20 things you didn’t know about blackjack

While blackjack is a straight forward casino game that most everyone understands, there are many aspects of the game that blackjack players may not be familiar with. Whether a beginner or a pro at the blackjack table, your understanding of the blackjack game will surely expand with our list of 20 things you did not know about blackjack:

1. Players are sometimes permitted to surrender – When the hand does not go your way, players are sometimes allowed to surrender. When you surrender, you are forfeiting half your bet in exchange for simply getting out of the hand. When the expected value of the hand using optimal strategy is a loss amounting to greater than one-half a bet, surrendering is the best option. If the casino permit’s a surrender, take it as appropriate.
   
2. Playing like the dealer gives the house a huge edge. When you play blackjack using the same strategy as the house dealer, the house has a significant advantage. In most blackjack games, this edge is greater than 5% when implementing the same tactics the dealer uses. While imitation is a great form of flattery, it also results in going broke.
   
3. If the house gives you a win for drawing six cards or more, it is called a six-card Charlie. The six-card Charlie rule gives the player nearly a .25% advantage at the table.
   
4. A similar rule, called the five-card Charlie gives the player an added 1.46% edge against the house when the 5 card Charlie results in an automatic win.
   
5. If blackjack pays 2 to 1, as opposed to the standard 3 to 2 or 6 to 5, players increase their edge by over 2.25%.
   
6. Some automated blackjack games that you find in offline casinos deal from different shoes. This means that the dealer is dealt from one virtual blackjack shoe, while the players receive cards from a second shoe.
   
7. A fearful blackjack strategy – one in which a player vows never to take a bust card is a bad one. Though busting results in a loss, failing to hit anything over an eleven hands the house nearly an additional 4% edge.
   
8. The game of blackjack has a hall of fame! The Blackjack Hall of Fame is located in San Diego, CA at the Barona Casino and currently contains 17 members.
   
9. In and of itself, card counting is not illegal, despite beliefs to the contrary.
   
10. Surprisingly, blackjack is dealt or occurs roughly 4.8% of the time, which means a player can expect to be dealt blackjack nearly 1 out of every 20 hands dealt!
    
11. The house possesses at least a 7% additional edge when a player takes insurance. Thus, one of the best ways to insure your bet against blackjack is to decline the dealer’s offer of insurance.
    
12. Speaking of insurance, when a player has blackjack and the dealer has an ace showing – the dealer will sometimes offer “even money” for the blackjack in exchange for being exempt from losing if the dealer shows blackjack. This is the same as insurance and gives the dealer an increased edge of 7% in the hand.
    
13. Even optimal blackjack strategy can book a loser over the course of a session. The shorter the timeframe for any type of blackjack strategy, the higher the variance. Optimal blackjack strategy is designed to be measured and implemented over the lifetime of blackjack play, so if playing optimally – stay the course even if you are amidst a losing session.
    
14. In the average Vegas Casino, there is five times as many blackjack tables as there are any other table games.
    
15. Over half the gamblers who walk into a Vegas Casino play at least one hand of blackjack during their visit.
    
16. It is a bad decision to double down when dealt 21, even if blackjack pays even money! Never double down when you have blackjack. The only blackjack variant where not accepting blackjack is profitable is in the variation of blackjack known as Triple Up 21. In this game, it is OK to triple down on your blackjack only when the dealer shows a six.
    
17. If you are not a card counter, the house edge neither increases nor decreases based on how far into the shoe the game gets. Additionally, groups or clumping of higher or lower cards does not move the house edge for non-card counters in blackjack.
    
18. Using the blackjack rules found in most Atlantic City Casinos, blackjack players have a 52.11% chance of winning or pushing (tying) any given hand of blackjack they play.
    
19. On the flip side, players have a 56.69% chance of either losing or pushing a hand of blackjack under the same Atlantic City Casino blackjack rules.
    
20. Failing to double down or split when you are supposed to do so (per optimal blackjack strategy) hands the house a 2% edge every time you fail to take the opportunity to double or split your blackjack hand when you should.