Your Comprehensive Guide to Mastering Online Blackjack 2023

Blackjack’s predecessor was known as 21 and is likely of Spanish origin. Its first reference was by the famous Spanish author, Miguel de Cervantes in the early 1600s, who refers to it as veintiuna (21 in Spanish). British records of the game appear in the 1770s while American references to 21 appear in the early 1800s. Americans developed their own variant, which they named blackjack, at the turn of the 20th century. In 1931, the first legally banked game of blackjack was played in New Orleans, and the rest is history. Today, blackjack is available at land-based and online casinos around the world.

Part of becoming an experienced blackjack player means learning blackjack terminology inside out. 

Popular blackjack terms include:

• Hit: When the player requests an additional card from the dealer.

• Stand: When the player does not request another card from the dealer.

• Bust: When the player's hand exceeds a value of 21.

• Double Down: Double your original bet and get one more card.

• Split: When a player gets a hand with two cards of the same value and divides it. You can get an extra card for each hand.

• Surrender: When a player forfeits their hand and recoups half of their original bet.

• Insurance: A side bet that allows players to bet half of their original bet if the dealer's face-up card is an ace. Players win the bet if the dealer gets blackjack. 

• Blackjack: A hand that equals 21 with an Ace and 10-point card.

• Croupier: The dealer.

• Soft hand: A hand with an Ace that counts as 11 points.

• Hard hand: A hand with no Ace or an Ace that counts as one point. 

• Push: A tie. In this case, the player gets their original bet back.

• Upcard: The face-up card of the dealer.

• Hole card: The face-down card of the dealer

• House edge: The advantage of the casino/website in a particular game. Blackjack has one of the lowest house edges of all casino games.  

In blackjack, players compete against the dealer to see which one will get a hand with a value of 21, or close to it, without going over. Aces can be worth one or 11 points, picture cards are worth 10 points, and all other cards are worth their face value. Players place a bet before the cards are dealt — one card is dealt face-up, the other face-down.

Players can then ask to “hit” or “stand,” along with several other options. If the player’s or dealer’s hand exceeds a value of 21, they lose. If a player and dealer have the same hand, it’s a tie. While blackjack is largely a game of luck, there are many different betting strategies players can employ to increase their chances of winning.

Blackjack betting strategies are designed to increase your chances of winning, although in games of luck, there are no guarantees. There are several blackjack strategies that you can use to maximize your bets. These include:

The Martingale Strategy:  This strategy can be used for blackjack and other casino games. The idea behind it is to minimize the impact of your losses. According to the Martingale strategy, every time you lose a hand, you should double your bet. This way, when you win a hand, you’ll recoup what you lost. This strategy works best for players who plan on playing blackjack for long stretches at a time. 

Winning Streak Strategy: According to this strategy, you should double your bet every time you win. If you lose, you don’t change the bet. Even though you can score big wins this way, the Winning Streak strategy is riskier, since statistically, the longer you play, the higher the house edge. 

Steady Betting Strategy: This is the simplest and easiest strategy to remember. All you do is keep your wager the same no matter what. The benefit is that your losses are limited and you will likely find it easier to stay within your budget. 

These are just some of the blackjack strategies players use. There are many more out there should you want to avail yourself of them.