopefully he didn't cause too much damage and he was never found out.

But with gambling, maybe he wasn't the best at first. He was constantly losing. Constantly going broke and coming back and going broke and coming back.

Then he said to himself, 'Hmmm, maybe some math here will help me.' And it did. He basically invented the theory of probability and was the first one to write about it. He practiced his theories with dice. Both in the privacy of his home and in various gambling establishments. With probability on his side, he became very successful.

Eventually he retired to Rome where the pope finally gave him a license to practice medicine.

My point! Studying the odds you are given by the game versus the actual odds you come out a winner is important for success!

With dice, roulette, even blackjack, you can calculate those odds.

With poker slightly harder. You have to calculate not only the odds of your hand, but the odds your opponent has a better hand or (with the psychological aspect of poker) the odds your opponent is bluffing and how to factor that in.

Some games have 'perfect' information. Like roulette, where you know the exact odds. Some games are imperfect (like poker).

Life is a giant imperfect game of chance. Every decision can be a good or bad one. You have information that you know and also information that you don't know.

Should you plan a wedding on June 10? Yes, that seems very good. But you won't know until that morning if it will rain, so you have to plan for it just in case. You reduce risk by taking into account all the possible events, what their probabilities are, and what the rewards/losses are for each event.

If you plan an indoor wedding for June 10, then the loss is not much if there is a thunderstorm. But if the loss is great (in an outdoor plan), and if there's a greater than small chance of thunderstorm, you need to plan.

That's how gamblers think. It's the essence of poker. The 'pot odds' have to be worth it if you want to bet, combined with the odds of whether your opponent has a better hand than the one you are trying to make.

The math in poker is much more complicated. But all the professional players know the math and take it into account on every decision.

What about investing? The stock market is 100% a casino with imperfect information.

For instance, let's say Apple is going to report earnings next week. Will they be good or bad? You look up the past 100 earnings reports on Apple and you see (or your computer sees) that 50% of the time Apple went up after earnings, 50% of the time it went down. You see that when they released a new phone that quarter and exceeded expectations on phone sales, then the historical occurrences were 90 times it went up and 10 times it went down.

But how in fact does your choice of casino impact your winning chances? Truth is that not all online casinos are safe and trustworthy. Moreover, even if you have won fair and square, some of them might refuse to pay out your winnings. By choosing a licensed and regulated casino, such as the ones we recommend, you secure yourself a fair chance at winning and, most importantly, guaranteed payouts.

Tip #2: Pick the Right Blackjack Variant

Picking the right game variant is yet another important part of an all-encompassing blackjack strategy. The most important detail about each game is undoubtedly the house edge – the lower it is, the better. Here is a comparison between the house edges of some of the most popular online blackjack games in the UK:

As you can see, the house edge of these games is already quite low (just for reference, most slot games have a house edge of 4%-6%). Still, this is the first thing you should check before trying a new blackjack game. There are, in fact, some online blackjack games that have a house edge over 1% and even over 2%. If your goal is to win and not just to have fun, then you should definitely stay clear of those.

Tip #3: Know Your Game Inside Out

Not all blackjack games are made from the same mold. In fact, there are hardly any two blackjack variations that have exactly the same rules. Therefore, applying the same basic strategy for different games simply won't work. Every little detail about the game matters as it affects the house edge. You can learn about the specific rules of each variant from the help section of the game. Here is what information you should be looking for if you want to find the best blackjack strategy for the game you've chosen.

• How much does a blackjack pay?
• How many decks are in the shoe?
• Can you double on any two cards or only with specific total?
• When can you split your hand and up to how many times?
• Are you allowed to double after splitting a hand?
• Are you allowed to hit split aces?
• Do you have the option to surrender and in which cases?
• Does the dealer hit a soft seventeen?
• Is there a 5-, 6- or a 7-card Charlie?

