So what are the best ways to win at blackjack? Read on for our complete guide to win at blackjack. Pick the right type of blackjack game. The first step to winning at blackjack is to give yourself the best odds you possibly can. The way to do this is by picking the right type of blackjack game. Pick the Right Casino. Players often ignore this all-important step, so I decided to start precisely with. 5 Best Tips for Winning at Blackjack. Learn Basic Strategy and stick to it. The player should always assume that the card they can’t see is a 10 and statistically, the odds are high that it is.

Blackjack is one of the least volatile casino games because you have a 46.36% chance of winning any hand (not counting ties). Add in that you can double down and split hands in favorable situations, and you’re dealing with a near 50/50 proposition.

Nevertheless, blackjack can still be a streaky game. It’s not uncommon to win or lose 3-4 hands in a row.

Some players try to capitalize on winning streaks by increasing their bets, but they often use a randomized approach that involves betting whatever they feel like in the moment.

I’m going to discuss some different ways that you can take advantage of winning streaks through systematic approaches. I’ll also cover how you can turn losing streaks into profits.

But let’s first dive into what your chances are of experiencing both winning and losing streaks in blackjack.

Probabilities of Blackjack Winning and Losing Streaks

Most blackjack streaks last for 2 to 3 hands. This makes winning and losing runs that last for 4 or more hands an unlikely occurrence.

But, as the statistics show, you can never rule out anything in blackjack. The chances of a 9 hand winning streak are 0.1%, meaning this can happen 1 out of every 1,000 times in a nine hand stretch.

Here’s a look at the odds of both winning and losing streaks:

Length of Streak	Chances of Winning Streak	Chances of Losing Streak
2	22.5%	27.7%
3	10.6%	14.6%
4	5.0%	7.6%
5	2.4%	4.0%
6	1.1%	2.1%
7	0.5%	1.1%
8	0.2%	0.6%
9	0.1%	0.3%

The stats support why blackjack streaks often occur within 2 or 3 hands. Any winning or losing run after this has less than a 10% chance of happening.

Can You Really Win More Money Based on Blackjack Streaks?

Before we get started on the methods that you can use to take advantage of blackjack streaks, I want to discuss if it’s feasible to increase profits during winning runs.

Before blackjack strategy became more prevalent thanks to the internet, many players simply thought that blind luck governed winning and losing streaks.

But streaks aren’t the result of some mysterious force working for or against you. Instead, this is merely statistics at work.

Mathematicians will tell you that a systematic approach during streaks won’t help you win any more money than if you keep flat betting. But there are certain factors that can cause a winning or losing streak.

One example includes an imperfect shuffle, which leaves clumps of high and low cards. And more high cards (a.k.a. aces through jacks) improves your chances of getting a natural blackjack.

The only problem is that it’s nearly impossible to predict when the deck hasn’t been shuffled thoroughly enough.

Whether or not you can take advantage of blackjack streaks with precision is debatable. But what you can count on is building on your winnings during a hot streak.

Likewise, with the right strategy, you can actually earn profits after a losing streak. And this is exactly what I’m going to cover in the upcoming sections.

Taking Advantage of Blackjack Winning Streaks

A great way to capitalize on blackjack winning streaks is by using a positive progression system. Positive progression strategies involve increasing your bets during hot streaks so that you can win even more money.

The best thing about these systems is that they don’t put your bankroll in danger. Instead, a positive progression system only calls on you to increase bets when you’re already winning.

Of course, the downside is that you can also blow your earnings because you’re betting more, but many blackjack players are willing to take this risk if it means turning marginal winnings into a huge profit.

You and I will cover some of these positive progression systems below. I’ll also discuss how you can use winning streaks to camouflage your card counting efforts.

Paroli System

The Paroli system is one of the easiest positive progression strategies to use. You begin by determining a fixed betting unit.

Ideally, this amount will be worth 2% to 5% of your bankroll. For example, if your bankroll is worth $500, you can use a $10 betting unit.

The Paroli works by doubling your betting unit after every win. You then stop after three wins and return to the original stake.

Some players like going to 4-5 wins before returning to the original bet, but this is risky because we already covered that your chances of winning four straight hands are less than 10%.

Here’s an example on using the Paroli for a three win sequence:

• You bet $10 and win.
• You bet $20 and win.
• You bet $40 and win.
• You return to the original $10 bet.

The nice thing about the Paroli system is that you win more during hot streaks without being too risky. The trouble, though, is that you only have a 10.6% chance of winning a three hand sequence.

