If you want to play at any gambling game, be it poker, roulette or blackjack, it is recommended to try and get a grip on one’s emotions. The contrast between the thrill of winning and the down of losing is so enormous that you can lose focus easily.

Today, blackjack seems to be one of the most popular card games. This is because playing blackjack is so easy to learn and play. Unlike poker, blackjack does not have any combinations to remember.

In blackjack, the object of the game is to get the sum of the two cards close to 21. When a person gets cards that are over 21, he or she loses the game.

Normally, a player receives two cards. After the players see their cards, they have to decide whether they would hit or stand. When a person says “stand,” this means the player thinks he or she is closer to 21 already. When a player says “hit,” this means that he or she still needs additional cards just to get close to 21.

Players can draw as many cards as they want until they feel they are close to 21 already. A player who is nearer to 21 wins.

However, there are people who have devised some tips and strategies to get an edge over the other players. There are times that these tips really can help some people win.

Here’s a list of some tips that players may choose to use so as to improve the odds of winning the game. Mind you, they are only tips and they don’t garantee that you will win, systems help one to maintain focus and divert the emotional roller coaster. These would be our suggestions:

1. If a player gets 17 or higher, it is always better to stand, and if the player has any number from 13 to 16 and the dealer’s card is 6 or lower, it would be better to stand. But if the dealer has 7 or more, it would be better for a player to hit.

The theory here is that, if the dealer is showing a card of six or lower, the dealer may take a card, assuming that the dealer’s card facing down is a ten. The players, then, assume that the dealer is banking on a bust hand, so the other players have the tendency to maintain a lower card number.

The rule of thumb: players should always assume that the dealer’s down cards is 10.

2. If a player has aces or 8’s, it would be better to split them regardless of the dealer’s showing card.

3. A player should remember not to split 10’s. Chances are, they might end up getting busted.

4. If the dealer is showing 4, 5, or 6, it would be better for a player to stand on hard 12, or hit hard if the dealer is showing 2, 3, 7, or higher.

5. In order to win, players should always remember not to split fours, face cards, and fives.

Indeed, gambling is a game of chance, but with keen observation, improving the odds to winning is possible.

The trick is on not losing focus and not be under the influence of one’s emotions, for that is what the house is counting on. If you fall into this trap, you will truly need the help of lady Luck to give you a hand if you want to win.

What makes a winner at card games?

Card games gambling, whether it is online or offline is a booming business. It has been around for a long time and people enjoy the thrill of winning, be it a small stake or million dollar stakes. But what makes a winner?

It takes time, effort, patience, talent and … strategy. You could have the ambition of winning a “bracelet”, making you a wealthy and famous, or you could be wanting to improve on your skills, just for the fun of surprising every one involved.

If you want people to whisper behind your back in awe of you, something like: “don’t try to bluff this guy, he’ll eat you alive”, you will not only need luck, you definitely want to master a strategy. Mind you, when life is about odds (the chance of winning), there is no such thing as creating one’s own luck. Understanding gambler’s fallacy, which we wrote about in another article, is the first basic principle to understand.

The rest is up to you and how far you want to take the thrill of wagering. I know of a guy who regularly goes to a casino and plays the amount he would spend on a movie ticket.

He told me about his strategy: “I don’t lie to myself here, the stakes are piled up very high against me. Casinos pay a lot of taxes and they are in this business to make money, not to lose it. But I love the atmosphere in casinos and I love watching high rollers bet insane amounts of money. After two hours, I’ve had it. My cinema ticket’s worth is usually gone after two minutes, and then I go home, after having had a lot of fun.”

He’ll never “lose”, because he comes out a winner, having stuck to “his” strategy, having had an afternoon of fun or a nice evening out. But then there are the die hards who absolutely want to win, at any cost or any price. If you are among these, you might be looking for sources where you can read up. Of course, nothing beats a coach, preferably a veteran of the game in which you want to shine.

Here are a few interesting sources you might want to check out for card games:

“Texas Hold’em Winning Strategies” by Master Poker Coach Curtis E Williams
What Curtis has to say: “If you want to learn how to completely dominate the game of Texas Holdem Poker for maximum profits”.

Purple Chip Online Winning Blackjack Strategies.
From the author: “In fact it is the one casino game where the player has choices that affect the outcome of the game.”

“Professional Blackjack Strategies”
As the author himself puts it: “When you play blackjack properly – it is so easy to win it is almost ridiculous”.