Another particularity you should be aware of when searching for a suitable online blackjack strategy is that there are some blackjack games that bear the same name but have different rules and, consequently, different house edge. This is due to the fact that the games are provided by different software developers. For example, Classic Blackjack by Microgaming has a house edge of merely 0.13% while the game of the same name developed by NetEnt has a house edge of 0.35%. A big difference, indeed.

Tip #4: Use a Basic Blackjack Strategy Card

Hopefully, you've followed our tips for playing blackjack and have already chosen a specific game to play, where to play it and you've familiarised yourself with all its rules. Now it's time to find a basic blackjack strategy card specific to your game of choice which will help you make the right decision in any situation.

Below, you can see an example of a strategy card that's especially created for Playtech's Blackjack Pro. The image clearly shows how you should play against any given dealer upcard according to the hand you're holding. The complete strategy chart for each different blackjack variation should consist of three parts – one for hard hands, one for soft hands and one for pairs.

The easiest way to find an optimal blackjack strategy chart for the game you want to try is to generate it yourself using one of the many blackjack basic strategy calculators you can find online. Using these strategy cards is very suitable for beginners since they are extremely easy to read and at the same time they are math-based. Still, there are some things that these cards don't cover. They don't tell you what to do with the side bets, how much to bet and whether card counting could help you. Those are exactly the topics that we're going to cover next.

The Perfect Blackjack Strategy for Side Bets

As we have already established in the previous paragraphs, strategy cards can be very useful when playing most blackjack games, especially for the beginners. Yet, as you may have noticed, they don't cover any side bets whatsoever. After all, the perfect blackjack strategy is the one that takes into account all aspects of the game and this includes whether or not to place bonus bets and if yes – how much to bet.

The truth is that blackjack is a casino game with an extremely low house edge. On top of that, skilled players are able to reduce this minimal advantage even further by adopting various blackjack strategies. This is why, in the hopes to increase the house edge and, consequently, the revenues, the casinos started adding extra decks to the different blackjack variations and came up with different side bets. And while these side bets definitely add fun and variety to te game, they make players lose money, slowly but surely.

So, it's easy to see that the best strategy for blackjack side bets is actually not to place any! Just stick to the strategy cards until you've gained enough experience to start testing more advanced tactics.

What About Card Counting?

When most new players hear the words ‘blackjack strategies', they immediately think of card counting. While this strategy may still be possible in some brick-and-mortar casinos (although, in general, it's against the house rules or at least it's frowned upon), it is virtually unfeasible in online casinos where the deck is shuffled after each hand. The only exception to this rule is live dealer blackjack. So, if you want to try some card counting techniques while playing online, your only option is to play live blackjack games.

But what actually is card counting and can it really help you beat the casino? Card counting is a blackjack technique that helps you follow the number of high and low cards in the shoe thus giving you some insight as to what type of card might come next – a bit of knowledge that can, indeed, tip the scales in your direction. The easiest card counting system in blackjack is called Hi-Lo and works like this: for each low card (2, 3, 4, 5, 6) you see you add one point and for each high card (10, J, Q, K, A) you deduct one. The higher the count, the bigger the chances to get 10-valued cards, which are generally considered ‘good' for the player (and bad for the dealer).

Which Is the Best Blackjack Betting System?

As we have already established, using a blackjack strategy card can help you make the right decision in any given situation, but it doesn't answer the important question players always ask themselves ‘How much should I bet?' As you probably already know, there are many betting systems out there, many of which claim to be a sure way to beat any online blackjack game. A huge part of those systems are progressive betting systems which are based on the idea that if you've lost a number of times, you're bound to win soon. This, of course, is not true and is often referred to as gambler's fallacy – a mistaken notion that has claimed many victims through the ages.

The plain and simple truth is that no betting system on its own can help you beat the house, but some can help you improve your odds even more when combined with other blackjack strategies. For example, when using card counting and basic strategy, you can allow yourself to increase the bet amount when the count is high, as then the strategy cards are considered to be ‘more correct' and your chances at winning are higher. But, as we already said, this can only work if you're playing live dealer games. The best betting strategy for RNG games, on the other hand, is to simply bet the same amount over and over again while wagering some convenient casino bonus – a topic that we're going to discuss a little bit further down the page.

