Online Blackjack

Online blackjack is one of the most popular casino card games that is offered. It gives players a much better house edge than many of the other casino games, which makes it a favorite among players. Blackjack online is a simple game to learn but has a lot of information.

This OnlineUnitedStatesCasinos blackjack guide covers different aspects of the game. Learn how to play a round of blackjack online, with the rule variations players need to keep in mind. The main way to reduce the house edge is to learn the basic blackjack strategy and follow the optimum decisions.

Best Blackjack Casinos  

Complete Guide to Online Blackjack

Play blackjack at the best online casinos that are reputable and highly recommended. Take a look at the different blackjack game variations that offer players different ways of playing. As technology advances, so does the gambling experience. You can have a better experience by playing Live Dealer Blackjack or mobile blackjack from your smartphone or tablet.

For those with more questions, check out the common answers in the FAQ section.

How to Play Online Blackjack

Most people learn to play online blackjack, or 21 as many players call it, at a young age. It’s a great game to help young children learn how to quickly add numbers from 1 to 11. If you haven’t had the opportunity to play before or just need a quick refresher, here’s a step by step guide on how to play online blackjack.

Best Blackjack Online Casinos

Here is a list of the best online casinos that offer blackjack. You will see how many decks, the edge, and what the blackjack payout is when you play the classic blackjack game at any of these casinos.

Casino	Country	# of Decks	Edge	Blackjack Pays	# of Variants	Mobile Blackjack	Live Dealer Blackjack
Slots.LV	USA	6	99.32%	3:2	6	Yes	No
BetOnline	USA	6	99.35%	3:2	10	Yes	Yes
Las Vegas USA	USA	6	99.46%	3:2	10	Yes	Yes
888 Casino	INT	4	99.67%	3:2	4	Yes	Yes
Betway Casino	INT	5	99.60%	3:2	30	Yes	Yes

Online Blackjack Bonuses

Every online casino offer bonuses and promotions to entice new players to try their games. While you should take advantage of every possible bonus that helps extend your bankroll, you need to always read all of the terms and conditions before accepting a bonus. Even though all casino sites will offer a welcome bonus, there aren’t many promotions tailored specifically for blackjack.

Some bonuses are available for a range of games including blackjack but you have to play more hands to clear them than by playing slots or other games. These are some of the bonus disclaimers that you should be aware of:

• You might only need to play 30 times the bonus and deposit amount if you play slots but 10 times that if you play blackjack.
• Bonuses usually restrict your ability to cash out until you clear the bonus by meeting the clearing requirements.

CASINO	BONUS AMOUNT	MATCH RATE	ROLLOVER	CLAIM BONUS
	$100	10%	x20	Play at Bovada
	$3,000	150%	x50 – x90	Play at Las Vegas USA

Free Online Blackjack

Blackjack is one of the most common games players will find at an online casino. Several formats of the game are provided, including the standard format and unique variations. At most online casinos, games can be accessed in free play and real money blackjack formats. With free online blackjack, you have a way to play the game before you wager real cash. This way you can get a feel for the game finding the format that you enjoy.

Online casinos that offer free blackjack will list Practice Mode or Free Play when you click to play the game. Choose this option if you wish to play for free before betting real cash.

• Practice Play – If you are new to the game of blackjack or online play, the free mode allows you to practice before wagering real money. This way, you know how to place bets and how the game plays out before any risk is involved.
• Work on Strategy – The game of blackjack is one where strategy is involved. There are several strategies that can be used and betting options, that you may not feel comfortable with just yet. By playing for free, you can use various strategies to see what works best for you before trying your game plan with real money.
• Find Your Favorite Game – With free play, you can try several blackjack games at no cost to you. Try a few variants to find the blackjack game that meets your gameplay needs.

Free blackjack games play the same as a real money game, except you are using play chips instead of real cash. Once you get a feel for the blackjack game, switch to real money to begin wagering cash.

Rule Variations

Blackjack has many possible rule variations and each one either helps the player or the house. Here’s an explanation of the most common variations you’ll find in both online casinos and land based ones.

Pagat has a good overview of the rule variations available at online blackjack tables.

Playing Blackjack Online

The internet is good for many things, and one of the best is the ability to play blackjack online. You no longer have to travel down to the local casino or jump on a plane and travel to Las Vegas or another gambling mecca to try your hand at a game of 21.

Simply log into your favorite online casino and start playing in seconds. Even if you’ve never played online before it only takes a couple minutes to get started. If you wish to see what blackjack games and variants are offered by the different software developers.

You can learn more about the best online casinos by reading the reviews on this site. Or use the links to find the best online blackjack casinos in the table above.

There are many different blackjack game variations, some of which include:

Basic Blackjack Strategy

Online blackjack is played with a deck of cards, or a number of decks, each containing exactly 52 different playing cards. The set nature of the card values means that every card that is played leaves an exact number of cards remaining in the deck. For example, if the Ace of spades is removed from a single deck of cards you know that it’s not possible for another Ace of spades to be played until it gets shuffled back into the deck.

The reason this is important is that when you’re dealing with an exact set of cards you can develop mathematical models that tell you what the best possible play is in every situation at the online blackjack table. This correct mathematical model is called the basic blackjack strategy. You don’t have to figure out any of the math, it’s already been done by others. All you have to do is follow the advice to benefit from it.

