Online Blackjack Guide

Blackjack in all its forms provides one of the most attractive prospects to any avid gambling fan: it sports the best betting odds in the gambling industry – 50/50 ideally implied. Online Blackjack has proven to be an even bigger sensation, and Platinum Play Online Casino sports several variations of this massively popular pontoon pastime.

How to play online Blackjack at Platinum Play

Blackjack is one of the simplest games to learn, and the most fun to play. This carries over into the casino software and interface, and players will find that their grasp of said interface will come very quickly and easily.

The online blackjack software interface

• In the bottom left corner of the screen is the credit allocation, which will increase and decrease dependant on purchases, wins or losses.
• Next to the credit remainder are five red buttons: ‘Games’, ‘Bank’, ‘Expert’, ‘Game Statistics’ and ‘Game Options’.
• The chip selection is in the bottom centre part of the screen. Here, the Increase (+) or Decrease (-) buttons may be used to up the stakes.
• There are four buttons next to each other at the bottom, running from the middle towards the right. These are ‘Split’, ‘Double’ ‘Stand’ and ‘Deal’. The entire game is played with these.
• Running above the above-said four buttons is the ‘Insurance’, ‘Bet’ and ‘Win’ bar, which will display the amounts per round that have been bet, insured for and won.
• To exit the casino, simply click in the top left button. The dropdown menu will appear, with the ‘Exit’ option at the bottom. Other games may also be selected from this menu.
• To purchase more credits, click on the ‘Bank’ option, which will allow you to purchase additional casino credits without losing your progress in your blackjack game.

Regular vs. Expert mode in online blackjack

Because of the diversity that varieties of Blackjack bring to the table, it is useful to apply Platinum Play’s Advanced Strategy tables. Serving as unique learning aids, these tables allow for the specification of certain parameters when playing certain Blackjack varieties, and allow for the defining of strategies to eventually beat the dealer. Strategy tables are only available in Expert Mode.

Expert Mode allows for:

• Predetermined actions to be taken, such as ‘Hit’, ‘Stand’, ‘Double’ or ‘Split’ (once the action is activated).
• Conditions to be set that activate actions once the conditions are met. These include setting a number of cards that need to be dealt, or have been dealt, etc, before the condition is applied.
• An ‘Else’ option that displays when none of the conditions are satisfied.
• An ‘Other’ option that displays alternatives to pre-set conditions.
• An option that insures a player’s bet every time the Dealer gets an up-card Ace.

To clear the conditions or strategy table input, simply click on the ‘Reset’ button to revert the strategy table to a previously saved table. If no strategy tables have been saved yet, the ‘Default’ button will revert the strategy table to the software standard.

Online blackjack tips, tricks and shortcut keys

There are a few, all-round tips to follow when playing online blackjack. So, take a look and even some odds for a great game and even greater wins.

Tips and tricks

• Check out this table to get a view of a general blackjack strategy to follow.
• Know the basics of the online blackjack variety you want to play. Strategy is useless if you don’t know how to apply it at the correct time in the correct situation.
• Don’t push your luck if the Dealer has an Ace-up Blackjack in the making. Neither doubling nor splitting will save your bet, so rather fold.
• Don’t hold back if the Dealer has an upcard of 7 or higher. Rather keep hitting until you have at least a hard 17 or a soft 18.
• Always keep in mind that a ‘Soft’ hand includes an Ace that counts as 11, while a ‘Hard’ hand either has no Ace or the Ace counts as a 1.
• Your best-odds pairs in Blackjack are Aces and Eights, so don’t hesitate to split them every time you get them.
• Have fun playing blackjack; even though it is much faster than its land-based counterparts, there is no timer slowly running down to force your hand. Think before you bet.

Online blackjack strategy

The quickest way to get the best out of online blackjack is to know how the odds work, and with which card they work best. Apart from the tips and tricks to be plied in online blackjack, there are five strategies which may prove useful. In no way should these tactics be construed as a definite winning solution.

The Martingale blackjack strategy

This strategy, also called ‘Negative Progression’, is one of the oldest gambling strategies, and may be found in various forms of application on other online betting games. This system is one where players double their bets whenever they lose, in such a way that one win will cover all previous losses. Due to table betting limits implemented in most online casinos these days, this system has lost most of its usefulness.

The Paroli blackjack strategy

The Paroli, ‘Positive Progression’ or ‘Anti-Martingale strategy’ is the opposite of the Martingale tactic. Instead of doubling their bets whenever they lose, players instead double their bets whenever they win. This system is more successful in that it allows for less losses, improves the chances of keeping a bankroll going for longer and is also less inclined to be affected by table betting limits.

The Labouchere blackjack strategy

Also called the ‘Cross-out’, ‘Cancellation’, ‘Labby’ or ‘Split-Martingale’ strategy. This system is numerically based, with a player marking off a sequence of numbers as they are played. The outside numbers are added together, which determines the betting amount. Winning on a hand means that players cross out that two-number addition and progress to the next set of outside numbers. Running out of numbers constitutes a solid winning streak, and the sequence may be restarted. The drawback is that a constant losing streak means more betting is involved.

The D’Alembert blackjack strategy

This is a very simple blackjack strategy. It resembles the Paroli strategy, with the difference that you constantly increase and decrease, unlike the Paroli, where you only increase when you win. This strategy is useless in the long run because of the imprecise nature of the betting regularity, and from a mathematical perspective, proves unsound in nearly any online casino game.

The Trioplay System

This is a straightforward commercial betting system: players increase their bets when they win, and decrease them when they lose. Trioplay requires a small bankroll, and is therefore easy to play in any online blackjack situation. The downside is that the system is for sale: to read it and use it, a fee of $30 is payable. More importantly, the current website is down, leaving this strategy with much to be desired.