Tip #5: Test in Demo Mode

Now that you have a complete overview of an all-encompassing online blackjack strategy, you probably feel ready to finally start playing. But before you go and bet real money, it's highly recommended that you first test your skills with play money. Going back to our example with Blackjack Pro by Playtech, we've prepared a demo version of the game below that you can try for free. Don't forget to use the strategy card that we presented to you to secure yourself the best odds.

Something else that you can do while playing in demo mode is to practice your card-counting skills, even though in all RNG games the shoe is virtually shuffled after each hand. After all, there are no demo versions of live blackjack, so your only option is to practice on their computerised versions.

Tip #6: Sync Your Bonus and Blackjack Strategies

Some of the biggest advantages of playing on the Internet vs playing at land-based casinos are undoubtedly the generous bonus opportunities that online casinos offer. Even if the casino has a slight advantage in any given game, playing with extra money that isn't actually yours and being allowed to keep the winnings surely gives the players some edge. When it comes to blackjack, combining the already low house edge of the game with a solid math-based strategy and a suitable bonus is the most certain way to beat the casino. Of course, every bonus comes with its terms and conditions that are sometimes favourable but other times – not so much.

First of all, there's always a wagering requirement that you have to fulfil before you can withdraw the winnings generated from the bonus. This requirement in most cases is set at 20 to 40 times the bonus plus the deposit amount. Furthermore, it's important to take into account the fact that blackjack games don't contribute at 100% toward the wagering requirement due to the fact that they have a pretty low house edge and give the players great winning odds. Usually, the wagering contribution for the game is set anywhere between 5% and 10%, the higher it is, of course, the better. Other important details you should take into account are the validity period of the bonus and the minimum deposit required to claim it.

All that said, let us present to you an easy-to-claim bonus that is perfect for beginners and offered by a casino that has a great array of blackjack games with both classic and innovative variants – Ladbrokes. At the moment, they offer a 100% bonus up to £500 to all new players that make minimum deposit of £20 at the casino – a pretty sweet deal, if you ask me. If you agree with me and are ready to start playing for real money, then click the link below and you'll be safely redirected to the official website of the operator:

Sure enough, this is not the only available bonus offer that is suitable for playing blackjack online, in fact, most UK casino sites give you the opportunity to wager bonus money on all their blackjack games. So, if you want to find more great opportunities to play blackjack with bonus money, then make sure you also check out our dedicated bonus page.

Final Thoughts and Advice for Long-Term Success

In conclusion, the best blackjack strategy you can adopt is the one that fully corresponds to the game variation you've chosen to play. Be careful to only use a game plan that has been created for the particular type of blackjack you're playing. Otherwise, you won't be able to achieve the results you expect.

Beginners, find yourselves a strategy card for the variation you play and stick with it. Combine it with a good bonus and you can expect a moderate return in the long run. Your number one priority should be to practice and learn. The more experienced players can, on the other hand, test their card counting skills against some unsuspecting dealer at a live casino of their choice – remember, you can see them, but they cannot see you! Furthermore, to make sure that you get the whole picture as to how to beat this game, you can also take a look at some game strategies analysed.

Last but not least, don't forget to have fun! After all, it's a game and its main purpose is to entertain you. Not getting too stressed about winning is a good tactic as it will help you keep a cool head and make better decisions while playing.

[Editor's note: Stay tuned tomorrow for Part 2 of this article.]

Roulette is not luck. Roulette, believe it or not, is a skill game.

But isn't gambling luck? Absolutely not. Putting money on 'red' at the roulette table is poor skill at gambling, not luck.

If you put $1 on red and the ball lands on red then you get your $1 back and another $1 as your 'winnings.' In other words, the game was GIVING you 1:1 odds (put in $1, get back a profit of $1).

2:1 odds means put in $1, get back $3 ($2 profit).

This is the key to gambling, investing, and all decision making. Every decision in life.

