Table Of Contents
- Best Strategy To Win A Blackjack Tournament
- Strategy To Win Blackjack Tournament
- Strategy To Win Blackjack Tournaments
- Practice Basic Strategies. The key to winning a blackjack tournament is to be the best player possible. Most tournaments will consist of many experienced players, so it is essential for players to master the basic strategies of the game. This can be done by playing standard online blackjack games or even free games, where there is no risk.
- First and foremost, Pilarski points out that the winners of blackjack tournaments are most often those who “ play each hand correctly ”. Using (or better yet, memorizing) a strategy chart that coincides with the exact rules of the variation being played will ensure proper decision making on every hand.
Are you looking for the best blackjack strategy to maximise your winning odds when you play online? You'll love these tips.
Finding a way to get higher chances to win at blackjack shouldn't be so hard.
When you play in a blackjack tournament, you are competing against other players rather than the casino dealer. You and your opponents start with the same bankroll and play the same number of hands. The player with the most chips at the end of the round (which consists of a designated number of hands) wins and advances to play other table winners. Blackjack is still Blackjack, whether you play in a tournament format or against the dealer at your usual table. So count the cards and let the quality of the deck determine how much you bet—make bigger wagers when the deck is rich with tens and smaller bets when the deck is lean.
The basic strategy is the best way to play blackjack — and when you combine it with some strategy tips on bankroll management and what to do after you win, you have really reached the maximum you can.
In other words, if you are looking for the best blackjack betting strategy to increase your chances to win, you'll love this guide.
In the parts that follow you will find:
- And lots more
We also put together a collection of the best bonuses to play online. This way, you can use those freebies to test the blackjack basic strategy and all the tips in this article.
EXCLUSIVE: Claim Your Bonus and Play!Register a FREE account and claim your bonus to play online blackjack!
What this guide is NOT
- A collection of tips to win at blackjack
- A list of systems that promise to make blackjack profitable
- The illusion that you can beat the game
Blackjack is a gambling game where the casino has an advantage. It doesn't matter what approach you take or what blackjack strategy you follow. In the long run, the casino always wins.
Why Follow a Blackjack Betting Strategy?
Let's face it - we have all been there. We have all looked for the best and the most effective strategy to win at blackjack after we lost our first hands online.
With the right blackjack strategy it's possible to increase your winning chances, and that's because blackjack isn't a gambling game like roulette, video poker, or slots.
If you follow the basic betting strategy and you learn how to use the information you have at your disposal, you can reach optimal play giving yourself the best chances to win include in the game.
Professional players have worked hard to 'solve' the game of blackjack and find how to play each hand to get the best winning odds.
They analysed how the number of decks in play affects your chances to win and how you can make the best decision based on the cards you see on the table.
- That's what they call the 'blackjack basic strategy. A list of dos and don'ts where you find exactly how you are supposed to play each and every hand you are dealt.
This is the best strategy for blackjack.
The goal of the blackjack basic strategy isn't to help you win at blackjack every time you play. That's impossible. Instead, it is to help you maximize your winning chances and to minimize your losses.
That's also the goal of this guide. We don't list all the strategies for blackjack out there. Instead, we focus only on the best blackjack strategies that are known to work and should help you get better results when you play.
Starting from the tips and tricks included in our cheat-sheet.
READ ALSO: How to play online blackjack with friends.
What Is the Blackjack Basic Strategy?
Knowing how to manage your money is as important in blackjack as it is in all gambling games. A correct 'bankroll management' is essential when you play — regardless of the blackjack strategies you apply to your games.
Knowing how to bet (and how much) and how to select the right game when you play online blackjack for real money is extremely important.
Once you have those basics covered, you can move into the basic blackjack strategy and learn how you are supposed to invest your money once the dealer gives you the initial two cards.
As soon as the cards reach you and the dealer opens one of their cards, you have to make your first choice. In a game of blackjack, that means you need to pick one of these options:
- Stand
- Hit
- Double
- Split
- Surrender
Do you know why the basic blackjack strategy is also considered to be the best way to discover how to win at blackjack? Because it uses basic logic.
Would you hit if your first two cards gave you 20 points? Of course not.
Would you stand if your starting hand was worth five points? Not a chance.
While these choices are very simple on hands like the ones I use in my example, things get (a lot) more complicated with different cards on the table.
Let me give you a few examples.
- How do you play soft 17 in blackjack?
- When do you hit on a 16?
- What to do with 15 in blackjack?
This is where the basic blackjack strategy comes in to help you get the best chances to win.
