Blackjack is firmly lodged in our popular culture, a big part of the modern casino zeitgeist. The MIT blackjack team’s card-counting exploits, woven into books and even a feature film, put blackjack back in the national spotlight, a spot it originally earned because blackjack is just plain cool. The word blackjack calls to mind smoky casino floors, men in exquisitely tailored suits, stacks of chips, and intrigue.
This page looks at blackjack past, present, and future, why people love this simple European game, and how the game’s rules have changed over time. Our blackjack guide covers some of the most popular card counting systems including the KO and A-5 in addition to variations of the game, how to play online and blackjack strategy.
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You will also find pages comparing the best sites to play blackjack online. This includes casinos with real money games, compatibility for Macs and mobile devices as well as bonus offers.
Last but not least, if you have any questions about online blackjack or blackjack in general, we offer an extensive FAQ guide with answers to over 100 blackjack questions.
The Absolute Best Blackjack Casinos for 2020
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Online Blackjack Guide – Best Sites / Compatibility / Game Variants
The most significant difference between online blackjack and live blackjack are the options. By playing online you have more control over the kinds of games available to you, how you want to play them and even the payouts or betting limits.
Below is a sample list of the most popular pages on our site. This list includes real money sites, where to play for free, blackjack casinos for US players and even live dealer casinos. If you’ve never played a hand online, use the free game below to take it for a test drive.
Playing Blackjack on a Mobile Device & Apps
Our mobile section provides reviews and comparisons of online blackjack games compatible with a variety of devices. Use the links below to find casinos that offer blackjack games for your mobile device. Each review covers how to play for real money and free, bonuses for new players and game variations.
Part 1 - Blackjack Strategy, Odds & TermsPart 1 of our blackjack FAQ answers strategy questions as well as terms, online play and odds.
Part 2 - Negative Variation, Insurance, & House EdgePart 2 of our guide covers negative variation, insurance options, house edge, surrendering and more.
Part 3 - Card Counting, Deviation, Shills & ClumpingPart 3 answers questions for card counting, deviation, casino shills, decks and splitting.
Part 4 - Books, Systems, Online Play & VariationsPart 4 covers bankroll requirements, ebooks, blackjack systems, variations in the game and strategy.
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How a Game of Blackjack Works
Players place a wager before any cards are dealt. Players who wager are then dealt two cards face up. The dealer is dealt one card face up and one card face down.
All players can choose to either stay at the point total they’re at, or they can press their luck and try to get their point total closer to 21 without going over. Once all the game’s players are done with their decisions, the blackjack dealer turns up the face-down card. In most modern blackjack games, the dealer must stand on any total of 17 or higher and must hit on totals of 16 or lower.
- » Ace to Five Card Count
- » KO Card Count
- » High Low Card Count
- » Card Counting Methods
- » Blackjack Strategy Charts
- » Reducing the House Edge
- » Buying Insurance
- » What Are Negative Variations?
- » What Are Positive Variations?
- » The Odds in Blackjack?
- » Online vs. Live Blackjack
- » How Do I Play Perfect Blackjack?
- » Blackjack Tips
- » Dealer Probabilities
- » Blackjack charts
- » Single Deck Blackjack
Blackjack Strategy
Those are just the most basic rules for blackjack, but it’s easy to see where blackjack’s rules leave wiggle room for strategy. The most obvious advantage players have over the house is that they know exactly how the House is going to react to different point totals. If the House draws a total of 15, the House has to take another card. Players are the only ones at the blackjack table with true free will. This freedom to choose creates opportunities for strategic thinking and play.
Blackjack, because of the rules of the game, offers some of the best odds in the casino. Since the middle of the 20th century, blackjack strategy has been perfected by mathematicians and professional gamblers. Blackjack strategy cards lay out in plain English what moves are optimal for every possible blackjack hand. If you follow those basic blackjack strategy tips every hand, the House edge on an average blackjack game is approximately 0.5%. (Rules variants in some casinos can affect this house edge. For example, if a casino only pays out 6 to 5 on a blackjack instead of 3 to 2, the house edge goes up dramatically.)