The casino is PAYING you 1:1 odds. But are you GETTING from the roulette table 1:1 odds.

1:1 odds means that you have to have at least a 50% chance to win. If you have a 50% chance to win, then half the time you get $1 profit and half the time you lose the dollar you put in. In the long run, with a 50% chance to win, you will make on average $0 (you won't win money and you won't lose money).

The invention of probability was entirely because people were being GIVEN odds but nobody was calculating what the actual correct odds were.

Reno poker tournaments 2020. For instance, if I am making a 1:1 bet (an even-odds bet) but I'm only going to win 25% (1 out of 4) of the time, then I am making a horrible bet.

Let's say I have to pick the only Ace out of 4 hidden cards. I'm only going to win 25% of the time. Let's say the rules are that if I pick the Ace, I double my money. So $1 turns into $1 in profit and I get my original dollar back.

If I play 100 times with 25% odds then I will win (on average) 25 times (the 1 out of 4 times I guess correctly where the Ace is) and I will lose 75 times. So I make $25 but lose $75. So my net loss will be $50.

Not because I was unlucky. But because I was stupid.

If the game is GIVING you odds of X% (1:1 = 50%, 2:1 = 33%, etc.) then you need AT LEAST X% odds of winning in order to bet / invest.

Why is roulette bad? Because there are four choices: red, black, 0, and 00. And if I bet on red, the casino pays me at 1:1 odds. So I need at least 50%. But because of the 0 and 00 I only have a 47.26% chance of winning each time.

This is how casinos make billions of dollars. Slowly but surely, I'll win some, lose some, get on a big winning streak, a big losing streak, go to the buffett, go back and go on another losing streak, etc. Slowly but surely, the casino takes all of my money.

Every game in a casino (except poker) is set up that way. The odds are always SLIGHTLY on the casino's side. With absolutely correct play in blackjack, you can reduce the advantage the casino has to just under 1%. That is the best bet in the casino but my guess is you don't know perfect blackjack play. And I've known card counters. You and I are not card counters.

By the way, the person who 'invented' the first wearable computer was a gambler. He used a computer attached to his foot to calculate, based on where the ball was when the roulette wheel was spun, where it would end up when it landed.

Eventually he found it too hard to make money this way (although he did make money, defying the odds… or changing them) so he switched to stocks and made millions.

His book is excellent. 'A Man for All Markets' by Ed Thorp. But you might also know him from his classic book, which has sold millions since the '60s—'Beat the Dealer'—where he outlined for the first time the principles of card-counting in blackjack.

Ugh! I just wanted to write an article about political bets. But first I want to explain why it's fun and why it's a valuable lesson about investing.

We take it for granted that, given a casino game, we can figure out the odds of winning or losing. If we have two choices, then it's 50%; that's easy, right?

Many games are a bit more complicated. But, like with most things, vice leads to innovation.

Bovada online casino rigged slot machines. War led to nuclear power.

Porn fueled the rise of the internet.

And gambling created the entire mathematical theories of statistics and probability.

Gerolamo Cardano was a very 'Choose Yourself' person. Maybe too much so but I think I would have liked him.

First off, very vulnerable in his writings. He stated that his mother didn't want him and tried 'various abortive medicines' that obviously didn't work. He also states that he had many illnesses as a child including 'impotence.' I'm honestly curious how he arrived at that conclusion. Was it a physical thing or (my M.O. when first dating someone) psychological?

He wanted to be a doctor but couldn't get a license in Milan, where he lived, so he moved to a small town and just started practicing medicine. He 'chose himself' to be a doctor.

Only in recent society are we shamed into doing one thing in our lives. 'FOCUS!' all the people who are afraid to take risks start yelling at us. But imagine the person who focused on driving horse carriages in the 1890s. He would've been out of a job.

My father had a software business when I was a kid. By the time I was 12 years old, I was begging him to change his software to work on this new thing 'microcomputers.' I had my first Apple II+. But he wouldn't do it. 'Mainframes aren't going anywhere,' he said. By the time I graduated high school he was bankrupt and had a nervous breakdown. For years he cried every day. And then for the years before he passed away he sat every day and listened to music all day long.

