Dispelling Online Blackjack Myths - Episode 2

2006 July 06, Jonny Vincent

Last week we discussed why you shouldn't take Even Money when you have Blackjack and why you shouldn't split picture cards and tens.

This week, we attempt to dispel the common online Blackjack myth regarding doubling after every loss and the myth that a Dealer Duece is as bad as a Dealer Ace.

Myth: If you lose a hand of Blackjack, you should double your bet to recoup your losses every time. As you've just lost, you are more likely to win the next hand and even if you don't, if you keep doubling, you'll win your money back eventually. The Dealer can't win forever.

This betting strategy is called The Martingale System. Using this betting strategy playing online Blackjack is very dangerous for your bankroll and you don't actually get any gains from it. There are a number of errors in the logic of the above statements, making this a very bad myth.

Firstly, you are no more likely to win a hand after losing one than you are to lose one after losing one. When you gamble, future events are unpredictable and are not dependant on events that have just occurred. Theoretically, the dealer can actually win forever, as can you. Of course, this won't really happen but the mathematics of online Blackjack ensure that you can easily see 10 or 15 Dealer wins a row followed by 10 or 15 Player wins. Ok, maybe not easily, but any experienced Blackjack player will tell you that this can happen.

Furthermore, if you double after every losing hand, you'll eventually find yourself betting a very large amount only to win back your original wager, and the online casino table limits will prevent you from doing this forever, even if you had millions of dollars. Let's say you are betting $10 a box and the table limit is $300. It would only take you 5 losing hands before you hit the table maximum. It's very easy to lose or win 5 hands in a row in blackjack and betting $300 to win back your initial $10 losing wager is never a good idea.

If you're interested reading more about why betting systems do not work for gambling, this Article explains why betting systems are not the right strategy to employ.

Jonny's Online Blackjack Rule 3: Never use the Martingale System. It gives you no benefits and is very dangerous to employ. It can't work for two reasons:

Myth: A deuce for the Dealer is as bad as an Ace.

An Ace for the Dealer is bad news for the Player as if the Dealer gets Blackjack, we all lose our bets (unless we also have Blackjack). In addition, it also counts at 1 or 11 for the Dealer (as it does for us).

A deuce is not nearly as good for the Dealer as an Ace is. Dealers will make good hands more often with a 2 than they will with 3, 4, 5 or 6 – however, they will almost always make a good hand with an Ace.

Here are the mathematics:

• If the Dealer is showing a 2, he will bust around 35% of the time.
• If the Dealer is showing an Ace, he will bust only around 10% of the time.

As you can see, it's much better for you if the Dealer has a 2 face-up, as opposed to an Ace showing.

Ed Note: Blackjack is the name of the game, and you can play it online at Golden Palace Casino!