1 3 2 6 System

The 1 3 2 6 strategy isn’t as popular as the Paroli, but it’s still a simple positive progression strategy that can bring you big winnings.

This system begins with choosing a fixed betting unit. And just like with the Paroli, 2% to 5% of your bankroll is a good unit size.

Each number in the 1 3 2 6 system represents how many betting units you risk in the sequence. In other words, you bet one unit, followed by three units, two units, and six units.

You start a fresh sequence every time you lose a bet or win four straight wagers. Here’s an example of using this strategy:

• Your betting unit is $10.
• You bet $10 and win.
• You bet $30 and win.
• You bet $20 and win.
• You bet $60 and win.
• Return to a $10 bet.

The primary advantage of the 1 3 2 6 strategy is that you can book profits even if you don’t complete the sequence. The downside is that you’ll rarely win four blackjack hands in a row and reach the end of the betting string.

Reverse Labouchere

The reverse Labouchere system is one of the most complicated gambling strategies. But you should still be able to pick up this system within a few minutes.

The reverse Labouchere starts with creating a sequence of numbers. The numbers should add up to your desired profit for the betting string.

You then add the first and last number in the sequence to determine your next bet.

If you win the wager, you add the combined amount to the end of your sequence. After a loss, you cross off both numbers and continue to the next wager.

You start over with a new sequence whenever completing the number string. Here’s an example of using the reverse Labouchere:

• Your sequence is: 1 2 4 5 4 = $16 profit.
• Your first bet is $5 (1 + 4).
• You win, and your new string becomes: 1 2 4 5 4 5.
• Your next bet is $6 (1+ 5).
• You lose, and your new sequence becomes: 2 4 5 4.

The drawback to this strategy is that it normally takes a while to complete your betting sequence. But the upside is that you can win solid profits after completing the number string.

One Half Increase

The one half increase system is aptly named, because you increase your betting unit by one half after a two-hand winning streak. You continue this half unit increase for every subsequent win.

You can see an example below:

• Your unit size is $20.
• You win a $20 bet.
• You win a $20 bet.
• Your next wager becomes $30.
• You win the $30 bet.
• Your next wager becomes $40.
• You lose the $40 bet.
• Return to the original $20 wager.

The one half increase is my favorite positive progression system, because it allows you to capitalize on win streaks without risking the majority of your profits.

Card Counting Cover

One of the biggest challenges in card counting is making sure that the casino doesn’t know you’re a counter. Trying to take advantage of winning streaks is a good way to accomplish this goal.

This is especially the case when it’s early in a shoe hands and there isn’t much deck penetration. If the dealer or pit boss notices you increasing bets at this point, they’ll think that you’re just a regular player who’s looking for more wins during a hot streak.

Let’s contrast this to a card counter who flat bets while winning 3-4 hands in a row. This becomes suspicious when you suddenly increase your bet by wide margins later in the shoe.

A good time to boost your bets during a winning streak is when the true count is at 0 or +1.

These are points when a normal card counter flat bets. But again, increasing your wagers at this point makes it look like you’re simply a progressive better.

Of course, you should avoid spreading your bets too high in these cases, because you don’t have a mathematical advantage. But wagering an extra unit can help you with camouflaging when you’re taking heat from the pit boss.

Taking Advantage of Blackjack Losing Streaks

Taking advantage of a losing streak sounds like an oxymoron. After all, how is it possible to gain any advantage from losing in blackjack?

But you actually can swing things in your favor with the right negative progression systems. A negative progression strategy calls on you to bet more when you’re losing.

This is extremely risky because you can pile up more losses during a cold streak. However, you can also win back all of your losses and book a profit when things go your way.

Below I’ll cover a few different negative progression systems along with how these strategies can camouflage card counting.

Martingale

The Martingale is easy to use because the only requirement involves doubling bets after every loss.

You start off by wagering the table minimum. You double this amount every time you lose, and return to the table minimum after any win.

Here’s an example of the Martingale:

• You bet $5 and lose (bankroll at -5).
• You bet $10 and lose (bankroll at -15).
• You bet $20 and lose (bankroll at -35).
• You bet $40 and lose (bankroll at -75).
• You bet $80 and lose (bankroll at -155).
• You bet $160 and lose (bankroll at -315).
• You bet $320 and win (bankroll at +5).

The upside is that this system actually gives you an advantage in theory. As long as you always win to end a losing streak, you’ll earn back your losses plus a small profit.

The major downside is that you can lose your entire bankroll during long losing runs. Another problem is that you’ll eventually hit the table betting limit if you lose enough hands.

