Blackjack is one of the most popular table games out there – over there years it has established itself as a big part of almost every casino experience.

The chances of winning a hand are about 47-48%. The meaning of this is that in the long run, you will always lose. The more you play, the closer you'll be to a winning ratio of around that number.

The game may be sometimes viewed as a game of pure chance, but there are, however, quite a few ways to tip the odds slightly in your favor. A combination of a few methods can yield an edge to the player.

We'll review some of the methods and techniques you can learn that will significantly help your game and bankroll.

One of the first steps that an aspiring player should take is to learn the basic strategies chart. This chart will explain what to do in each situation, based on analysis on thousands of hands.

The basic strategy chart will help your game out right away – it will bring you up to around a 49% chance of winning, and is crucial when using some of the more advanced techniques.

These charts are available online, and many land based casinos hand them out as a service to their guests. Having a basic strategy chart with when you play is a good way of concealing yourself as a novice player, taking some suspicion off your back.

The more advanced techniques will take you past the point of a 50% chance of winning. This is when you start making money.

The guiding principal behind card counting doesn't revolve around any special mental or mathematical abilities like common belief may dictate. All it requires is practice and concentration.

In its essence, the card counting technique is built upon assigning certain values to cards and keeping count of them as they turn up during the game.

The most basic card counting system has cards below 7 assigned with a +1 value. This means that whenever any card below 7 turns up, you will add 1 to your count.

Cards 10 and up are assigned with a -1 value and cards 7-9 are assigned 0.

For example, if the first hand after a shuffle yielded 4, 8 for one player, K,2 for the second and the dealer's visible card is a 3. The count for this round will be 2.

Players must maintain a running count to be able to know when to start betting large sums. If you are on a 1 deck game, a count of over 4 or 5 is a good time to increase your bets. The meaning of such a count means that there is an increased chance of 10's and face cards showing up.

If there is more than 1 deck used, the player must divide his count by the number of decks to reveal the 'True Count'.

Another great way of counting without necessarily being watched by the dealer is to 'Back Count'.

Back counting has the player observe the game from outside, and jump in only when the count is favorable. The main advantage of this technique is the fact that a player doesn't have to play hands that have a smaller chance of winning. This can consequently lead to an easier strain on your bankroll.

One other way of increasing profits is to use team play. Having 3 back counters and 2 high rollers will give the team a better chance of turning up a good profit and spread the suspicion around.

Having multiple tables counted at the same time will allow the high rollers to move between the tables as they become more favorable.

Players must be advised to raise their bets in proportion with their current advantage. The more the table favorable, raise your bets.

Counting cards may seem like an easy feat when you read this, but rest assured, if it really was that easy, casinos would be bankrupt by now.

Casinos employ many ways of breaking you concentration. Free drinks aren't there because they like you! They want you drunk! The dealers will also play at the highest speed they can, to try and have counters lose their count.

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