What else can you profit from in a casino if not blackjack? Why do gambling experts choose this game? There are many reasons for it:
Blackjack features numerous advantages, such as a low house edge, easy basic strategy, the ability to count cards, the availability of advanced techniques, a vast selection of games, etc.
Does this mean anyone can turn blackjack into a source of stable income? Unlikely.
Making money from playing blackjack is not an easy task. Of course, understanding the theory is not difficult, but effectively applying this knowledge in practice is much more challenging.
Nevertheless, thousands of enthusiasts consider blackjack not just their hobby but a real job. If this idea also appeals to you, read this article from Casinoz's gambling experts. It will help you understand the basics.
Online Casinos for Playing Blackjack for Money
First, consider the list of popular online casinos with a wide selection of blackjack games from famous software manufacturers. Of course, all these websites are fair, legitimate, and high-quality.Advantages of Blackjack over Other Games
Why does blackjack attract professional casino players? They understand it has several advantages over most other gambling games.
- Profitability - This is the main pro of blackjack. In the best versions, the RTP is about 100%. Moreover, there are games where you can gain an edge over the club without using card counting and other professional methods. What else does an advantage player need? Everything else is not so necessary if you can beat the casino!
- Accessibility - Nowadays, anyone can afford to play blackjack. You can register at an online casino even if no legal club is near you. Hundreds of sites offer blackjack at minimal and very high stakes. Choosing the right option is easy.
- Variety of versions - Only a few variations are usually available in land-based gambling clubs. Still, online casinos offer hundreds of games from well-known providers and new studios. Analyzing them, you can choose blackjack with the most profitable rules, a wide range of bets, a convenient interface, and other advantages.
- Many educational materials - Nowadays, you don't need to look for blackjack gurus or special courses to become an expert. There are plenty of books by famous masters for sale. The Internet has whole sites dedicated to blackjack. You can find training software for free. Casinoz offers a lot of articles about all aspects of professional blackjack playing. If you have the desire, learning to play correctly is not a problem at all!
The benefits of online blackjack have been discussed in particular articles on Casinoz. We will not repeat ourselves.
It would also be fair to highlight the features of blackjack that may seem like disadvantages to you.
- Difficulty - For beginners, it is sometimes really challenging to master all the aspects. The least capable players do not understand the rules, and playing by strategy, card counting, and more complex techniques is challenging for almost everyone.
- Monotony - It must be admitted that the gameplay in this game does not shine with a variety of available options. You just need to decide whether to take a card or not. Sometimes you need to double your bet, make splits, and decide on surrender. Professionals play by the optimal strategy. It turns out that you don't even have to make decisions; just follow the recommendations. Of course, card counting brings some excitement, but this technique is not for online casinos. In general, the process seems boring to some casino visitors.
- Suspicion of the casino staff - Dealers, pit bosses, and security personnel at the casino are often overly suspicious of players playing blackjack. They see them as potential card counters. Sometimes, this borders on paranoia. Be prepared for various unpleasant situations.
Of course, all of the above drawbacks (if they can be called that) pale compared to the numerous significant advantages of blackjack.
Advantage Blackjack Playing
You must constantly learn, improve your knowledge, and consider several important factors to reach the maximum payback possible in blackjack.
Choosing the best blackjack game
Each rule in blackjack reduces or increases the casino's edge over the player. In online games, the game provider can indicate the RTP. In real blackjack, you will have to calculate it yourself. You need to know how specific rules affect the house edge.
Choosing the right casino
Not all gambling clubs offer favorable conditions for blackjack enthusiasts. In some, there are simply no advantageous versions of this game. Blackjack fans are often denied bonuses, do not receive comp points, are deprived of cashback, etc.
Look for land-based and online casinos with suitable conditions.
Basic and optimal strategies
All beginners are recommended to learn to play blackjack by the basic strategy.
At a more advanced level, you need to master the changes made according to the rules' different nuances. This allows you to achieve a higher return.
Professional techniques
Card counting and other tricks of blackjack experts make it possible to beat the casino. Of course, they cannot always be applied in practice.
- For example, counting cards is almost always useless in online casinos.
- Shuffle tracking is meaningless on the Internet or at tables with shuffle machines.
- Sequencing or tracking aces requires careless dealer work and so on.
In any case, it is necessary to study these techniques. Who knows when they will come in handy?
Bankroll Management
Everyone who enjoys gambling should master the basics of money control to minimize the likelihood of going bankrupt. In blackjack, bankroll management is critical. You should know the answers to the following questions:
- How much money should you have?
- How much should you allocate for each gaming session?
- How much can you afford to lose at once?
- When should you stop playing after winning?
If you are counting cards, you should also learn to adjust your bets based on the true count. It's not very difficult, but it does require practice.
Concealing Blackjack Skills
In brick-and-mortar casinos, blackjack professionals should be able to blend in with the crowd. They should do everything possible to appear as an ordinary visitor. Never brag about your skills or openly demonstrate them. This is a surefire way to be shown the door or forced to play under very disadvantageous conditions.
Interacting with Dealers
This is a point for customers of land-based casinos. Blackjack dealers are not perfect. Many make mistakes, deal extra cards, count incorrectly, shuffle poorly, etc.
Professional gamblers learn to use their mistakes to their advantage. They will "not notice" errors that benefit them and seek compensation for unfavorable dealers' blunders. A careless shuffle allows using tracking and other tricks.