Further attempts to apply strategy to blackjack led directly to the idea of keeping a mental count of which cards have been played. This is now called “card counting” or “counting cards.” Because card counting isn’t cheating, requiring only a great memory and a head for numbers, it’s a legitimate and legal strategy. But casinos retain the right to refuse service to suspected card counters, which makes it a risky strategy.
Blackjack has long occupied a starring role in casinos. Online casino gambling has brought the portside gamble once known as ventiuna into our living rooms. Card counters and professional gamblers, not to mention gambling cheats, have used the game’s rules to their advantage, winning millions of dollars and securing blackjack’s place in people’s minds as the go-to game for big bucks. As long as blackjack tables offer the most advantageous odds of any table game, expect to see crowds gathered around blackjack tables, pressing their luck for a piece of the casino’s coffers.
The History of Blackjack
The first known written reference to blackjack comes to us from a Spanish literary giant. Most famous for the farcical novel Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes was the first to describe the game ventiuna. All we know from Cervantes is that the object of the game was to score as close to 21 without going over, and that Ace cards could be worth either 1 or 11 points. Sound familiar?
Cervantes wrote the reference to blackjack in the early 17th century, meaning blackjack has been with us for at least 400 years. Since ventiuna was a game played among workers in port cities, it’s no surprise that the game, or versions of it, made its way around the world.
When ventiuna made its way to the UK, the British called it “pontoon,” a phonetic bastardization of the Spanish ventiuna. Pontoon and other versions of ventiuna around the world added a new wrinkle to the game, a reward for a hand made up of the Ace of Spades and the Jack of Clubs or Jack of Spades. Both of those Jacks are black, so it’s easy to see where the name blackjack comes from.
Like other casino and card games, blackjack became popular across America during the 1800s, as the frontier was settled and America’s borders spread to the west. Blackjack became a standard casino game; it would be difficult to find a casino in America or in most parts of the world that doesn’t offer at least one blackjack table.
Modern Blackjack Rules
The object of a game of blackjack today is the same as it was in the time of Cervantes: build a hand whose card point values are as close to 21 as possible without going over. In modern blackjack, face cards (Jacks, Queens and Kings) are worth 10 points, Aces are worth 1 or 11, and all other cards are worth their number.
There are three potential outcomes: the player wins, the House wins, or the player and the House tie, which is called a push. Any pair of cards made up of one Ace and one 10 is called a blackjack, and when it is dealt in the first two cards, the player automatically wins at 1.5 to 1 odds.
Winning blackjack just means beating the dealer’s point total without going over 21. The winner of a game of blackjack is a player closest to a total of 21 who hasn’t gone over.
Blackjack also has multiple variations to the game. Below is a list of links that will take you to our blackjack variations pages. Each game provides easy to understand instructions on how to play, tips for playing a particular game as well as strategies to try to counter the house edge. Most of the blackjack variations you see listed on this page are available at online blackjack casinos.
Playing blackjack on your mobile device lets you take the game you love anywhere you can bring your smartphone, BlackBerry, iPhone, or Android device. If online casinos are convenient compared to travelling to a traditional casino, real money blackjack apps are a further step in that direction. Some people do most of their online work over their smartphone or tablet, eschewing traditional laptops unless they absolutely have to use one. For those customers, mobile blackjack games are the way to play for real money on the game they love without leaving the comfort of their phone.
Wherever you see the best Wi-Fi coverage and wireless technology in the world, you find better online blackjack real money options available. In parts of Asia and Northern Europe, for example, smartphone tech is far beyond what people in the US or Canada have access to. Therefore, on-the-go blackjack for real money options are more advanced in these regions. Furthermore, internet casinos that offer a real money blackjack app know that more and more of their customers have devices that are capable of playing app-sized versions of the game. Offering blackjack mobile options is therefore seen as a great way of attracting these customers to a new way of playing.
Ranking 2020's Best Real Money Blackjack Apps
How Many Casinos Offer Mobile Blackjack for Money / Free?