This collection of tips shows you the optimal play for every blackjack hands, calculating your winning odds in combination with the dealer's open card.
The basic strategy to win at blackjack has nothing to do with concepts like card counting or any of those tricks some 'clever' players adopt to beat the house.
This is a simple-to-use guideline that shows you exactly how you are supposed to play every possible hand of blackjack. Use it to know when it is recommended to hit, to stand, or to do something else.
Hard totals | ||||||||||
Dealer's card > | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A |
Player's hand | ||||||||||
17-20 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
16 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | SU | SU | SU |
15 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | SU | H |
13-14 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | H | H |
12 | H | H | S | S | S | H | H | H | H | H |
11 | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | H |
10 | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | H | H |
9 | H | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | H | H | H | H | H |
5-8 | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H |
Soft totals | ||||||||||
Dealer's card > | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A |
A,8-A,9 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
A,7 | S | Ds | Ds | Ds | Ds | S | S | H | H | H |
A,6 | H | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | H | H | H | H | H |
A,4-A,5 | H | H | Dh | Dh | Dh | H | H | H | H | H |
A,2-A,3 | H | H | H | Dh | Dh | H | H | H | H | H |
Pairs | ||||||||||
Dealer's card > | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A |
A,A | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP |
10,10 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
9,9 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | S | SP | SP | S | S |
8,8 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP |
7,7 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | H | H | H | H |
6,6 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | H | H | H | H | H |
5,5 | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | Dh | H | H |
4,4 | H | H | H | SP | SP | H | H | H | H | H |
2,2-3,3 | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | SP | H | H | H | H |
Key:
S = Stand
H = Hit
Dh = Double (if not allowed, then hit)
Ds = Double (if not allowed, then stand)
SP = Split
SU = Surrender (if not allowed, then hit)
S = Stand
H = Hit
Dh = Double (if not allowed, then hit)
Ds = Double (if not allowed, then stand)
SP = Split
SU = Surrender (if not allowed, then hit)
A Blackjack Cheat Sheet
To make things even easier for you and help you follow the best betting strategy whenever you play blackjack, we created a quick cheat-sheet with the basic strategy explained in full.
Download the blackjack cheat-sheet (it's free) and print it or save it on your mobile phone to keep it always with you when you play.
The blackjack basic strategy cheat-sheet is 100% legal and you can use it both when you play online and at a brick-and-mortar casino.
A Conservative Blackjack Strategy
Don't play high-stakes games unless you feel ready for them and you have enough money to spend on online games.
If you are reading this blackjack strategy guide and you are a beginner, you should be afraid of high-stakes games.
When you spend too much money on your games, you risk getting the opposite of what you want. You play to have fun and to find out how to get more chances to win at blackjack - and you end broke and frustrated.
The best way to play blackjack is to start with what I call a conservative approach. Because finding the right way top handle betting in blackjack is key to long-term fun.
Like many blackjack strategies suggest, you should increase the stakes only when things go well and any potential losses are compensated by the money you have already won, not the one you might win if you get lucky.
In other words, raise your bet every time you win.
Many players believe wins and losses come in streaks. They think you might lose five or six times in a row — but when you win…you are not going to do it just once.
Obviously, that's not true.
Blackjack is a gambling game and there are no patterns for you to exploit or streaks that you can use to win more money every time you play.
There are, however, smart betting strategies like the basic blackjack strategy that can help you increase the chances of a victory.
With that in mind, a conservative blackjack strategy works like this:
- Start from the lowest bet (e.g. $1)
- Increase your bet by 1 unit only after you win
- Go back to the original bet after you lose
When you use this blackjack strategy, you need to go back to the original bet as soon as you lose one hand. This is the best way to be in control of your money and end a gaming session in the black.
All you need to do is to make the right choices (use the basic strategy) and raise your stakes little by little - but only when you win.
READ ALSO: Bets sites to play live dealer blackjack online.
An Aggressive Approach to Blackjack: the Martingale Strategy
The Martingale betting strategy sits at the opposite side of the spectrum. This is the perfect blackjack strategy for those players who:
- Play blackjack to win a lot of money
- Can afford to lose a lot of money
- Don't fear the swing of big losses
In other words, this is the perfect blackjack strategy for big spenders but isn't one that you should try if you are still a beginner who is looking for ways to learn how to play blackjack.
The Martingale blackjack strategy is expensive. This is a blackjack system that will help you win often - but only when I have a lot of money to invest on your games.
If you can't spend at least $500 on your games - the Martingale is not the best blackjack strategy for you.
But if you do — continue reading to discover how to use this betting strategy to increase your chances to win.
