Can I win at live blackjack?
Unlike slots, live blackjack is more than just a game of luck. Players, therefore, have the chance to exert some influence over the outcome of the game. Unlike the average slot game, card games require an element of skill and decision making.
What is live blackjack?
Live blackjack is a game of blackjack online against other live players. Live blackjack has many benefits, it’s more convenient than travelling to a real casino to gamble and it provides new players with the chance to learn to play the game while wagering smaller amounts of money than at a land casino. As well as the other players, the dealer is also a real person. There is no computer controlling the dealer or any of the other players.
When playing live blackjack, you will see a live video of a real dealer sitting at a real table. The dealer will deal with actual cards, and you will watch the dealer via the live video. Image scanning technology is used to send you images of what cards you have. Live blackjack, therefore, is more similar to a real casino experience than most other forms of online gambling.
Just like in a real casino, every blackjack table is different. The number of players varies, and there can be minimum and maximum bets. It is easier to play for only a small amount of money online than it is to do this in the casino. Much like gambling in general, it is challenging but not impossible to play well enough to put the odds in your favour.
Some forms of online blackjack use a random number generator and do not have a live dealer. Live blackjack is much more fun as there is a real blackjack dealer involved. The dealer is an employee in an actual room, and a professional dealer, just like a dealer in Vegas would be.
How to play live blackjack?
Playing live blackjack is possible for anyone who has reasonably fast internet access. You will play with live dealers - who have been fully trained for the job, just like in a land casino - and the game will play out in real-time on your screen. One does not even need a laptop or desktop to play; a compatible mobile phone is good enough. All it requires is decent internet access.
First, you’ll have to find a trustworthy online casino in which you would like to play blackjack. You must then sign up and create an account, which will require debit or credit card information in addition to an email address. It is not a long and complicated signup process. You can sign up for an online casino almost as quickly as you can sign up for anything else that requires a credit or debit card online.
Tables for as little as a minimum of $5 per hand are easy to find. Online blackjack is not always low stakes blackjack, for example, an online table with stakes - as high as a minimum of €1000 per hand - can be found. You can chat with the other players and the dealer while playing. While the dealer uses voice chat, you and the other players might only be able to chat with text. The dealer will do everything in front of the camera, such as shuffling the cards, to ensure that the game is fair. Your cards and the other players' face-up cards are easy to see. The few rules of the table will appear on the same screen as the live video of the dealer. You may have to click a button to view the table's complete rules, as the main screen will show only a few.
At the bottom of the screen, you will see a few buttons representing casino chips. You can use these buttons to raise by $5, $20, $50, and so on. As at a casino, you can choose to stand, hit, double, surrender, or split. Once everyone has made their decisions, the bets will be added up, and your account will either gain or lose money. There is usually a minimum withdrawal from accounts on online casinos, so you might not be able to withdraw immediately after winning a small amount of money.
Hot tips for playing blackjack
- Before a player can learn how to beat the dealer, they should know how to avoid common mistakes that many people make at casinos or in live blackjack. Until one knows how to avoid common mistakes, there is no use for a more advanced strategy.
- Not being sure of the playing rules
- Different tables have different rules, and you have to know exactly what you are doing. You cannot be unsure of a rule. Many tables have rules that are more strongly against the players than others. It stands to reason that if you want to increase your chances of winning, you have to have as many things in your favour, and as few things against you, as possible. Table rules that are against you can give the house too much of an advantage.
- If the dealer stands on a 17, then the table may offer better chances of winning than other live blackjack tables. If you get a blackjack, do you get paid as much as 3:2? If you win much less - 6:5 or worse, you could consider the odds to be too much in the house's favour.
Standard blackjack strategy
Basic blackjack strategy is proven to work over the long term as it’s based on mathematics. There are particular ways to play based on what cards you have in your hand compared to the dealer. Blackjack strategy is not based on gut feeling. It is not different for each game. Basic strategy is about tables and blackjack charts, which you should understand and follow. If you know basic strategy, you should always know what to do based on what cards you have in your hand and what card the dealer has revealed. You should not have to do any guessing.
If you are playing online, it is easier to use basic strategy than in land casinos. In a casino, they won't let you bring in a blackjack cheat sheet, for example. If you are playing online, on the other hand, you can have a piece of paper or a book with you and quickly look up what to do if you aren't sure. The pace of the game is fast, so in the long run it’s better to know the strategy and not have to look anything up, but a cheat sheet can be a lifesaver for a new player.
