One of the biggest fears casino players have is being cheated by the casino.
I’ve talked to dozens of live casino players who constantly talk about how they’ve been cheated by the casino. This number is low compared to the number of online players who claim they’ve been cheated by an Internet casino.
The only question I get more than is online blackjack rigged is if online poker is rigged?
BJ is rigged in the house's favor from the get-go. The house wins 49% of hands, player wins 42.5%, and 8.5% of hands are pushed (playing perfect basic strategy). It should be obvious that the dealer winning 7.5 more hands out of every 100 is huge. There are a number of scenarios where users of video slot, poker and other casino and bar gambling machines can be rigged to the owning company's benefit. The first rigging example has been.
Of course it’s an entirely different subject for another day, but I feel a lot safer playing blackjack than poker when it comes to being cheated.
On this page I cover many of the common cheating claims, show you a few ways that cheating could actually occur, a few real issues online blackjack players may face, and discuss a few individual casinos.
As I explain in greater detail below, the best way to know you’re playing a fair game and not being cheated is play at an established and trusted online casino. Ones with a long track record of honest play and customer service are the place you want to play.
The two I can recommend off the top of my head are Guts Casino live blackjack and 5 Dimes real dealer blackjack. Both of these companies have been offering online gambling for years and I’ve played at both of them for real money in the past.
So, is blackjack rigged at casinos?
Claims of Cheating
The same arguments and claims are made about live dealer blackjack as video blackjack. So the following claims are in reference to both of the following questions.
Is video blackjack rigged?
Is live dealer blackjack rigged?
The most frequent claim that I read about blackjack being rigged is that a player has lost 5 straight hands, or 7 straight hands, or 10 straight hands. The person complaining states that the game must be rigged because they lost so many straight hands as if that fact alone proved something.
What these players don’t seem to understand is how probabilities and statistics work.
While you won’t lose 10 hands in a row very often, it can and will happen. Just because something is rare doesn’t mean that when it happened the casino is cheating or the game is rigged.
The odds of losing 8 hands in a row are only 1 in 173 so you’ll have long losing streaks.
On the other side you’ll occasionally have long winning streaks too. But most players quickly forget the winning streaks and scream bloody murder when the casino wins a few hands in a row.
The next complaint I see kind of falls under the same type of thing. Players say that a certain casino’s blackjack game is tighter than others and if the player gets a good hand like a pair of face cards the dealer gets the same hand or a blackjack more often than normal.
The funny thing is I’ve seen a player complain that casino A is tighter than casino B and then seen a different player complain that casino B was tighter than casino A.
The fact is these complainers are simply making statements based on guesses and what they think they see over a few hundred hands at best.
What you never see is anyone that has actually tracked the hundreds of thousands of hands needed to make a real determination of blackjack cheating.
I believe there are two reasons for this. The first reason is the general player is too lazy to actually do the work required to track that many hands. The second reason is if anyone does track the hands they find out that the games are in actuality fair so they stop complaining.
Is Video Blackjack RiggedHow It Could Happen
The easiest way for an online casino to rig a live dealer blackjack game is by removing some aces or face cards from the shoe.
Because most live dealer games use a 6 or 8 deck shoe and don’t go pat 50% penetration it’d be quite difficult for the average player to determine this was happening.
But a player who took the time to track enough hands would be able to see it in the statistics eventually. I’d want at least 25,000 hands to start making any accusations, and 100,000 would be better.
The only other feasible way is to use a stacked shoe, but the problem with this is in most games they have no way of knowing for sure how many seats will be filled at any time throughout the shoe. With a stacked shoe the casino needs to know how many players will be playing each round, and even then the players don’t always make the same decisions so it alters the outcomes.
Why It Doesn’t Happen
Of course I can’t guarantee that you’ll never find an online casino that cheats or a live dealer blackjack game that bends the rules, but for the most part it just doesn’t happen with the best online casinos.
If an online casino or blackjack game is caught cheating it will cost the company millions of dollars, even if they can stay in business.
The news of a casino caught cheating will spread like wildfire through the Internet community and players will never trust the casino again.
Video Blackjack Free
Online blackjack games don’t have to cheat in order to turn a long term profit.
Is Video Blackjack At Casino Rigged
Even the blackjack games that have the lowest house edge have a half percent edge over the player. And the only way a player can play at the lowest house edge is by playing perfect strategy.
Most blackjack players don’t use perfect strategy, so they give the house an additional edge.
I don’t have the exact numbers that online blackjack games operate at profit wise, but even if it’s as low as 1% overall they make money hand over fist. And the truth is that the overall house edge is probably closer to 2% than 1%.
Here’s an example to show just how profitable online blackjack is with a fair game.
If the average live dealer table has five players each betting an average of $25 per hand and the game deals 50 hands per hour the total amount wagered on the table per hour is $6,250. At 1% this is an hourly profit of $62.50 per table.
But the numbers in the example are quite conservative.
If the edge is 2% the hourly profit is $125. If the average wager is $50 with a 2% edge the profit is $250.
Remember this example just covers live dealer play. While some live dealers can deal more than 50 hands per hour, if you play on one of the software driven blackjack games you can easily play 100 hands per hour or more.
The other thing that most online blackjack players do is keep playing until they lose their entire deposit. While this is simply the average house edge grinding their bankroll down, it’s what makes blackjack even more profitable for the casino.
