• Other Options at the Table

Blackjack is about much more than deciding to take another card or staying pat.  In this section you will learn about the four other options you have. By reading this guide you won't be confused anymore by these terms and will know when and how to implement these moves into your online blackjack style.

•  Splitting

If you are dealt a pair you can split and create a new blackjack hand on the side.  So if you have a pair of tens and you split you'll need to put up another wager of equal value and you'll receive two more up cards.  Then you can hit or stand as usual.  Some casinos allow you to split up to two or three times (which based on sheer probability is not very common).

In short, splitting is your friend. Always split aces.  This lets you create two chances to get a blackjack if one of your next two cards is worth 10.  This is one of the most profitable moves in blackjack.  Another pair to always split is 8s.  The worst possible hand in blackjack is a 16 because it's too low to beat the dealer but two high to avoid busting a large percentage of the time.  When you split 8s you are defusing a loosing situation and creating an opportunity to win.

•  Double Down

When you double down you get a chance to double your bet if you feel extra confident that you can beat the dealer. However, you can only get one card in return when you double down.  The best time to double is when you have a strong hand 14 or more and the dealer has a very low hand between 2-6 (which means he'll have to take a lot of cards and likely bust).

•  Surrender

Blackjack is one of the only games where you can remove some of your bet if you think you'll loose.  But you forfeit the other half of your bet to the house.  There are two types of surrender.  In early surrender you can get out before the dealer checks for a natural, but in late surrender you can only do so afterwards.  Online casinos or land based casinos with early surrender are more advantageous for the player because you get to save when you know the dealer has a natural (in which case everyone looses unless you push).

•  Insurance

Insurance at the blackjack table is just like illicit drugs – in other words, "just say no".  Though people like the idea of getting paid when the dealer has a blackjack.  This is one of the ways the casino fleeces its customers and probably pays for some rich executive's salary in the back room.  The odds say taking insurance never pays in the long run and only adds to the house edge.  Our goal by learning the proper way to play blackjack is to lower the house edge to almost nothing – to give us a better chance of staying in the black over the long haul.

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