This is why I suggest finding tables with a low minimum bet and generous max wager if you’re going to use the Martingale.

Oscar’s Grind

Oscar’s Grind is a fairly complicated strategy that involves increasing your bets following a losing streak.

You start out by choosing a unit size, such as $10 or $20. You then wager one unit until you run into a losing streak.

As soon as your losing streak ends, you increase your bet size by one unit. This continues until you’ve earned a one-unit profit.

At this point, you return to betting a single unit until the next losing streak occurs. Here’s an example of how Oscar’s Grind works:

• You bet 1 unit ($10) and lose – Bet stays the same (bankroll at -1)
• You bet 1 unit and lose – Bet stays the same (bankroll at -2)
• You bet 1 unit and lose – Bet stays the same (bankroll at -3)
• You bet 1 unit and lose – Bet stays the same (bankroll at -4)
• You bet 1 unit and win – Next bet is 2 units (bankroll at -3)

• You bet 2 units and lose – Bet stays the same (bankroll at -5)
• You bet 2 units and lose – Bet stays the same (bankroll at -7)
• You bet 2 units and win – Next bet is 3 units (bankroll at -5)
• You bet 3 units and win – Bet stays the same (bankroll at -2).
• You bet 3 units and win – Next bet is 1 unit (bankroll at +1).

My favorite thing about Oscar’s Grind is that you don’t have to risk much money after a losing streak. This allows you to win back your money in a more conservative manner.

The drawback is that some blackjack players won’t be happy with how slowly this system works.

Labouchere

Earlier I covered how the reverse Labouchere works, and the regular Labouchere has the same structure, only in a negative progression format.

This strategy begins by creating a number string that represents your bet amounts. The sequence can be however long you’d like, but I suggest keeping it to 5 to 8 numbers.

The next step is to make your first bet by combining the first and last numbers.

You cross both numbers off after a win and continue to the next wager. Following a loss, you add the combined bet to the end of the sequence.

Here’s an example of how the Labouchere works:

• Your number sequence is: 1 4 6 3 4 7.
• Your first bet is $8.
• You lose, and your new string becomes: 1 4 6 3 4 7 8.
• Your next bet is $9.
• You win, and your new string becomes: 4 6 3 4 7.

The good thing about this system is that it’s less risky than the Martingale, but you still carry a fair amount of risk because it takes a while to complete each number string.

Card Counting Cover

Negative progression betting systems are another way that you can hide your card counting efforts.

When the true count is at 0 or +1, you increase your units to make it seem like you’re temporarily using a negative progression strategy.

And when the count is in your favor later in the shoe, it will merely appear that you’re using a positive progression system.

Negative progression strategies don’t work as well in camouflaging efforts. The reason why is because pit bosses may think it’s strange that you’re alternating between negative and positive systems.

But this is still better than increasing your bets later in the shoe during a very positive count, then flat betting at every other point.

Return to Minimum Bet

Another way to handle blackjack losing streaks involves returning to the table minimum.

This doesn’t help you to take advantage of losing runs like the systems covered above. But if you’ve been wagering above the table minimum, decreasing your bet will limit losses during a downswing.

The important thing to realize here is that no gambling system can overcome the blackjack house edge. This is why it’s so risky to increase wagers when you’re losing.

By making the minimum bet, you can ride out losing streaks and eventually start betting big again when you’re winning.

Conclusion

Betting more or less during streaks isn’t necessarily a foolproof way to beat blackjack, but betting strategies can at least help you take full advantage of winning and losing streaks.

This is especially the case during winning runs, where a positive progressive system really increases your profits. My favorite positive progression strategy is the one-half increase, but the Paroli, 1 3 2 6, and reverse Labouchere are also widely used.

Negative progression systems help you chase losses and eventually end up with a small profit, but you should be careful with these strategies because they add more risk to a losing situation.

Keep in mind that no betting system overcomes the blackjack house advantage. However, you can at least manipulate your short-term winnings and take advantage of winning/losing streaks with these strategies.

• Every gambler wants to know how to win at Blackjack
• The basic strategy and some math can help you get better odds
• There are 11.2 million articles on 'how not to lose at Blackjack' on the internet

Playing Blackjack can be a frustrating experience.

On the one hand, Blackjack is known to be the Casino game with the best odds of winning. But on the other one…it's impossible to win at Blackjack every time you play.

Experienced players say you only need to apply the 'optimal basic strategy' to get a better ROI and improve your chances to win at Blackjack but -

It's not that easy when you are at the table, is it?

