3 Myths You Should Ignore If You Want to Keep Win at Blackjack
There’s no room for superstition in blackjack, so stop believing in myths!
If you keep hearing that you need to shoot for 21 to win at blackjack, you’re taking advice from the wrong people. If they’re telling you there are “good tables” and “bad tables” to sit at, you’re being duped. Winning at blackjack is all about sticking to strategy.
Getting rich with slots, craps or roulette may depend on luck, and anyone who’s ever been to a casino knows that few of these games involve strategies or special skills. Well blackjack is certainly an exception to this rule, because if you want to master this game you’ll have to learn a thing or two about variations, strategy charts and even counting cards.
Following strategies and tips tested by experts will help improve your game, but believing all the blackjack myths out there will only put you on the right track to bankruptcy. Remember that myths always revolve around poor strategy. They will only make you lose focus on what’s important, and that is playing correctly.
Here are 3 of the most popular – and most harmful – blackjack myths that you need to avoid:
1. Your need to aim for 21
The majority of those who have just started playing this card game think blackjack is like a race, where your main goal is to reach 21 or to get as close as possible. It’s not. This is one of the most common preconceptions, and it usually ends up doing more harm than good. Your chances do improve if you’re closer to 21, but thinking like this will only cause you to lose more money on the long run.
If you want to play like a pro, you need to focus on beating the dealer’s hand instead. How can you do this? By basing your decisions on his upcard. Here’s an example: if the total value of your cards is 12 and the dealer is showing a 6, strategy tells you it’s better to stand. Sure, you might not be even close to 21, but deviating from basic blackjack strategy will end up costing you on the long run.
2. You can always bring down the house edge to 0.5%
The reason why blackjack is so popular among gamblers is that it offers very good chances of winning, considering that the house edge can be lowered to 0.5%. But this only happens if you follow the guidelines given in your basic strategy at all times. Don’t make the mistake of believing that you’re always dealing with this low house edge, because that is a myth.
In reality, the house edge depends mostly on the casino’s rules. Figure out how much you can afford to spend and lose, then find the venue with the perfect rule variation. It’s essential to play at tables where the payout is 3:2 and not 6:5, and where the dealer has to stand on a soft 17. These two rules alone will lower the house edge by 1.5%, giving you an advantage.
3. Sitting at tables with bad players is bad for you
Sore losers always like to blame others for their own failures. At the blackjack table, the blame often falls on bad players, as some people say they can help the dealer win. The truth is, bad players don’t have much influence on the dealer’s or your chances of winning, so there’s no reason to leave the table if the other players sitting at it are not good at blackjack.
Once you’ve found the casino with the perfect blackjack variation, learned the right moves according to your strategy chart, and mastered card counting systems, all you need to do is apply these skills and accept that you have to lose some to gain some. So stop waiting to get lucky at blackjack, because this is the game where you get to make your own luck!