Factors Affecting Blackjack Betting Strategies

The best blackjack betting strategy is the one that works in a particular game. There are many betting strategies possible and they all work in a specific situation.

Doubling down cannot work for us all the time. It is among the most effective and favorite blackjack betting strategies known but players in their right minds will never double down on any hand, especially poor ones. There are several factors in betting strategy applications. One is the dealer's exposed card. Most betting strategies rely on what we suppose the dealer's hand to be. With our hand total of 18 against a dealer's exposed card of an ace, we dare not double down.

Another factor is the win and lose trend we have in a game. First hands are almost impossible to win in blackjack, and at times we encounter 2 or 3 successive losses before a good trend emerges. But it is estimated that 2 to 3 wins in a row are possible in blackjack, and many blackjack betting strategies are built around this premise, like the progressive strategy. Many factors are interrelated, like the dealer's exposed card and the win and lose trends factors. Before a betting strategy can be effectively put in place, we have to check all related factors.

An important factor to consider is the house odds and our odds. Blackjack offers the best winning odds in casino games, yet we can only win against the house about 50 percent of the time or less. It has been studied that in house odds are often greater than the odds left us. Most times the house would win 55 or 60 percent and we get the remaining winning percentage. A 45 percent winning has lots of games won by us but the casino still wins ahead by many points.

Thus, at times we barely realize that we've lost overall after wining 2 or 3 times per 3 or 4 games. The house odds factor is a necessary consideration for blackjack betting strategies to work in our favor. Hence, it is important to know the blackjack house rules in casinos before we play the game. Most blackjack betting strategies are dependent on existing rules, and it is here we find out about house odds. Some casinos will not permit a double down. Some prohibit card counting.

Factors that affect our blackjack betting strategies are important to understand to make a specific strategy work effectively in our case.