Blackjack is an exciting game. But to keep playing, you need to know how to battle the dealer and finish your session with more chips than you begin with.

In other words, you need to know how not to lose at Blackjack.

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Blackjack is not Slots.

Unless you don't play one of those crazy (and unusually weird) variants that online Casinos offer you, you don't need to base your strategy to improve your odds entirely on luck.

In the long term, the only way for you to improve your chances to win at Blackjack is to rely on your skills and on your ability to focus. You need to know how to do the right thing every time you get your cards.

This is the only way to minimize the impact of luck — a factor the doesn't depend on you and that you'll never be able to control.

If you want to improve your chances to win, you need to know exactly what to do - every single time you are dealt your cards.

Some combinations are more helpful than others, that's true. But if it's safe to assume that you are not going to get 21 every time, you need to know how to play your cards to get more winning chances.

This article tells you how to do just that.

You are going to learn how to use whatever cards you receive to beat the Dealer and win money at Blackjack.

I can't guarantee that you will win at Blackjack every time. But if you follow the pieces of advice I included in this strategy article and use all of them in your next games, you will have improved your winning chances.

Let's begin.

Basic Strategy to Improve Your Chances to Win at Blackjack

Blackjack is a game based on luck and mathematical probability.

Like it happens for all the games that are based on mathematics and probability, there are some systems you can use to increase your chances to win at the Blackjack table.

None of these systems is easy, nor they guarantee a 100% success rate.

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Unless this the first article on how to win at Blackjack you read in your life, you should know by now that the Blackjack basic strategy ought to be your starting point.

As a beginner, you have just one way not to throw your money away, and that is to learn and use the basic Blackjack strategy.

Online Casinos might do anything to push you to fire up a new Blackjack game and play the way your guts tell you, perhaps with the most beautiful-looking dealer you have ever see in your life.

Don't do it.

That's not how you win at Blackjack. That's the gambling equivalent of Russian roulette. And you know how that ends.

You hit a lucky streak; you win a few hands…and things suddenly get worse.

There's nothing more dangerous than to feel in control when you aren't. You think you know what you are doing and you think you need to continue because 'Luck favours the brave'…until it's too late to quit while you are ahead.

And if you don't know when to stop - you stand no chance to win at Blackjack.

Luckily for you, it's not too hard to learn the best Blackjack strategy, even if you are a complete newbie.

Read the article I linked above and memorise the right way to play every single hand.

Then, open an account on this site to practice for free.

Continue to play for free until you are 100 percent sure that you know how to play each combination of cards. Again, Blackjack is not a game of improvisation - there are rules you need to respect.

Don't Practice at a Casino - Stay Online

Most brick-and-mortar casinos will not allow you to bring a Blackjack cheat-sheet with you at the table.

It is against their rules and, let's face it: it would make you the most ridiculous nerd in the room. And even if you want to win at Blackjack - you don't want to be that guy.

This is to say that you won't be able to check how to win your Blackjack hands. You will have no external help besides that of your brain.

If you don't remember exactly how you are supposed to play - you are doomed.

That's why you need to play online. Until practice will have made you perfect.

Follow these steps to play free games where you can apply the basic strategy:

• Open this page (opens in a different tab)
• Register an account
• Launch the free Blackjack games and practice

Once you are all set, split your screen and keep the basic strategy chart open right next to the table. That will help you to know how to play and how to take your decision fast.

Because the next time you'll play with a real dealer, they will not let you much time to decide whether to hit or stand.

Attention: from here on, I am going to assume that you know the game's basic strategy. All the next tips to improve your chances to win at Blackjack are based on the fact that you know how to play.

If you don't, go back and practice Blackjack online over and over again.

Do that, and you'll be ready to continue.

Do Blackjack Online Courses Work?

There are 15,100,000 pages dedicated to Blackjack courses on Google. That's three times the population of Denmark.

The problem is - over 90 percent of those courses come from people who never won anything at the table. The only money they make comes from their courses, not from their skills.

As a longtime LinkedIn aficionado, I once took one of the courses to win at Blackjack they host on their learning platform Lynda.com.

What a boatload of c*ap that was.

Do you know what the most painful part of the course was? To discover that more than 6,000 people wasted their money on that.

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Mixing impossible calculations with Captain Obvious-like revelations, the whole aim of the course was to convince you to buy another course where you would finally find the secrets you missed to win at Blackjack.

How's that for upselling?

The truth is that winning at Blackjack is much easier than you think.

You just need to play cum grano salis, as my professor of Ancient Latin and Greek used to say.