In short:
The Martingale strategy is the exact opposite of the conservative approach to betting in blackjack we have just seen.
When you follow this strategy, you need to double your bet every time you lose. Which, in case of a losing streak, can become very expensive very quickly.
The rationale of this audacious blackjack betting strategy is that you will need only one win to go back to square one and recoup all your losses in one hand.
The caveat is: your bankroll needs to be deep enough for you to play and play until that one win comes.
Again, this isn't a betting strategy for beginners. If you decide to try it, make sure your bankroll covers at least 10 consecutive losses from the hand #1.
1-3-2-6 Blackjack Betting System
The 1-3-2-6 blackjack betting strategy is not as exciting as the Martingale strategy, and that's a good thing. This betting strategy doesn't require a huge bankroll and is a lot more suitable for players looking for a way to have better chances to win at blackjack without investing a fortune in the game.
The numbers in the strategy's name indicate the way you should bet after you win a hand of blackjack.
You first winning is the trigger that starts the sequence while your first losing hand is the one that ends everything.
This blackjack betting strategy is built to get the most value out of winning streaks. If you are lucky enough to use it at the beginning of a four-hand winning streak, you are in for a treat.
READ ALSO: How to play blackjack for beginners.
How to Win More Often at Blackjack: A Few Important Tips
We all want to win at blackjack every time we play, but we also know that's impossible.
What is possible, however, is to maximise your chances to win and get better winning odds when you play blackjack online. All it takes a few simple tips.
Follow them carefully, as these blackjack tips are as important as the best blackjack betting strategy.
- Don't spend money on the 'insurance'. The insurance bet is a money-draining option created to confuse beginners. All the best blackjack strategies fail to mention is for one simple reason: no real blackjack player will ever spend their money on it.
- Think about the house edge. Like we said when we went through some of the game's best betting strategies, you can't expect to win at blackjack every time you play.Like all other casino games, the house edge is what makes sure that the casino has an advantage over the players in the long run. With that in mind, the next of our blackjack tips is one that can make a great difference for you.
- Set a budget and abide to that. Experienced blackjack players know that you need to set a losing and a winning limit before the first hand is dealt.Stop playing as soon as you hit one of them. If you lose and hit your lower limit, take a break and end your session.If you win and you hit your highest limit, collects your winnings and leave the table. You can continue to play if you want, but you'll need to set a new bankroll and establish new limits first.
- Don't miss the rules sheet. Trust me, there are more blackjack variations that you will ever play. All of them are based on the same core gameplay — but adopt rules that could break you if you aren't ready for themOne of the best parts of playing online is that the rules are always available at the table. If you are not sure you know everything about the game you want to play, click on the 'info' icon and read the rules.
- Choose 3:2 over 6:5 payout. Different casinos have different payout policies - and not all of them are great for you.Make sure you read the payout table before you begin to play a hand of real money blackjack and always choose the games with the 'regular' 3:2 payout. These are a much smarter choice compared to the 6:5 payout blackjack games you find at some online casino sites.
Use Bonuses to Find Your Favourite Blackjack Strategy
Now that you know what are the best blackjack strategies, there is only one thing left: play a few games online to find out which one works best for you.
Here's what you should fo to get the best results:
- Base all your decisions on the basic blackjack strategy
- Pick the betting strategy that suits your bankroll
- Follow all the blackjack strategy tips above to maximise your chances to win
To help you find the right games and the right betting strategy, we created a list of the best blackjack bonuses on the market.
All the sites you find in the list are licensed, pay winnings fast, and offer lots of blackjack games. Pick the ones with the best offers, register an account (it's always free), and sit at the blackjack table to start an epic battle with the dealer!
The promotion presented on this page was available at the time of writing. With some Casino promotions changing on daily basis, we suggest you to check on the site if it still available. Also, please do not forget to read the terms and conditions in full before you accept a bonus.on
Blackjack is a favorite casino game among many because it combines strategy with a low house edge. But unless you’re a card counter, the casino will always have a slight edge on you.
This is where blackjack tournaments become interesting, because they see you compete against other players. And you can win long-term profits, given that the house edge is taken out of the equation.
Of course, you need to understand the fundamentals of how blackjack tournaments work before you can win. Let’s go over the basics, including types of blackjack tournaments, where you can find them, and how strategy differs from conventional play.
Blackjack Tournament Basics: Buy-ins, Prize Pools, and Rules
Blackjack Tournament Buy-ins
A buy-in is the fee that you pay to enter a blackjack tournament. The largest portion of the buy-in goes towards the prize pool, and a small percentage goes towards the casino for running the tourney.