Most players who have a decent run and get ahead at the blackjack tables keep playing and eventually the percentages catch up with them.
In the short run the casino house edge at any blackjack table fluctuates a great deal, but as long as the casino has a big enough bankroll to ride out the short term they’re guaranteed a profit unless players figure out a way to alter the odds.
Some players can gain an edge against the casino in live play in a land based casino, but they can’t while playing live dealer blackjack online.
So is online blackjack rigged?
The bottom line is the casinos have no reason to cheat online blackjack players. In the long term it’s more profitable to deal a fair game than run the risk of being caught cheating.
I want to finish this section with a quote from a Bodog representative about blackjack.
“At the end of the day all Casino games, Blackjack included, have a house edge. We have no reason to alter the game in anyway. All you need to do is walk down the strip in Vegas and you have all the proof you need that offering a fair and honest game of Blackjack is just simply good business.”
Individual Casinos
Over the past several months I’ve received questions about different online casinos. These questions include the following.
Is Bovada blackjack rigged or is Bodog rigged?
Is MyVegas blackjack rigged or is BetOnline blackjack rigged?
For the same reasons I’ve already covered above I don’t believe any of these casinos offer rigged blackjack games or any other games.
I don’t have as much personal experience with the second pair as with Bodog and Bovada, but I trust all of their blackjack games 100%. My personal experience with the Bodog brands is so good that I’ve played for real money with them for over 10 years and will continue to do so.
Real Problems
As you can see you don’t have to worry about live dealer blackjack games being rigged as long as you play at established and trusted online casinos.
A few real problems blackjack players face is the ability to get money into and out of online casinos. Of course this depends a great deal on where you live, but it’s always nice to feel safe in the thought you can easily and safely take your money out of the casino when you hit a nice win.
If you can open a popular online wallet like Skrill or Neteller it’s the best way to quickly and safely move money around with online casinos. If you can’t, have a conversation with the support department before you make a deposit to find out the best way for players in your country to make a withdrawal.
August 10, 2011 - Offer valid as of date published. T&Cs apply.
If you are a fan of table games, then you might agree with us that blackjack is one of the most interesting table games. Gone are the days when players rush down to land-based casinos and even stay in long queues before they can play casino games. Online casinos feature different variations of video blackjack games in their game lobby and you can play these games even on your mobile devices. Winning on blackjack games involves a combination of luck and strategy, and this article will discuss some of the popular blackjack strategies.
Before we discuss video blackjack strategies, we suggest that you join any of our recommended casinos that allow you to play blackjack demo versions. Doing so will allow you to test out these strategies for free and whenever you are ready you can start playing the game for money. Even if you haven’t played blackjack before, playing the game in demo mode can be a great way to learn. Professional players can also use demo modes to understand the difference between each variant and how to apply the right strategies. That being said, let us now begin our discussion on blackjack strategies.
Blackjack Strategies
Free pokies games for mobiles. When playing blackjack, you are always faced with decisions on whether to stand, split or double-up.
One video blackjack strategy to always remember is never to split a pair of tens or fives. When you hand contains a pair 10s valued at 20, you may feel tempted to split hoping you will get an ace.
The probability of that happening is usually little, so it is always better to have both cards together. Another strategy is to always stand when you have a hard 17 or more since your chances of bursting are higher.
Using Blackjack Strategy Charts
A video blackjack strategy chart shows all you the suggested moves that you should make depending on your hand. Using this chart gives you an upper hand when playing blackjack, but you also need to consider the rules of the game if you are to use it efficiently. The chart represents basic strategies, so you should try as much as possible to memorize it. No matter the strategy chart you use, you need to know that the chart you start with may not be the one you will end it. So it is advisable to learn multiple charts.
How Outcomes Are Generated
Even after studying all the strategy charts, you may still have to make decisions based on your perception of the game. Since video black jack is a virtual game, it uses a Random Number Generator (RNG) to make the output of each hand random. This way, every player stands the same chance of winning on the game. Many casinos also employ a third-party auditor to audit the RNG to ensure that it is not rigged. This is one of the reasons why it is important to play games in a licenced online casino. It will give you confidence in the casino’s fairness.
Why House Edge Is Important
One common thing that most players overlook when choosing a blackjack game to play is the house edge on the games. House edge is the percentage of all bets on a particular game that ends up in the pocket of a casino over the entire lifetime of the game. While this may look like it has little or no meaning, it is essential to stay clear of blackjack games with a higher house edge except if you are just playing for fun. As a rule of thumb, the lower the house edge on a game, the better it is for players.
Claim Free Plays on Blackjack
Whenever possible, you should claim free play bonuses on blackjack as this will give you a chance to play the game without wagering your own money and also get a chance to win. However, you should also pay attention to the wagering requirements and other conditions of the bonus in the T&Cs. The two most common variants of blackjack are the American Blackjack and the European Blackjack. Although both have similar rules, there are some minor differences between them. Every other blackjack game is usually based on the features of these two variants.
Final Verdict
It is an unarguable truth that blackjack is a popular game among casino players. It is also one of the table games new players always try out because it is easy to understand and is fun to play. We have pointed out some of the features of video blackjack including common strategies that you can use to your advantage when playing blackjack. We also suggested that you play blackjack games in demo mode before you go ahead to play for real money. Why not signup on any of our recommended blackjack casino today, to start enjoying this amazing game.
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