How to Earn Money Playing Blackjack Online

1. Know How to Play Blackjack

The fundamentals of blackjack are simple. Each player seeks to achieve a hand closer to 21 than the dealer’s hand, without exceeding 21. Doing so wins the game. If the dealer’s hand is closer to 21 (without exceeding), the player loses. If the player and dealer totals are equal, it’s a push (tie).

You need to know about all your potential options – hit, stand, double, split, insurance, surrender, etc. These are the basic rules of blackjack, but there are many more underlying rules that can apply to a game.

• Introduction to Blackjack Rules

The house rules can vary immensely from one table to the next. Some rules require the dealer to stand on any 17. Others call for hitting soft 17. Some games allow doubling on any 2 cards, while others are restricted to two-card totals of 9, 10 or 11 only. The list of variables goes on and on, and each one of them will effect the house edge, and your expected return.

• House Rules and their Impact on RTP

2. Learn How to Memorize Basic Strategy

This step comes next because, once you understand all of the variant rules and how they impact the theoretical return to player (RTP), you’ll be able to evaluate different blackjack games by their rules, and the strategies required to each the highest natural RTP.

It wouldn’t do you much good to memorize the strategy for one set of blackjack rules, then use it on a table where the rules are completely different. In most cases, the strategies will be extremely similar. Any deviation from the correct strategy will diminish the RTP. Every hundredth of a percentile counts, therefore you must employ the right strategy for the game you’re playing.

• 50+ Blackjack Game Rules w/ Basic Strategy

3. Grasping How to Count Cards

First things first – you can’t count cards in an RNG-based blackjack game. Computer generated decks are reshuffled after every hand. It’s pointless, so don’t bother. The only online blackjack games where card counting can be effective are live dealer games. Even these have their drawbacks, which you can learn more about here:

• Card Counting at Live Dealer Casinos

There are many different ways to count cards in blackjack. I would strongly suggest starting with the quintessential Hi-Lo Count. It is the easiest of all counting methods, and the bedrock to all progressive systems thereafter.

Please know that you don’t have to be a savant to count cards. So long as you can conduct basic addition, and keep track of a single number at a time, you can keep an accurate count in blackjack. The more complex counting systems can call for counting half-steps and/or keeping up with more than one number at a time, such as keeping a separate count of Aces. As I said, start with the easiest form, and once you’ve mastered that – if you think you can handle more – progress from there.

• How to Count Cards in Blackjack

Card counting isn’t just a strategy in and of itself, but part of a complete game theory package. Most people think game theory optimization is reserved for multi-player PvP style gambling, such as Texas Hold’em or Stud Poker games. That’s actually not the case. Any gambling amusement that involves multiple players, where each player’s decisions impact the game, can be exploited by game theory.

• How to Use Game Theory in Blackjack

4. Practice, Practice, Practice!

As I said, practice means everything. If you want to master how to earn money playing blackjack online, you have to master every aspect therein. The rules, the edge, the strategies to be applied. These things don’t come as easy as you might think. Learning them and actually using them in the moment, often under the pressure of a live casino timer, are two very different things. The more you practice, the easier it gets.