How to make money playing Blackjack online
I recently made a post about Blackjack reference cards and the basic strategy for Blackjack. While, I do enjoy gambling, it’s very important to know your limits; otherwise the game can become a very dangerous addiction. My best ‘result’ in Blackjack yielded me $4,000 USD from a $50 USD investment. If you do the math, that’s a 8000% ROI (Return on Investment)! That WAS NOT a typo! What’s more impressive is that I made this in under 40 minutes!
I recently got into playing at
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I’ve played at several online blackjack sites but this one has become a personal preference. The interface is rather typical, but the variations of Blackjack and the ability to cash out at ANY TIME makes this one stand out apart from the others. On top of that, minimum bets start from $1! Note: the majority of online casinos have minimum bets of $5. This makes it frustrating to play if you only plan to start out with $35 or so (recreational play).
However, as you should be aware: Blackjack is a game of probability. This also means that at some point, there will be losses. You win some; and you lose some. With my ‘best result’ above, I had been up to $5,000USD at one point, but made some foolish $300 max bets and splits on poor plays. I realized at that point, my emotions were affecting my gameplay and cashed out immediately.
The biggest challenge that I face when playing Blackjack is when to cash out. For myself, after I have general “feel for the game”, I become over confident with my game play and occasionally risk it all. In fact, I’ve had many instances where I was up $700+ and simply lost it all! Obviously, this is very frustrating after realizing that I could have made a net of $500+ but made poor decisions in the end.
So how do you avoid this from happening?
Blackjack, should be treated as a game of probability. Make it a game to beat the odds, rather than playing to make money. For example, if you consider it as a game and stick to minimum bets only, you will be able to determine whether you can beat the odds (or not). Make it a game of numbers and see if you can predict the outcomes. Just to reiterate, play it as a recreational sport rather than aiming to do this professional. You may get there eventually, but start by making it a simple numbers game.
To illustrate this point, let’s say that you cash in at $100. Keep in mind: most online casinos have a minimum bet of $5, (real casinos have a tendency to start at $15-25). If you happen to start with a streak of terrible cards, you have at a minimum 20 chances ($100 / $5 = 20 hands) before hitting the bank again. However, if you stick to the basic strategy of blackjack and use the reference cards, you can optimize your chances of winning and also to maximize your winnings.
If you split, double-down, and hit at the appropriate times, you can easily see yourself in the green. After a certain point in time, check your pot to see if you’ve made a gain. If you have… then great! Keep at it and use this basic strategy to see how much you can make!
Another suggestion is before starting to play, make a goal of when you’re willing to cash out. Let’s say for example, you started with a $100 buy-in and decide if you make $50, you are willing to cash out. Do not go below this threshold and maintain your composure at all times!
At some point in time, you may need some variation with Blackjack and this is where sidebets start to come to play. You may have seen players at the casino making side-bets on top of their current bets and wondered how this works. It’s simple really and varies depending on the variation of Blackjack.
As the name implies, side bets are simply bets made on the side. Basically you’re making it a 2-way game instead of one. The most common side-bets on Blackjack involve progressive betting and matching pairs. Alternatively, variations of these include betting on suits and the payouts each vary as well.
Some examples include:
Lucky Queens – payouts are based on matching pairs and max payouts 200:1 if 2 Queens are dealt to a player with at least one queen of hearts.
High Streaks – bets are placed on progressive wins. If a player continues to re-bet his bet on the next hand, payouts can reach a maximum payout of 10:1!
| Sidebet | Payout | Sample |
|---|---|---|
| Initial bet | - | $5 |
| 2nd streak bet | 1:1 | Win $5 ($5+$5) |
| 3rd streak bet | 2:1 | win $10×2=$20 |
| 4th streak bet | 5:1 | win $20×5=$100 |
| 5th streak bet | 10:1 | win $100×10=$1,000 |
As you can see above, if you are able to win consecutive wins, the sidebet increasingly gets higher. In the example above, a $5 sidebet could potentially lead to a $1,000 payout! Note: You can cash out of your sidebet after each hand and do no necessarily need to keep going. In most casion cases, players cash out once they have reached the $100 payout level (4th streak).
JackpotCity has a wide variety of Blackjack games which vary from multi-hand, high stakes, and side betting. See below for a sample screenshot of page 1 of 4!
