Blackjack Psychology

2007 January 26, Elyshia P.

Blackjack is hugely popular game played in all casinos around the world. It is so popular because it is very simple to learn, play and understand. However there is a lot of skill involved in Blackjack. Sure, there is plenty of luck involved, but there are strategic decisions that you make during the game that are crucial to the outcome of the game. The closer that you play to the optimal strategy, the best chance you will have of winning.

Sounds simple, but when you are actually at the table there are a lot of other factors that can affect your game play and prevent you from making the best strategic decisions. This article identifies some of those factors, so that you can become aware of them when you play and prevent them from affecting your decision making abilities.

Emotions are difficult to control. When you are winning you are generally happy, when you are losing you are generally upset. The way you are feeling can affect the way you play. When you are winning you may start to play loose and take risks. When you are losing you may be desperate to win back what you have lost. Understanding your emotions and your current state of mine is very important to become a successful blackjack player.

It's always good to start a session in a positive frame of mind, so ensure that you do not carry worrying thoughts or stress onto the table. These worries can affect your decision making so make sure you have a clear mind before you get started.

While we all want to win (and win big!), we all understand that it's not probable that it will happen every time we play. You can't always win every hand. If you have high, unrealistic expectations then this can stir up a wide range of emotions if you start losing. You will feel frustrated, angry, stressed and scared. These emotions may start to have a negative affect on your decision making. For example you may start to bet bigger than you should to try and "win back" your losses. Doubling your bet every time you lose is a mythical betting system that simply does not work.

Alternatively, if you are feeling scared to lose more money, you may fail to split/double when it is favorable to do so. These decisions take you away from the optimal blackjack strategy and so will more than likely cause you further grief.

So when you experience a bad beat or a series of losses and you begin to feel these negative emotions, what should you do? If you can identify these emotions then you can do something about it. The best thing to do is to take a break for a few minutes. Stand up, stretch, breathe, walk away and clear your mind once again. Sometimes even a change of online casino or trying a new game can help to improve your state of mind. If you are losing and it's late in the evening, don't try to chase your losses. Simply log off and come back on a new day, with a refreshed mind.

Always make sure you enjoy your game time and play for fun rather than money. Of course we all want to win, but if you have a "must-win" attitude then you may make poor decisions because you are trying too hard to win. Just take a deep breath, relax, enjoy your time while you play and the results will take care of themselves.

The main point is that in order to make correct strategic decisions when playing blackjack you need to have a clear and positive state of mind. Emotions will affect negatively on your decision making, so identify them and employ ways to refresh your mindset and give yourself the best chance of success at the blackjack tables! Good luck!