If you feel ok about it, you can even learn to provoke the dealer into making mistakes. It's not that difficult, especially if you play against novice dealers.
Bonus Hunting
Casinos don't like blackjack players who benefit from bonuses and promotions. Even blackjack tournaments are not widely available. However, an expert should take advantage of all offers.
Take good bonuses. Participate in complimentary lotteries. Show interest in free tournaments and so on.
Psychology of Blackjack Players
Even professionals risk becoming gambling addicts. There are many such cases. Learn to keep yourself in check. Don't exceed your limits. Don't raise bets if it's not necessary. Don't assume that addiction will never threaten you.
All of the above aspects of advantage play in blackjack are discussed in more detail in themed articles on Casinoz.
Problems of Professional Blackjack Players
While reading this article, you will be disappointed if you get the impression that playing blackjack for profit is easy and enjoyable. Professionals constantly face various difficulties.
Nowhere to Play Blackjack Offline
Blackjack is a well-known gambling game, but it is not popular everywhere. There may be only one or two blackjack tables in small casinos, and the rules are usually disadvantageous, so professional gamblers have nothing to do in such clubs.
You must travel somewhere to play for money, but it is expensive and inconvenient. For earning money from blackjack, traveling tours are of little use. All the earnings may go to cover associated expenses. Of course, if you are a real professional with a huge bankroll, why not travel to gambling capitals? But for ordinary users, it is not affordable.
Suspicious Attitude in Land-Based Casinos
Many casino managers are scared by stories about card counters. Win a few times at blackjack, and the pit boss will constantly stand over you. In Las Vegas, you can get lost in the crowd of customers, but in small towns, all visitors are in sight and even counted.
Every dealer there knows all the regular players, and newcomers are scrutinized almost under a microscope.
Can you count cards in such a situation? Try it. But do not be surprised if the dealer starts separating a third of the shoe with a cut card or "burning" several cards in different situations.
Lack of Profitable Bonuses
All the best online casino bonuses are aimed at fans of video slots. Many clubs allow you to play them on blackjack, but only a tiny part of bets is usually considered (for example, 10% or 2%). Sometimes card game enthusiasts are offered alternative bonuses, but they are not usually very attractive.
Something similar is associated with the loyalty program. Comp points for blackjack bets are accrued, but they are worth less than for playing slots.
Shortage of Good Blackjack Tournaments
In online casinos, slot tournaments prevail because slot machines are much more popular with customers. Tournaments for blackjack enthusiasts are also held, but there are fewer of them, and the prizes are not as attractive. Sometimes they have a format of mixed competitions involving different card games, which also does not seem appealing.
In brick-and-mortar casinos, blackjack tournaments are also not held everywhere. In some regions, no one has even heard of them.
Unprofitable Jackpots in Blackjack
If you dream of hitting the jackpot in blackjack, we regret to disappoint you: there are practically no profitable jackpots in online blackjack.
Progressive jackpots in blackjack require side bets from players. The casino has a very high house edge in them. With an increase in the jackpot amount, RTP also grows but usually does not reach a high enough payback.
Perhaps you want to point out other problems with advantage play in blackjack? Share your experience in the comments.
How to Start Playing Blackjack for a Living
This section is for beginners. If you want to play blackjack for profit but don't know where to start, here's a general action plan.
- Terms - Start by learning the general concepts of blackjack. There are quite a few professional terms. You should clearly understand what split, surrender, double, etc., mean. You should also understand special phrases related to gambling in general: house edge, RTP, and many others.
- Rules of blackjack - First, comprehend the standard situations. What is the main goal? How many points do different cards give? What stages does the gameplay consist of, and so on? Move from simple to complex.
- Mathematics of blackjack - In this game, everything is decided by fractions of a percent. Understanding how specific rules affect the casino's advantage over the player is necessary. This will help you choose the most profitable types of blackjack.
- Basic strategy - Every blackjack enthusiast who plays not just for fun should memorize it inside out. Without it, achieving decent results is impossible. However, this is far from the pinnacle of mastery but is only one of the first steps toward success.
- Optimal strategy - This is a variation of the basic strategy, adapted directly to the blackjack variant you have chosen. All the peculiarities of the rules are taken into account here. Professionals also take into account some other factors.
- Card counting - In land-based casinos, an advantage player in blackjack must simply count cards. Otherwise, he will not gain a mathematical advantage over the club. Keeping count is difficult, as the administration actively prevents this practice in many gambling clubs. There are different counting systems. Reviews on Casinoz will help you choose the most suitable one. Remember that card counting is almost always useless in online blackjack with a random number generator.
- Advanced techniques - Shuffle tracking, sequencing, dealer peeking - all of these tricks are suitable for offline casinos. Most of them can't be used all the time. If the dealers are honest, such tricks are not effective. Fortunately for professional blackjack players, there are plenty of inexperienced and negligent dealers in gambling.
Articles on blackjack available on Casinoz will help you learn the game at a high level and constantly improve your skills. Start with the rules section, and then read the articles and strategies.
Should You Try Making Money Playing Blackjack?
So can playing blackjack be a profession? Will it be profitable? Of course, it all depends on you. In any case, it's not easy.
Casinoz's opinion:
You can make money on blackjack in offline casinos, but this profession is associated with numerous difficulties. Moreover, it is only viable in certain countries and regions. Playing online blackjack for profit is tough or even impossible.
However, we will be happy if you manage to convince us with your personal success story. Share your experience, advise other Casinoz readers, and don't hesitate to ask questions.