Let’s look at an example of how this works below:
- Tournament buy-in is $20 + $2.
- $20 goes into the prize pool.
- $2 is taken by the casino as a fee for running the tournament.
Tournament Prize Pools
The tournament entries go into the prize pool, which is the money that players compete for. The size of the prize pool varies based on how many players enter.
Here’s an example:
- The buy-in is $50 + $5.
- 300 players enter the tournament.
- This creates a prize pool worth $15,000 (50 x 300).
Blackjack tourneys either feature guaranteed or variable prize pools.
A guaranteed prize pool means that the casino guarantees a specific amount of money. For example, a $10,000 prize pool must have exactly $10k or more.
The casino has to cover any gap between the prize pool and entry fees (a.k.a. overlay). If they guarantee a $5,000 prize pool and it only reaches $4,000, they’d have to cover the remaining $1,000.
Blackjack Tournament Rules
The rules of a blackjack tournament differ based on the format. But there are some general aspects that are common to many tournaments.
A standard blackjack tourney sees players try to beat the dealer, just like in a normal blackjack game. But the key difference is that players are competing against each other for the prize money.
Players who survive the longest (elimination format) or win the most chips (leaderboard format) finish the highest on the leaderboard.
The number of players who win money is based on the number of entrants and tourney format. In general, you can expect around 10%-20% of the field to cash.
Blackjack Tournament Formats
Elimination Blackjack Tournaments
An elimination blackjack tournament consists of a series of rounds. Players are gradually eliminated over the course of these rounds until just one remains.
In most cases, the top one to two players from each table advance to the next round. Everybody begins a new round with the same number of chips.
Rebuy blackjack tournaments allow players to buy back into the event when they bust out. In these instances, the first round consists of several qualifying rounds before the rebuy period ends.
Here’s a standard setup for an elimination blackjack tournament:
Best Strategy To Win A Blackjack Tournament
- 6 players to a table.
- The top two players from each table move to the next round.
- Each round ends at 8, 16, 25, and 30 hands.
- The tournament winner is the player with the most chips at the end of 30 hands.
Leaderboard Blackjack Tournaments
A leaderboard blackjack tournament sees every player assigned to a table, just like an elimination event. But the key difference is that there aren’t any eliminations in these tourneys.
Instead, your goal is to accumulate as many chips as possible and move up the leaderboard, rather than trying to survive to each round. You can check the leaderboard from time to time to see how you’re doing in comparison to the field.
A leaderboard blackjack tournament ends after a specific number of hands have been played. The top finishers are determined by who has the most chips at the end of the hand limit.
Blackjack Sit and Go’s
Made popular by online poker sites, sit and go’s (SNGs) are single table tournaments that begin as soon as enough players buy into the event.
The number of players required to start the tourney is based on the predetermined size of the table. Common SNG table sizes include 6, 9, or 10 players.
Blackjack SNGs are almost exclusively found in online casinos because it’s easier to run the single table format in this setting.
Types of Blackjack Tournaments
Buy-in Tournaments
As I covered earlier, buy-in blackjack tournaments require a fee to enter.
The obvious downside to a buy-in tourney is that you have to pay to play. The upside is that this limits the number of entrants and gives you a better shot at winning prize money.
Another positive to buy-in tournaments is that these usually feature the largest prize pools. This is especially the case if the casino offers a generous guarantee on the event.
Blackjack Freerolls
A freeroll is a tournament that doesn’t require a cash entry fee. The two types of freerolls include:
1. Open — No fee of any kind is required.
2. Points — You need loyalty points to enter.
Many beginning blackjack tournament players like open freerolls because they’re absolutely free. This gives you a good chance to increase your bankroll without having to spend money.
But the downside is that, due to the lack of fees, lots of players enter these events. This means that you’ll be competing against a very large player pool in comparison to the limited prize pool.
Points freerolls require you to use loyalty points, which must be earned through real-money slots play.
VIP Tournaments
You must be of a certain VIP status, or at least a frequent player, to compete in these tournaments.
The drawback is that you’ll have to play lots of real-money slots to obtain the proper VIP level. But the upside is that these tourneys usually offer large prize pools in relation to the number of entrants.
Where Can You Find Blackjack Tournaments?
Land-based Casinos
Brick-and-mortar casinos hold a lot of promotional and VIP blackjack tournaments. These are used to draw blackjack players back into the casino, rather than to make profits.
This creates a lot of situations where you don’t even have to pay an entry fee to play.
