blackjack

At one time, Blackjack was one of the most popular casino games in the world -  which makes sense if you think about it. Blackjack’s a game where you can use your skill to eliminate or at least reduce the house’s edge. It’s a simple and elegant game often associated with the wealthy, despite its easy to play basic strategy.

So, what happened to its popularity? There is one thing about Blackjack (or online blackjack at least) that differs from online poker or slots - you do not have a chance of landing a massive payoff, as is the case with multi-million dollar pot poker tourneys or progressive Jackpot online slots. However, in our opinion, the golden days of Blackjack may still be to come, especially if the payout situation is corrected. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it return as one of the most popular casino games ever.

Some very interesting approaches have been taken to make Blackjack more attractive to jackpot-seekers. Variations of the game offer side bets which provide the chance to win a large amount of money when meeting the correct criteria to trigger the jackpot payout. Some online casinos have tried Blackjack tournaments where a player competes against other players to see who can make the best out of his stack in a given number of hands. Undoubtedly both attempts have helped Blackjack remain attractive to online casino players, however, not merely attractive enough to steal form the success of online slots or poker.

Is there anything the online casino industry can do for Blackjack? Of course, we think the following are possible: a new Blackjack network allowing players from different online casinos to participate in the same tournament or encouraging celebrity and/or blackjack pros to support a site. Ultimately, with some strong marketing, we believe Blackjack can become more popular than ever.

If we are right, Blackjack’s popularity could mimic that of poker’s, when poker began online, or perhaps greater, given Blackjack’s simple rules and strategy.
Will this happen? Only time will tell. In the meanwhile, let’s develop our own skills and prepare ourselves for potential future changes.

Check our articles on Blackjack under “Articles”.

Casinoinfo team

Blackjack was one of the most popular casino games in the world -  which makes sense if you think about it. Blackjack’s a game where you can use your skill to eliminate or at least reduce the house’s edge. It’s a simple and elegant game often associated with the wealthy, despite its easy to play basic strategy.

So, what happened to its popularity? There is one thing about Blackjack (or online blackjack at least) that differs from online poker or slots - you do not have a chance of landing a massive payoff, as is the case with multi-million dollar pot poker tourneys or progressive Jackpot online slots. However, in our opinion, the golden days of Blackjack may still be to come, especially if the payout situation is corrected. In fact, we wouldn’t be surprised to see it return as one of the most popular casino games ever.

Some very interesting approaches have been taken to make Blackjack more attractive to jackpot-seekers. Variations of the game offer side bets which provide the chance to win a large amount of money when meeting the correct criteria to trigger the jackpot payout. Some online casinos have tried Blackjack tournaments where a player competes against other players to see who can make the best out of his stack in a given number of hands. Undoubtedly both attempts have helped Blackjack remain attractive to online casino players, however, not merely attractive enough to steal form the success of online slots or poker.

This prototype table using a multitouch surface allows players to play a card free Blackjack in land based casinos.
Card free blackjack is not a new idea to online casino players, but now, we are approaching to real life casinos and online casino becoming closer and closer.

Are we going to play Blackjack with virtual decks even in a land based casino? It seems so.
Many traditionalists players will not be too happy with the new technology. For them, handling real cards, real casino chips in a real casino table are all part of the appeal of the game. If all of this is gone, these players will not be too happy.

For modernists ones, this could be a chance to eliminate potential problems of dealers making mistakes, other players cheating, and what is very important, the ability to play more hands in the same amount of time, something that all profitable player would love.
There are many possibilities with online and offline blackjack becoming closer. For instance, big blackjack tournaments will allow both online and offline players to share the tables in the same tourney, as they do with online and offline bingo already. Would Blackjack players embrace that opportunity in the same way bingo players did? We will see.

And one more: I wouldn’t be too surprised if this approach is also used in Poker, roulette and other common games, and suddenly the line between online gambling and offline one is disappeared. And you can play a poker tournament together with this guy seating in front of you and this one in the other side of the world. But let’s not go ahead of time, too many things are to be solved before that: Is the online player having some advantage since he/she is able to hide tells better than the ones that are seeing each other? Is this fixable?
We will have to wait for that, in the meanwhile, let’s see what happens with blackjack.

Blackjack or Twenty-One is a game of some unknown origin.  It got the nickname for the bonus offered to get players to play which consisted of the ace of spades and a black jack.  The nickname stuck with the game and thus Blackjack was born.
The object to the game is to get a higher card total than the dealer but without going over a total count of 21.  The number cards from 2 to 10 are valued at their number and the face cards or jack, queen and king are counted as 10.  The ace card can be counted as either 1 or 10 as the player wants to play it. 
The player usually goes first and cannot go over 21 or he busts and loses his hand and any bet made.  The player can take any additional cards he desires in order to get up as high as he can or to 21.  The dealer and the other players repeat the process.
  If the dealer busts he loses to all remaining players on the table who have cards less than or equal to 21.  If neither busts then the higher hand wins.
 epending on the local casinos rules if there is a tie the hand is a push and any bet is returned to the player.   Most casinos do this but I have heard of some who do not.  So to be safe you can ask before you play or read the local rules.
The highest possible hand in this game is the blackjack or natural 21 which is an ace and any 10 value card.  Depending on the rules this is an automatic win even in the dealer has blackjack also, although it may be considered a push in some casinos. 
Some options a player can take while playing is a hit or taking another card, to stand or to stay, and split a pair can only be done if the player received a pair as first first 2 cards play then continues as if he has 2 hands but must also match his first bet on the second pair.
With the wide range of options and possibilities it is obvious that Blackjack is a  game of skill and knowledge.  The more you play the more comfortable you will be at figuring out where you stand and how to play.  It is a game well worth learning.