Every play is based on the cards in your hand and the up card the dealer is showing.

When the correct math and computer programs are used it looks at the same situation based on every single way it can turn out in the long run. Many computer programs run simulations millions of times to see which play is the most profitable. Sometimes two plays are profitable, but one is always more profitable on average than the other. At the time every possible play is unprofitable, but one play will be less unprofitable than the others.

Here’s a blackjack strategy chart you can use. You should print it out and use it while playing, or simply have it ready when you play blackjack online. Often you can find small cards with basic online blackjack strategy at the online casinos you play at. For those that play online and use this chart, you’ll quickly memorize the best plays and eventually stop using the chart.

We’ve color-coded the chart to make it easier to read:

• Hit simply means hit or take a single additional card. It’s color-coded green because green means go.
• Double means to double down. Simply slide an extra bet equal to your first wager out.
• Stand means stand or take no more cards. It’s color-coded red because red means stop.
• Split means split. Put your cards side by side and slide an additional bet the same size as your first bet forward.
• The H stands for a hard hand. An H5 means a three and a two.
• The S stands for a soft hand, so each one includes an Ace counted as 11. If you have a hand with the Ace counted as one, you have a hard hand.

You need to learn additional rules for games that have surrender as an option.

The following adjustments need to be made if you aren’t allowed to double after splitting.

The only other main strategy concern you need to know is you should never take insurance. As you read in the opening section, taking an insurance bet is basically betting on whether or not the dealer has a 10 valued card in the hole. If the dealer has a 10 you win 2 to1 and with any other card, you lose.

The deck has 10’s, jacks, queens, and kings as 10 valued cards. The cards that aren’t 10’s are aces, twos, threes, fours, fives, sixes, sevens, eights, and nines. So nine card ranks make you lose and four card ranks make you a winner. This makes the odds 9 to 4, but only pays 2 to 1. 2 to 1 is the same as 8 to 4, so you can see that 9 to 4 odds are worse than the 8 to 4 odds, making insurance a losing bet.

It is vital that online blackjack players learn how to manage their bankroll. If you lose all of your money in one gaming session, you won’t be able to win back your money. This is why learning to manage your money is important. You can check out our guide to bankroll management to help improve your gameplay. Remember, no money = no blackjack betting.

Live Dealer Blackjack

Were you aware that you can play online blackjack with a real dealer almost exactly the same way you play at your local casino?

Using video streaming technology, many online casinos offer live dealers, usually attractive females in skimpy outfits much like in many real casinos, who deal on the camera. Once you log in and get started it’s easy to forget you’re playing online instead of at a big casino resort in Las Vegas.

Not every online casino has live dealer play, so check the reviews we offer or look for the live dealer section on the individual casino websites linked to from this site.

Mobile Blackjack Games

Technology is always improving and making things that seemed impossible only a few years ago normal. One of the most amazing technological advancements over the past several years is how useful mobile phones and other devices have become.

You can play a game of blackjack on your smartphone or tablet from almost anywhere. And we’re not talking about some watered down version with simple graphics either, but instead a mobile blackjack version that looks and plays just like a regular online casino game. You can play the same blackjack game you play at home on your desktop or laptop computer.

Almost any phone or tablet that uses an Android operating system or an iPhone or iPad has online casinos that offer great blackjack games. Some internet casinos even support Blackberry and Windows based phones.

Simply follow one of the links on this site to an online casino and look for the mobile gaming section of their site. You can download or access the apps directly from the casino website. You don’t want to go to the regular app store or iTunes store. They usually don’t have the best versions and options for blackjack players.

There are three different platforms that you can use in order to play blackjack on your mobile device, whether it is Android, Apple iOS, or even BlackBerry.

Counting Cards

If you’ve been playing blackjack for long and have read anything about the game you’ve probably come across some information about counting cards to gain an edge against the casino and the blackjack tables.

Blackjack players tend to have one of two reactions to this news. They either instantly think that counting cards is too hard so they don’t consider it, or they want to know as much about it as possible so they can start winning money on a consistent basis instead of being a long term losing blackjack player. There are plenty of books on this subject that players can read and get informed.

The good news is that players can get an advantage against the casinos by learning how to count cards. The bad news is you have to play in a live casino to use your skills for profit. You can practice while playing online, but the online games are designed in a way that eliminates the ability to gain an edge by counting.

If you’re one of the players who think counting is too hard to learn, you need to learn more about how it’s done before you sell yourself short. If you can add or subtract one from a single number you keep in your head you can learn to count cards while playing blackjack.

If the count is a positive three and a two is dealt, you add one to your count. Your new count is positive four. If the net card is a king, you subtract one from your count. The new count is three. If the next card is a jack you subtract one. This makes the new count two.

See how easy counting cards at the blackjack table is?

Of course, you need to learn what to do in certain situations based on the count, but if you take your time and have confidence you can do it you can learn to count cards quickly and easily.

But don’t even think about counting cards at blackjack until you have memorized the basic strategy decisions and can make them correctly 100% of the time. Without using the best basic blackjack strategy every single time, you’ll give up too much of an edge to make counting worth learning.

The online casinos have software that shuffles the cards after each hand so even though it seems like you’re working your way through the blackjack shoe you’re playing a new hand every time with a fresh set of cards. Even the live dealer casinos switch shoes often because they know about card counters too.