The basic blackjack strategy is mathematically proven, and you will not improve on it by coming up with your own ideas about what to do in each situation. If you use the basic strategy, for the most part you have to play blackjack as if you were a computer following a program. Do what the basic strategy suggests you should do in each case. Play something other than blackjack if you want the nature of the approach to be different and more about improvisation.
Don't increase your bet because you think you are about to win
Just because you have lost the last few times in a row does not mean you are "due for a win." There is no such thing as being due for a win. The odds of flipping a coin and having it come up heads ten times in a row are quite low, but this does not mean that the next flip is more likely to be tails. The odds of the coin landing on heads for the 11th time is 1 out of 2 - as there are only two outcomes. A player is never, no matter how many times they have lost in a row, due for a win. Luck is not magical. If you think about luck the wrong way, it is easy to lose mone
Blackjack bankroll management
Before you play, know the maximum that you are willing to risk losing. You should know how much you can afford to wager before you play and stick to that limit. Don't rely on credit cards or any other form of debt to get you out of trouble when you lose. Have a strict limit and accept a loss rather than going beyond your limit to chase winnings.
Side bets
Many online and offline blackjack tables let you make side bets. Side bets involve betting on the particular outcome for the game, irrespective of your hand winning. It is possible to lose the main wager against the dealer's hand but still win your side bet.
How to win at live blackjack?
Once you understand basic strategy, you need to have a more advanced plan that allows you to have a slight edge over the casino instead of a slight disadvantage. Obviously, in the long run, the house will always win, or else it can’t stay in business. But the other side of staying in business is attracting players to the game, which means there must be opportunities for players to win. Adopting strategies and playing with a plan helps to increase your chances of winning.
Oscar's Grind
Oscar's Grind is a betting strategy that can be used for all gambling, whether online or offline and regardless of which game. Oscar's Grind involves raising the amount you bet on each hand each time you win and lowering the amount you bet on each hand each time you lose. One has winning streaks and losing streaks, and with this strategy, you can hopefully bet less when you are losing and bet more when you are winning.
Oscar's Grind also emphasizes quitting when you are ahead. If you have won more than you have lost today, it is time to stop. A player should end a session after winning. While this strategy does improve the odds of winning money over time, it is not enough on its own without card counting. Card counting is the decisive factor that pushes your odds of making money up to better than even.
Learn to read the dealer
Reading the dealer’s hand is imperative to successfully playing blackjack. You need to know the rules that the dealer has to abide by to understand the potential for the dealer's hand. The dealer receives one card face up and the other face down and cannot act until every player has resolved their turn. In most live blackjack games, the dealer must draw a card on 16 and stand on 17 - unless they have a "soft 17". The dealer is not allowed to split or double down, no matter the cards they've been dealt.
FAQ
✅How do I know that an online casino is trustworthy?
While a fraudulent online casino is unlikely to operate in the long run, it might get away with it in the short term. Therefore, you should look for an online casino that has many reviews backing up its honesty. Look for multiple sources of information that prove the online casino's legitimacy. Online gambling is highly regulated nowadays. Make sure that the casino is obeying legal regulations.
✅Can I play live blackjack without risking any actual money?
While some forms of online gambling are playable for free, live blackjack (blackjack with a live dealer) is not. The casino would lose money on free players, as they would have to pay the live dealer to deal for people who are not spending any money. Finding a game with a low minimum bet is possible, but it’s unlikely you’ll be able to find a free live blackjack table anywhere. You might start playing blackjack for free without a live dealer and then switch over to live dealer blackjack once you are ready to risk real money.
✅Are the minimum bets also higher if there is a live dealer?
Yes. While the minimum bets are lower than at most casinos, they are higher than for online blackjack without a live dealer. Again, this is because it costs the casino money to run these live blackjack casinos, and they have to make a lot more than they spend.
✅Should one practice without a live dealer first?
Yes, they should learn the game online playing for very little money. An almost entirely inexperienced player should become familiar with the blackjack strategy and the risk involved first.
✅Where to play live blackjack online?
A popular online casino that has been around for years is more likely to be better run. A casino does not have to rig its games to make money, just win most of the time, which leads to a near guarantee of profits in the long run. If a casino dares to rig its games, people tend to find out sooner rather than later. Therefore, one should look for an online casino that has been around for more than a little while and has plenty of players.
LV Bet is a great online casino for playing live blackjack. There’s a huge range of blackjack variations to choose from and multiple tables upon which to play. So, you’ll always be able to find a game to play that suits your betting limits and preferences.
