In online blackjack, the aim of the game is for you to beat the dealer. You must get as close as possible to 21 points, but you must not exceed 21 whatsoever. The scoring system is peculiar to the game of blackjack, but they are fairly straightforward to follow, and are followed by both online and land-based casinos. In terms of the cards, an ace may count for either one or eleven, depending on which value best fits the game situation, and may be considered soft or hard, with soft being a hand where the player is in no danger of going over 21 from his next card. All court cards, such as Kings, Queens and Jacks are worth ten, with the remainder of the pack being worth their exact face value.

A player’s score is calculated by simply adding up the total number of all the cards in their hand at any one time on the basis of the scoring system described. Although blackjack is devoid of much of the specialist terminology of some casino games, it does have a few distinct phrases and words: A ‘bust’ is what happens when a player draws a card that takes the total value of their current hand over the 21 point limit, which is a losing hand. A ‘blackjack’ or ‘natural’ hand is a hand in which the first two cards received add up to a winning score of 21. Of course, as denoted above, this would only be possible if you drew a face card or ten and an ace.  A ‘push’ or a ‘tie’ is where both hands either win (where they have a natural hand or an equal value) or have bust values. In the event of a tie, both players’ bets are returned to them.

First off, the dealer deals two cards to each player, including himself. At each hand, each player must decide whether to ’surrender’ by folding their hand and withdrawing from the game, which will cost the player half of the total value of their bet. Alternatively, a player can also decide to ‘hit’, which means that they ask for another card. They can ’stand’, which means that they will hold the hand they have and will not take another card.

You can also split pairs when your first two cards are equally scoring cards.You can then choose to split them and play them separately. You may also ‘double’, which is very similar to a hit and increasing your bet. If you believe that the next card to come will be good for your hand, you can declare double, by which you add a bet equal to your original. In doing so, you are only allowed one additional card. There is also ‘insurance’, which happens when the dealer turns up an ace. When this happens, the dealer will offer the players insurance, in order to bet against blackjack. The dealer will, in this case, check the next card for blackjack, and the player will lose the original bet, with the insurance bet being paid at double odds, thereby covering the original bet. If the dealer doesn’t have blackjack, the player will lose both bets.

Simple as that. A very easy game for those newbies wanting to get their foot in the door of gambling.

Actually this is somewhat of a misleading title because mathematics is definitely needed to play successful blackjack as it is with poker of course. Now before we go any further, I have spent considerable time down the years analysing both blackjack and poker and there are striking similarities between the two in many areas. This analysis also stretched across into online casino games and online poker as well.

Also I am not a mathematician and my understanding of mathematics is probably around GCSE standard so in no way am I qualified to talk about mathematics. However there comes a time in both blackjack and poker where mathematics and the use of it have a dramatically diminishing effect.

For instance, when I played blackjack I was more concerned with other issues like shuffle tracking, evading detection and finding profitable games. Mathematics have their rightful place of course and people like Donald Schlesinger, Standford Wong and Peter Griffin explored the game mathematically far deeper than I ever could.

But there are clear differences between understanding blackjack very deeply and being able to get away with it consistently. In my mind, this requires skills that books probably cannot teach. It is similar to poker in many ways, no amount of reading can make a player keep emotional control all the time or respect their bankroll and use it professionally.

No amount of reading can make a player take the time and effort to select optimal games or optimal playing times either. This is the same with blackjack, game selection and bankroll management are critical but how do you teach someone self control? How do you teach them to have an increased attitude to risk so that they can play the game at all?

How do you teach them when to do certain things and when not to do them based on how a certain pit boss is positioned and what certain looks by managers actually mean? All this comes with experience and while I never had the mathematical prowess of a Peter Griffin, I did have the crucial experience of operating on the actual shop floor so to speak and that in my mind is absolutely essential.

This is why card counters get caught, they learn all about blackjack (in most cases they simply do not learn enough) but they know jack about casinos and how they operate and react to certain things. The ones that are successful are only successful for a while and they get caught. They learn highly complicated level three and level four counting systems that have excellent betting and playing efficiencies and then think that they have a chance to make money.

I am positive that the greatest poker players in the world both live and online are not the best mathematically. But they do have a gift for knowing how to make money and selecting who to play against and when and some online players make millions doing this. In blackjack you need to know basic strategy obviously and a few strategy deviations but even these are nowhere near as numerous as what many people believe.

Then obviously you need to learn a counting system and learn it well and be able to count so fast that you can do so without having to stare at the table and look like a counter. Then you need to be able to get money on the table without getting heat and not just once but on repeated occasions. It’s a difficult game and mathematics play their part but they also have their limits too.

This article was written by Carl “The Dean” Sampson