Blackjack players are always looking for an advantage. The easiest way is to find a game that pays 3:2 when a player is dealt a natural blackjack. The 6:5 blackjack game has a much higher house edge. The house edge is even larger when a player doesn’t play with perfect basic strategy.Casinos allow players to use a basic strategy card at the table.

Of course, the blackjack dealer doesn’t always win, but many people feel the dealer wins a disproportionate number of times in blackjack. It’s a basic rule of the casino business that the house only offers games where it has an “edge”.

The house’s edge is baked into the game.

But the edge doesn’t guarantee the dealer will always win. Over the long run the dealer should only win slightly more often than a perfect player.

So what gives?

The old adage “perception is reality” works on one level because you play the game by how you perceive it. But on another level appearances can be deceiving. And sometimes the players themselves are responsible for the deceptive appearances.

Here are 7 reasons why the blackjack dealer always seems to win.

1 – Players May Not Understand Probabilities Well Enough

If you’re not trying to count cards, then you don’t even need to worry about the probabilities. Basic blackjack strategy takes all that into consideration.

In blackjack there are only two kinds of probabilities players should think about. The first and most well-known is the division between theoretical return to player and house edge.

Contrary to some players’ thinking, the house edge doesn’t predict how often the house wins. The house edge predicts how much money the house keeps. The assumption behind the house edge is wager-neutral.

Although the house needs to win a lot in blackjack to get ahead, the differences between payout odds and probabilities of card play create the edge. In any gambling game, if there is a statistical 50-50 chance of a certain outcome, the house will pay less than 1:1 on the odds.

The only other probability players need to care about is the probability that the next card they are dealt helps them. How many people are playing at your table doesn’t matter. What matters is what’s left in the shoe when it’s your turn for a card.

2 – The Number of Hands You Play per Hour Matters

If you’re playing head to head with the dealer, you can go through as many as 200 hands in an hour. If there are four other people at the table with you then each round takes longer. You’ll play fewer hands per hour.

Just using basic strategy against the house, you’ll lose money over time. The game is designed to pay slightly less than the true probabilities allow. So the more hands you play, the more likely the house will “win” your money away from you.

You should still win a lot of hands against the dealer. The house’s strategy is a long game. The more hands you play the more likely they’ll keep some or all of your money.

3 – Bad Game Play Provides the House with a “Hidden” Edge

The casino counts on most players making mistakes or bad calls. An inexperienced player makes a bad call. An experienced player who should know better makes a mistake.

Either way, if you hit or stand when you shouldn’t you make it more likely that the house wins.

If you split when you shouldn’t you make it more likely that the house wins. If you miss an opportunity to split it’s not so bad but you could win twice or more against the house on a favorable split.

Player strategy often enhances the house’s strategy. And whereas you decide your strategy on the fly the house is playing by a very simple rule book. House strategy never changes.

I imagine a guy dancing around a fight ring, trying to show off, while the dealer waits to whack him hard in the face. Your opponent isn’t going anywhere, trying to do flashy moves, or hiding anything. He’s just waiting for you to do something stupid.

With few exceptions players sometimes make it easy for the dealer by using the wrong strategy.

4 – The House Undermines Your Advantage Play

If you count cards the way most people advise you to, you’ll raise and lower your bets in a predictable fashion. This is like jumping up on the table, waving your arms, and shouting “hey, I’m counting cards!”

That strategy may have worked well in the 1960s but today’s casinos just shuffle the cards. All your counting is wasted time and energy.

This is why card counters like to work in teams. They can be more subtle, although the casinos still look for coordinated play.

Continuous shuffling machines may have ruined card counting forever. If not, the larger shoes and option to reshuffle on a whim make card counting a less rewarding strategy for most players.

If it seems like the house is winning more than you think they should, it could be you’re counting cards badly or needlessly.

5 – Are You Tipping the Dealer?

Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart

The dealer literally wins when you leave a tip. While this is considered a courteous habit and one I myself practice, it makes it all that much harder for you to get ahead.

Printable Blackjack Basic Strategy Card

I limit my tips to when I leave the table. I’ve seen some players split their winnings on big bets with the dealer. Assuming that’s completely legit, it still reduces the player’s winnings.

Whether you tip the dealer or not, the house is winning if you do tip the dealer. Those tips help casino employees pay their bills. I’ve seen some people argue against tipping because it “supports the system”.

I don’t think it’s fair to push casino employees into a moral quagmire. Either tip or don’t tip, but the tip costs you money. It does affect your win-loss ratio proportionate to how often and how much you tip.

Blackjack Basic Strategy Chart Pdf

6 – Is the Dealer Feeding You Bad Advice?

I’ve played a few tables where the dealers answered player questions. Blackjack dealers don’t have to be expert players. They only follow one strategy.

If you’ve got a friendly dealer who shares advice, he or she may be well-intentioned but that doesn’t mean they know the best strategy.

I’ve never questioned the integrity of a blackjack dealer. But they may push a progressive bet option. If you want a guaranteed way to improve the house edge in blackjack, go for the progressive wager on the side.

7 – Are You Using a Betting System?