Online Blackjack Real Money
Every time a new smartphone is released and Wi-Fi access spreads in a new market, access to mobile-based casino play increases. Internet casinos, for their own part, are feeling pressure to create and provide mobile apps, as their competitor sites start offering them.
The world’s most popular online casinos have their own real money blackjack app that any smartphone owner can download to play blackjack wherever they have wireless Internet access. Customers outside Asia and parts of Europe are just now catching on to blackjack mobile apps and games that have already been popular in those advanced markets for years. But if more gamblers use their mobile devices to access their favorite games, the market will respond by offering better games in a larger variety.
Common Mobile Blackjack Game Variants
The variety of blackjack games you have to pick from depends on the real money blackjack app you choose to download, the device you use, and the options available at casinos for customers in the country where you live. In the US and much of the Western world, the most common blackjack mobile options include just a couple of different versions, with slight rule variations in splitting, surrendering options, and player options. Unlike online casino software that you download or play on your laptop’s web browser, mobile online casino apps don’t offer a wide variety of game variants.
Which Mobile Platform is best for Blackjack?
There are four main competitors in the real money blackjack app market: Apple’s iPhone, BlackBerry, devices using Android OS, and Windows Phones. The best mobile online blackjack real money game might just be a good-looking game that’s easy for you to access on your existing phone. When you’re shopping for smartphone-capable casino games, consider things like game variety, game quality, and how easy the software is to use.
iPhone/iPad Mobile Blackjack Apps for Real Money
Since Apple doesn’t allow many of its customers to download real money blackjack apps that lead to online blackjack for real, iPhone/iPad users look for sites that run in those device’s Safari browsers, rather than a real money blackjack app. In some parts of the world, customers have no trouble finding downloadable blackjack mobile apps for their Apple devices. In addition, the picture quality of the iPhone and iPad, compared to other popular mobile devices, makes these online blackjack games among the best-looking in all of the mobile industry.
BlackBerry Blackjack
BlackBerry users don’t have as many options as owners of other smartphone brands. Nevertheless, real money blackjack games are available for people with BlackBerry devices. The world’s best smartphone casino platforms recognize the popularity of this operating system and provide games designed for play on your BlackBerry phone.
Android Blackjack
Android OS phones are just a bit ahead of iPhone users in terms of numbers, partially because Android makes their software available to a huge number of different designers. Android owners have access to a wide variety of real money blackjack apps and instant smartphone-capable blackjack games. It’s safe to say that if you have an Android device, you can download a real money blackjack app android, and have access to blackjack for real money.
Windows Mobile Blackjack
Windows Mobile-capable blackjack games are the newest of the bunch, as Windows Phone is in its infancy. However, thanks to improved devices and technology, Windows Phone ownership is growing. This means the options for real money blackjack app android and gambling using your Windows mobile device are also growing.
Other Important Real Money Blackjack Mobile Apps Info
If you want to play blackjack online, but would like to use a real money blackjack app, there really is no particular difference between mobile or desktop formats. Blackjack games for real money remain the same either way. Furthermore, online blackjack casinos will present you with a greater selection of blackjack games for real money than land based casinos, while also offering you live dealer blackjack options, too. These include European blackjack, slots blackjack, and video poker. You will also be able to take advantage of bonus offers and promotions while playing at online blackjack casinos.
Is Mobile Blackjack Legal?
The legality of a mobile casino depends on the legality of online or remote gambling where a customer lives. For example, some blackjack players in the US face state laws against any form of online gambling, and these laws probably apply to mobile blackjack for real money as well. It’s important to point out that no one has ever been prosecuted for accessing mobile casinos. Of course, even Americans who don’t live in the eight states that prohibit gambling over the Internet, the UIGEA bill applies. That law makes it hard for Americans to fund their mobile account, similar to the trouble you face trying to fund your traditional gambling account.
Those are just the restrictions for one country. Most governments have their own sets of rules about gambling, so if you are worried about the legality of your mobile blackjack game, you should look into online gambling laws before you play. In some parts of the world, access to smartphone real money blackjack apps is restricted, along with other types of online betting.
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