Cardano was not focused. Yes, a practicing doctor. But then he also became a professor of mathematics. A biologist. A chemist. An astronomer. He wrote over 200 books. I wonder if anyone ever said to him, 'You can't do that!' which is the common phrase I hear when I try to do more than one thing.

But this is not why I bring him up.

He was a gambler. And why not? He gambled when he practiced medicine without a license. Hopefully he didn't cause too much damage and he was never found out.

But with gambling, maybe he wasn't the best at first. He was constantly losing. Constantly going broke and coming back and going broke and coming back.

Then he said to himself, 'Hmmm, maybe some math here will help me.' And it did. He basically invented the theory of probability and was the first one to write about it. He practiced his theories with dice. Both in the privacy of his home and in various gambling establishments. With probability on his side, he became very successful.

Eventually he retired to Rome where the pope finally gave him a license to practice medicine.

My point! Studying the odds you are given by the game versus the actual odds you come out a winner is important for success!

With dice, roulette, even blackjack, you can calculate those odds.

With poker slightly harder. You have to calculate not only the odds of your hand, but the odds your opponent has a better hand or (with the psychological aspect of poker) the odds your opponent is bluffing and how to factor that in.

Some games have 'perfect' information. Like roulette, where you know the exact odds. Some games are imperfect (like poker).

Life is a giant imperfect game of chance. Every decision can be a good or bad one. You have information that you know and also information that you don't know.

Should you plan a wedding on June 10? Yes, that seems very good. But you won't know until that morning if it will rain, so you have to plan for it just in case. You reduce risk by taking into account all the possible events, what their probabilities are, and what the rewards/losses are for each event.

If you plan an indoor wedding for June 10, then the loss is not much if there is a thunderstorm. But if the loss is great (in an outdoor plan), and if there's a greater than small chance of thunderstorm, you need to plan.

That's how gamblers think. It's the essence of poker. The 'pot odds' have to be worth it if you want to bet, combined with the odds of whether your opponent has a better hand than the one you are trying to make.

The math in poker is much more complicated. But all the professional players know the math and take it into account on every decision.

What about investing? The stock market is 100% a casino with imperfect information.

For instance, let's say Apple is going to report earnings next week. Will they be good or bad? You look up the past 100 earnings reports on Apple and you see (or your computer sees) that 50% of the time Apple went up after earnings, 50% of the time it went down. You see that when they released a new phone that quarter and exceeded expectations on phone sales, then the historical occurrences were 90 times it went up and 10 times it went down.

And when it went up, it went up pretty big. So you are satisfied with the odds and the reward.

BUT… how do you know if Apple will beat expectations?

The way to gamble in a game with imperfect information is try to use other data to get more information that other gamblers in the game are not getting.

Horloge murale casino. If you just call your friend who works in Apple's sales department and ask them, then that would be illegal insider trading.

So you have to get more clever. You call up 100 stores and ask how many of the new phones they have left.

If they answer 'Too many!' then you know they miscalculated what the demand would be for the new phone. So many you even short the stock (bet against it).

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If the majority answer with, 'We don't have any! It's on back-order. Should be about four weeks,' then you know that demand blew it away so Apple will exceed.

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Now, you have to assume you aren't the only one doing this sort of investigating so you start looking at message boards, calling your friends, looking at other highly profitable Apple products, etc. to get as much information as possible.

The stock market is pricing in certain odds based on all the information collected by all the investors. If you think you have an 'information edge' in this game of imperfect information, and the edge is big enough to make you think you have a 90% chance of getting the bet correct and the risk/reward is appropriate for you based on the size of your bankroll (money management being another critical part of gambling mathematics) then you make your bet.

Phew!

I could go on. What are the odds you should invest time in a relationship? Etc. But I really just want to describe my bets on the election betting side: Predictit.org.

Stay tuned tomorrow for Part 2 of this article.