Online Blackjack – Guide 2023

Being able to outplay the dealer in blackjack is something that feels just so rewarding and you know it the minute the dealer flips over their second card. You know you’ve had a good count; you know that your increased bet was worth it, and to see it paying off is one of the best feelings you can get when playing online blackjack.

It’s not easy though! Blackjack is a game that is easy to understand but exceedingly difficult to master. Knowing when you should split, double down, stand and hit are some of the most difficult calls to make. In most cases, the call you make might even be the wrong one, but you can still rely on a gut feel to bring your winnings to you.

If you’re looking to find out how you can capitalize on blackjack and want to learn as much as you can about this casino game, including tips, guides and how to count the cards, then you should stick to Veritop where we’ll open the game wide up and let you take a peek inside.

Game history

The interesting thing about blackjack is that it has no history. Not specifically anyway. Before blackjack, the game of “twenty-one” was all the rage, a game that comes from Don Quixote’s writer, Miguel de Cervantes. One of his main characters was good at cheating at a game called vientiuna, Spanish for twenty-one.

It was here that it was mentioned that the point of the game was to get to 21 points without going over, and an ace represented values of 1 or 11. This story was written in the early 1600s, so the lineage can be traced back to Europe for quite some time. The traditional game was then brought to the US where gambling houses introduced bonuses like having an ace of spades and a “black jack”, getting the term blackjack.

At the time, getting a “blackjack” would pay 10 to 1. The name of the game stuck around even though the bonus soon fell away, and the rest is history. Today, any ace and any picture card worth ten will get you a blackjack.

Content of Our Expert Guide Book

In our expert guide at Veritop you’ll find everything you need to know about online casinos and blackjack in general. If you’ve gotten this far, then you’ll want to know what we’ve got on offer. We’ll give you tips, guides, a how-to guide, ways to win and show you the basics of card counting.

Once you’ve learned all you can from our guide, then we’d suggest that you take a look at some of our top online recommended casinos. It’s at these sites that you’ll get a fantastic online experience coupled with bonuses, a variety of games and so much more.

How to Play Blackjack

Blackjack rules are easy to understand. In blackjack, every player will be dealt two cards, one at a time in order. Usually in online blackjack there will be a bet that is required before you’re dealt a card, showing that you’re “in” for that round. All players will have their cards face up and the dealer will show one card. 

In blackjack your goal is to beat the dealer. It’s not to “get to 21” as most people would have you believe. In many forms of the game, the dealer needs to stand on 17, so in cases more often than not, you just have to get more than 17. But that all depends on what the dealer is showing.

The dealer then goes around from left to right asking players what they’d like to do. They can “hit”, “stand”, “double down”, “split”, and in some cases, “surrender”. When a player hits, they’ll take another card. This is something that can be done repeatedly. A stand is when a player is happy with their total and play moves on. A double down is when a player doubles their bet but can only get one more card. A split is when you have two of the same cards, you put in the same bet and act as if you’re playing two separate hands.

Surrender isn’t available at all blackjack tables but when it is, players can forfeit half their chips and back out of the hand. Surrenders usually happen when the dealer shows a fantastic card like a picture card or an ace. If you know your hand is an average one, then you’ll likely surrender if you can.

After all the players have decided to stand, the dealer will then draw until 17 or they are bust. Those that beat the dealer will win, and those that lose will have their bets taken away. The game is then reset, and the hand starts again. 

How to Win at Blackjack

Winning at blackjack isn’t easy, but when you can do it, you can make a good chunk of real money. You have the best odds to win when playing blackjack, a statistic that’s proven time and time again. It’s important to be cool and calm, and be mindful of what’s been played, what’s still coming and what the dealer has in play.

How to Count Cards in Blackjack

There’s a system to count card in blackjack where you can assign a value to certain cards, giving yourself your own “count” so to speak. In doing so, it helps to give you an indication of what’s been played and what is coming up soon, so that you can maximize your chances of winning and try to reduce your losses.

Bearing in mind, actually counting cards is impossible. Many real casinos will use multiple decks and online casinos will shuffle a single deck for every hand in some cases. The way the count works is to assign a +1 value to cards 2 – 6, a 0 value to cards 7 – 9, and a -1 value to 10 – Ace. In doing so, you can count up and down based on what has come out.

At some point in time when you have a count, so the count is +3 and the dealer is showing something like a 5, it means that a lot of smaller cards have been played, so the bigger cards are more likely to come up. This will let you increase your minimum bet and additionally, take calculated risks where you wouldn’t have done so before.