Sooner or later someone sits down at the table with a betting system ready to go. Card counters raise their wagers when they believe the deck favors them but I’ve seen other betting systems.

One guy alternated his bets. He played $25 on one hand and $50 on the next. If he had played perfect strategy it shouldn’t have mattered.

When you talk betting strategies with people someone always brings up the Martingale System. The strategy is simple. Only make minimum wagers until you lose and then double your wager on the next bet to win back what you lost.

The Martingale System requires an endless supply of money, luck, or both. I’ve never met a great blackjack player who believed in a betting system. The best players I’ve sat next to had a set wager amount they always played and stuck to their games.

Conclusion

One of the most important things in gambling is to manage your expectations. The more you expect to win the greater your disappointment will be.

When people allow their expectations to get out of hand they try to make up for disappointment with risky bets. I’ve been one of those guys who got so frustrated he started making aggressive wagers.

When you stop caring about how well you’re playing you should walk away from the table. You can always go back later when you’re feeling better.

House Edge Blackjack Basic Strategy Practice

The only way the house doesn’t win is if you enjoy yourself and stay in budget. Dropping $200 at a casino is no different from buying $200 concert tickets.

If it’s all for fun and you enjoy yourself the house can’t take that away from you.

The house edge in blackjack might need to be explained to new gamblers. People in the business often talk about the “house edge” and how it’s so low in blackjack, but the basic terminology can sound Greek to beginning players. If you don’t know what the basic terms, then it’s hard to appreciate why blackjack is a much better game to learn than most other online casino games. After this explanation, I hope you understand why blackjack is the game to play in a casino

Basic Facts about the House Edge

Several basic facts should be known about the house edge. First, most casino games have a built-in house edge. This is a legal according to state gambling laws, so the casino or bingo parlor can stay in business. If a house edge didn’t exist, then it would be a 50/50 proposition whether a gambling house could stay in business. In fact, given the fact that casinos have to pay employees, the utility bills, state fees, and taxes, they would almost certainly go out of business without a house edge. Most casino games put you at a disadvantage from the word “go”.

Second, the more strategy is required in a casino game, the lower the house edge is. In other words, if you have to learn tips for beating the game and can affect the outcome with good decisions, then the game tends to have oddsstacked a little more in your favor. Games like blackjack and video poker fall into this category, as they can have a house edge of 1% or less. Games which don’t require strategy, such as slots, keno, baccarat, and roulette, the odds are going to be longer. This stands to reason, because a casino can assume that a certain number of players won’t know the rules to a game, so the bad players will increase the average house edge enjoyed by the casino. A game of slots is going to have the same house edge, no matter if the person playing has never gambled or is a 30-year veteran of the casinos.

What Is a House Edge?

House Edge Blackjack Basic Strategy Table

The house edge is the amount of money (as a percentage) of a player’s wagered cash that the casino keeps. If the casino is expected to keep $1 out of every $100 you wager, then the house edge would be 1%. If the casino is expected to keep $5 out of every $100 wagered, then the house edge on a game would be 5%. The house edge assumes that the casino is keeping some percentage of the money you bet.

In rare cases, casinos offer games with a slight positive expectation, meaning for every $100 you wager, you would expect to receive back more than $100 (if you played optimally). The games with a positive expectation are used to drive customers into the casino by word of mouth. Most of the time, the game has a negative expectation–that is, the average player expects to lose money.

Why Play against a House Edge?

The obvious question a player might ask is why you should play against a house edge. This advantage the casino has doesn’t apply to everyone. Not all players of a negative expectation game are going to lose. In fact, if the house edge is set at 1%, almost 50% of those players are likely to walk out of the casino with a little money. One player might walk out with $20. Another might lose $30. One player might get real lucky and win $500 at the blackjack table, while another gets real unlucky and lose $600. The point being, every gambler at the table has slight odds against them, so the sum total of those players is likely to give the casino the advantage. Because it’s gambling, even this is certain, especially over a single day, a single week, or even a single month.

Not all gamblers are the same, either. High limit players called “premium players” for medium sized high rollers and “whales” for top-end high rollers also come into a casino. The size of these player’s bets are so large than their wins can wipe out the profits of a thousand low-dollar players’ losses, or make the casino a lot of money if they go on a losing streak. Since high rollers also face a house edge, casinos are in stiff competition to lure these players to their establishment, so they often offer a lower house edge on the same game for high rollers. So the more you bet, the lower the house edge tends to be. That’s why a Las Vegas casino might offer European roulette in the private high roller lounge, but only offer American roulette for everybody else.

Blackjack House Edge

Blackjack Basic Strategy Trainer

Anyone wanting a definite idea of the house edge they face on a particular game of blackjack can go to a blackjack house edge calculator, which are found online. These tools let you input factors such as the number of decks used, whether you can double after a split, whether the dealer hits or stands on a soft 17, and whether a surrender rule is in effect. Each of these factors changes the odds, but when you input these into the calculator, you’ll be given optimal and realistic results. Optimal only means the theoretical house edge, while realistic results calculate the average efficiency of a player using basic strategy.