Larger brick-and-mortar blackjack tournaments often require a buy-in. But these are certainly worth it if you enjoy playing blackjack in a land-based setting and/or want to try blackjack in a different format.
How Do You Enter Land-based Blackjack Tournaments?
Through mail or email, casinos send invites that contain all the information you need to enter a brick-and-mortar blackjack tournament.
Usually, this information involves details on when you need to be registered by, tournament rules, and whether or not there’s a buy-in.
Online Casinos
Internet casinos commonly feature both the elimination and leaderboard blackjack tournaments. You can visit an online casino’s lobby to see what tournaments they have on tap.
One thing that’s nice about playing online tourneys is that you can quickly navigate between casinos to take advantage of more events.
How Do You Enter Online Blackjack Tournaments?
You must first sign up at an online casino before playing in their tournaments. This involves entering details like your name, email, home address, mobile number, and referral code (if applicable).
Once you’ve registered at a casino, you can play in open entry freerolls.
You’ll need to make a deposit before playing in buy-in tournaments. Visit a casino’s banking section and see what options they have so that you can place your deposit.
When you sign up and have funds available, you can visit the internet casino lobby and begin entering tournaments. Each tourney you click will feature information like the start time, number of entrants, rules, prize pool, and leaderboard.
Blackjack Tournament Strategy
Know Basic Blackjack Strategy
The best place to start when developing your blackjack tournament strategy is understanding basic strategy. This is made easier when you’ve already played normal blackjack and have learned the fundamentals.
If you haven’t done so, the good news is that learning basic blackjack strategy is easy. All you need to do is grab a strategy chart and use this while playing.
Strategy charts show what decisions you should make based on the dealer’s up card and your score total. You can easily find these charts in Google or Bing images.
Bet Differently Than Your Opponents
While basic strategy is important in tournaments, betting differently than your opponents is even more crucial.
The reason is because most players’ hand results are roughly the same. For example, if the dealer gets a blackjack, then everybody at the table will probably lose.
This is why you need to have a solid betting strategy in order to separate yourself from the pack. And this entails doing the opposite of what everybody else is doing.
If everybody at your table is making aggressive wagers, you can scale back your bets to stay alive. If other players are being timid and placing small bets, you can make bigger wagers to grab a large lead.
Strategy To Win Blackjack Tournament
Mixing Up Your Play
Ideally, you’ll be on a table that favors either an aggressive or conservative approach so that you can play differently. But there’ll also be times where you’re on a table with players who are using mixed approaches.
This is when it’s useful to employ a hybrid strategy that sees you switch back and forth between small and big bets. The key is to time your large wagers correctly so that you can catch the leaders when needed.
You’ll often find that the best time to make these bets is when you’re on the button and can see how everybody else is wagering. You can then bet just big enough to move up the chip counts without risking your tournament life.
Table Position
Continuing off the last point, table position is a critical part of successfully playing blackjack tournaments.
The goal is to minimize your risk in the early position because you can’t see how others are betting. On the contrary, you can use later position to decide when a bigger bet is appropriate, since you can see more players’ wagers.
Here’s an example of the latter:
- 6 players are on the table.
- You’re on the button with 5,000 chips.
- The leader has 8,000 chips.
- Player A bets 1,000 chips.
- Player B bets 1,500 chips.
- Player C bets 1,000 chips.
- Player D bets 2,000 chips.
- Player E bets 2,000 chips.
You can now bet over 2,500 chips and gain ground on each opponent with a winning hand.
Tournament Stages
Whether you’re playing in an elimination or leaderboard blackjack tournament, you always need to be aware of what stage you’re in.
This is important because you must know when it’s time to start betting big or scaling back based on your standing. Let’s look an example below:
- You’re in an elimination blackjack event.
- The top two players from each table move on.
- The first round lasts 8 hands.
- You’re on hand 8 and need to gain 1,500 chips on the second highest chip stack to move on.
- This means you can bet over 1,500 chips to give yourself a chance at advancing.
Overall, the best strategy is one that keeps you within striking distance of the table/tournament leader, yet also helps you stay in the tourney by not risking your chip stack too early.
Conclusion
Two of the best things about blackjack tourneys include the following:
Strategy To Win Blackjack Tournaments
1. You compete against other players.
2. There’s even more strategy than traditional blackjack games.
2. There’s even more strategy than traditional blackjack games.
These aspects help keep blackjack among the most popular styles of gambling tournaments.
If you haven’t played in a blackjack tournament yet, then I highly suggest that you do so. Not only does the strategy include another layer, but it’s also fun to enjoy blackjack in a different format that involves chasing tournament prizes.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.