Blackjack Tips

One of the biggest mistakes that people make when they play blackjack is not paying enough attention to other players’ cards, and the dealers’ cards, especially. If you’re holding two picture cards and the dealer is showing a 6, you are well within your rights to split your hand and try to do a little extra damage to the house. The chances are fairly good that the dealer might get a 10 and then bust out.

When you have been dealt a 5 and a 6, one picture card will get you straight to 21. If the dealer is showing a picture or an ace, it’s not worth the risk. But if a dealer is showing a lower card, then you’ll absolutely want to double down and try to maximize your win. The chances are better that you’ll get a picture card, but if not, you still might get a high card to bolster your chances. Read more tips in our dedicated article. 

We do say it time and time again, and it’s always true. Blackjack is never a dead certainty and you can’t always rely on the numbers. But if you play smart on every hand, there’s a good chance you’ll win more than you lose. And with a bit of luck, you could make bank!

Online Blackjack Bonus

Grabbing an online blackjack bonus is a great way to start your online gambling career. Usually these bonuses will increase your bankroll, allowing you to play for longer, and put more down as a minimum bet. If you’re able to, grabbing a bonus that specifically caters to blackjack players is a huge advantage.

Live Blackjack

You may be able to experience live casino or live dealer blackjack at some point when playing online at one of our recommended casinos. This will put you right onto the floor of the casino from the comfort of your very own home. You’ll get to sit and chat to the dealer and real players, and you’ll be able to feel like you’re physically there on the casino floor.

The Blackjack Table

A blackjack table will usually be a green felt with boxes on it. Each box will represent a players’ cards, and the rules of the game will likely be printed on the table. It’ll tell you what the deal has to stand on. In this half-circle, on online blackjack, players may have different boxes such bet and bonus too.

In the case of an online casino, the bet box is where you first place your bet. You’ll also be required to place a bonus bet at this stage if you want to do so. This will pay out at a good rate when you manage to land a blackjack. Once all players are in, the dealer will deal out the cards, and then you’ll play the hand.

The Variants

Blackjack is a pretty simple and straight forward game once you’ve mastered it and understand the rules. That’s why there are so many different versions of blackjack out there. The traditional one will involve a dealer having to stand on 17, and players just playing the game as normal.

Look out for exciting variants of blackjack such as Blackjack Switch, Spanish 21, Vegas Strip Blackjack, Atlantic City Blackjack, Perfect Pairs, Pontoon, and many, many more. Each of them is a little different than the last, so it’s important to understand exactly what you’re getting into before you start betting real money.

The Best Software

At our top recommended online casinos, we always recommend sites that have the best online blackjack software. We don’t usually recommended online casinos with fewer than a single provider, but when we do, they need to have amazing blackjack games.

Each software provider will have a bunch of different blackjack games, from the classic variation to something like live dealer. In each, the number need to be perfectly randomized, and we’ll always suggest to online casinos that their providers be independently audited just to give casino goers that peace of mind.

Advantages of Playing Online

Playing online is fantastic because it’s just so easy. You can head to an online casino hat you trust, make a deposit in a method that you are familiar with, and then start playing. It’s as simple as that. You can play at any time of the day or night and can usually have a great time doing so.

It’s an added benefit when you’re playing online because you can play at multiple tables at once. It lets you skip the boring setup and bet phases and allows you to play the hands you want to play and focus on winning big money.

Free Games vs Real Money Games

Whenever the option of free games vs real money games comes about, we will always tell our userbase to play free blackjack first. Whether you believe you understand the game or not, there’s always a person who feels that they know what they should be doing without understanding the game as well as they should. This is what makes free games so important.

The free blackjack that you do play will run in the exact same way that real money blackjack does, aside from the fact that you don’t win or lose real money. It’s the perfect way to become accustomed to the rules and will allow you to master the game in your own time.

Playing Blackjack on Mobile

With the mobile age where it is, it would be silly for online casinos not to cater to mobile devices. This is especially true with table games as popular as blackjack. Most people will play from a mobile unless they are specifically looking for a live dealer casino. Some online casinos don’t yet offer live blackjack on mobile, so check before you make an account if this is what you’re looking for.

Our Conclusion

Blackjack is one of the world’s most popular games, and one of the easiest to understand. It’s fun to play and it’s difficult to master, but once you have a firm grasp on It you should find a variant that you really enjoy and spend time playing it. We love blackjack and it’s one of our top table games.