And that's because the first secret to becoming a winning Blackjack player has nothing to do with hitting or folding.

If you want to be a winner, you need to behave like one.

Don't Try to Predict Patterns

You don't have to be a genius to know that you can't beat a casino.

That's how the gambling business works. The house has an advantage over the players - so the longer you play, the higher are the chances that the house will win.

Do hot and cold streaks exist? Probably.

Can you plan or control them? You wish.

Flip a coin 100 times, and it won't come up in a pattern of heads-tails-heads-tails-heads-tails all the way to 100.

There will be streaks of heads and streaks of tails.

How to predict that? Perhaps only Fibonacci knew that. Too bad it's a little too late to ask him now.

As a gambler, your job is not to force faith and find impossible ways to guess what will happen. It's to win as much as possible and leave before your winnings are gone.

And it all starts from picking the right Blackjack table.

Fewer Decks Can Make You Win More

Single deck games are rare in most casino these days. But remember this: the fewer the decks are, the easier it is to keep track of the face cards.

As you are going to see very soon, that's a key factor to win at Blackjack online and live.

While 'card counting' is not allowed, there's nothing wrong with keeping a general count of how many face cards have come out.

Be smart about that and this will be enough for you to get a little more adventurous with your play when you know that a lot of them have yet to appear.

Read the Rules of Your Game

Everything you see on a Blackjack table tells a story.

Everything is a piece of a puzzle you have to complete before you put your money on the line.

Here's an example?

A table that pays Blackjack at 3-to-2 odds will make you more money than one that pays at 6-to-5.

Even better:

Did you know that a table where the dealer has to hit on a soft 17 makes the house more money?

And guess where does that money come from...

That's why you should never sit to play at a table you know nothing about.

Table selection is essential to win at Blackjack and you can choose the right table only if you have the information you need.

Choose where you sit down based on the table's rules – not on whether the dealer is pretty or plain out-of-this-world-sexy.

You are there to win money, not to pick up a dealer.

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The Oscar System

Do you remember how alleged Blackjack experts make money online?

They sell 'systems to win at Blackjack' to people who would spend a fortune to find an easy way to win.

Too bad none of those revolutionary and proven Blackjack winning system work, though.

The game of Blackjack is based on probability, meaning most of those systems are just plain nonsense.

The only real Blackjack system that works does not deal with cards – it deals with money management.

It's called Oscar System, and here's how it works.

The key to improving your winning chances at Blackjack is to approach the game with the right mindset.

Don't look at a night of Blackjack as one long game with endless swings. See it as a long series of individual sessions.

Why?

Because the goal in each session is to win at least one chip (whatever denomination you may be playing).

As soon as you are a 'winner' and you have scored that one chip, the session ends and you start fresh.

If you want to use the Oscar System to win at Blackjack, you need to follow four basic rules:

• Whenever you win, increase your bet by one chip
• Whenever you lose, play the same amount you just be
• If you made any money in the session, pocket your winnings and start the progression again.
• Never try to come out ahead more than one unit – in other words, if you're down by one chip, your maximum bet would be two chips (which would still make you a winner).

How To Win Blackjack Online

Let's see this strategy in action.

In this example, we start with a one-chip bet.

I will use the symbols (-1), (+1) and so on to indicate where you stand in the game.

Example 1:

Bet	Result	Standing	Comment
1	Lose	(-1)	We lost, so we repeat the same bet
1	Win	(0)	We won, so we 2x the bet
2	Win	(+2)	We made money. The session ends with a two-chip profit

Example 2:

Bet	Result	Standing	Comment
1	Lose	(-1)	We lost, so we repeat the same bet
1	Lose	(-2)	We lost, so we repeat the same bet
1	Lose	(-3)	We lost, so we repeat the same bet
1	Win	(-2)	We won, so we 2x the bet
2	Win	(0)	Since we never try to come out more than one unit ahead, we just bet one chip
1	Win	(+1)	We made money. The session ends with a one-chip profit

By limiting your losses and by controlling your bets you increase the chances to stay ahead and to keep all the money you win on Blackjack intact.

The Oscar System is structured in a way that your winnings are always safe.

You only play with the initial capital, the bankroll you set before you started to play your first mini session.

This way it only takes a few wins in a row to recover any losses. That's because you only 2x your bets after the first win.

Sure, it could happen that you will have to dig deep to build back to a winning session, but experiments with this system show it's your best chance to win money at Blackjack.

That's all there is to it.

Follow the optimal strategy, choose the right Blackjack table, and use the Oscar System to break your play up into a lot of small sessions.

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