Blackjack Help on the Internet

By Henry Tamburin

It’s amazing how much information is available on blackjack in cyberspace (you are just with a mouse click away). You can learn about the basics of how to play, practice the playing the basic strategy at home, learn card counting, figure out the house edge on any blackjack game, chat with other blackjack players around the world, play blackjack for fun or for money, learn about tournament blackjack, get the data for millions of computer simulated blackjack hands, find out the playing rules for any casinos in the country, determine your bankroll and risk of ruin, and locate which casinos are offering blackjack tournaments in your area and when. What follows are my recommendations of sites and what they have to offer.

Let’s begin with the basics of blackjack. If you’ve never played, or want to brush up on some basics, check out www.blackjackinfo.com. Here you will find basic information that can you get started playing blackjack. Other sites that offer a good summary of how to play include www.wizardofodds.com (click Game Info and Strategy then Blackjack) and the blackjack page on www.gamemasteronline.com.

If you happen to be using a progressive betting system when you play blackjack, read why it won’t work by going to http://www.blackjack-scams.com/.

If you want to know what the affect is for any rule (like dealer hitting soft 17) on your expectation of winning, you’ll find it in the blackjack discussion page on www.wizardofodds.com.

There are many sights that have the basic playing strategy for any given set of rules. You’ll find color coded basic strategy charts on www.blackjackinfo.com and www.wizardofodds.com. On the former site you will also find the very handy Blackjack Strategy Engine. You can input and number of decks and the playing rules and the engine will create an accurate basic strategy chart in color (or black and white if you wish), which you can print on your printer.

You can also play blackjack and get coached on the basic playing strategy by going to www.hitorstand.net or by using the Blackjack Strategy Trainer on www.blackjackinfo.com. On both sites you can play blackjack right on your computer and you will be alerted when you make a playing mistake. The game on hitorstand.net has very nice graphics. These are fun games and excellent tools to master basic strategy.

If you want to know the house edge for any given set of playing rules and number of decks of cards, head for either of these sites: http://wizardofodds.com/blackjack/house-edge-calculator-pop.html or http://www.qfit.com/blackjack-odds-calculator.htm. You input the number of decks and the playing rules, and the calculators will determine the house edge.

When you are ready to move up and learn card counting, you’ll find plenty of help on the internet. For basic information on what card counting is all about and how it works check out the card counting 101 article on www.bj21.com references section, plus the card counting pages on these sites: www.countingedge.com, www.wizardofodds.com, and www.gamemasteronline.com.

After you’ve read the basics and you want to practice your card counting, go to the card counting tutor on www. countingedge.com. Cards will flash on a layout and your task is to keep the count. You’ll also find a counter tester on http://home.san.rr.com/bjstuff/, which is a site created by a Green Chip member on www.bj21.com.

Suppose you want to know the blackjack playing rules for any casino in the country. Two sites have this information (but you must subscribe): Current Blackjack News on www.bj21.com and Trackjack.com on www.trackjack.com. My Blackjack Insider e-newsletter also has field reports from pros that cover the playing conditions found in different casinos (more about my newsletter in a moment).

For more advanced players, the following site has calculators for doing risk of ruin and bankroll determination calculations: http://www.qfit.com/blackjack-online-calculators.htm. You’ll also find a card counting strategy index generator on www.blackjackforumonline.com. You’ll also find a ton of blackjack simulation data and more calculators on www.bjstats.com

Want to chat with other blackjack players? There are several sites that have chat groups and they include: www.bj21.com, www.advantageplayer.com, www.bjrnet.com, www.blackjackforumonline.com, and www.blackjackinfo.com.

If you want to learn about blackjack tournaments, the site to check out is www.blackjacktournaments.com. You’ll find tournament strategy, tournament schedules, and chat groups. You’ll also find basic information about the new elimination blackjack tournaments on www.Bet21.com (Pro Lesson page) plus you can play for fun or real money on their site. The site also offers satellite tournaments where you could win a seat to a televised Ultimate Blackjack Tour event. You will also find an Ultimate Blackjack Tour discussion forum on www.lasvegasadvisor.com.

If you want to read a monthly electronic newsletter on blackjack, check out my Blackjack Insider e-Newsletter on www.bjinsider.com. The newsletter offers tips on basic playing strategy, card counting, best playing conditions in different venues, tournament playing strategy, trip reports from players, book and software reviews, and lots more. There is also a monthly All About Poker column since many blackjack players are taking up poker. You can get a free 3-month trial subscription to the newsletter, which also allows access to over 300 articles and reports that have appeared in previous issues, by going to www.bjinsider.com/FreeTrial.

There are other sources of information on blackjack on the Internet but I trust I’ve given you a good sampling of what is available. So what are you waiting for? Get clicking, and then get winning!

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Henry Tamburin is author of the best-selling book, Blackjack: Take The Money and Run, editor of the Blackjack Insider e-Newsletter, and Lead Instructor for the Golden Touch Blackjack course. For a free 3-month subscription to his blackjack newsletter with full membership privileges, visit www.bjinsider.com/freetrial. For details on the Golden Touch Blackjack course visit www.goldentouchblackjack.com or call 866/WIN-BJ21. For a free copy of his casino gambling catalog featuring over 50 products call 888/353-3234 or visit the Internet store at www.smartgaming.com.