Basic Strategies for Popular Casino Table Games

Reducing the House Edge

While most casino games are based on luck, some table games involve an element of skill or strategy that can improve your chances of winning. The goal of any strategy is to minimize the casino’s inherent advantage by playing in a statistically sound way. This guide will cover some basic strategies for two of the most popular table games: Blackjack and Roulette.

How to Play Blackjack Optimally

Unlike slots, your choices in Blackjack have a significant effect on whether you win or lose. To play optimally, you need to learn basic strategy. This is a mathematically proven set of rules that tells you the best action to take (Hit, Stand, Double Down, or Split) for every possible hand you can have against every possible dealer upcard.

Key Principles of Basic Strategy:

• Always Split Aces and 8s: Splitting two Aces gives you two chances to hit 21. Splitting two 8s turns a very weak hand (16) into two much better starting hands (8).
• Never Split 10s or 5s: Don’t risk a strong hand of 20, and always use a pair of 5s as a starting point for a double down.
• The Best Doubling Opportunity: An 11 is the strongest possible starting hand casino [goldfish.it] for doubling down.
• Stand on Hard 17 or Higher: If you have a “hard” total (a hand without an Ace) of 17 or more, you should always stand, as the risk of busting is too high.

You can find basic strategy charts online. Printing one out and referring to it while you play (especially online) is a fantastic way to learn and dramatically reduce the house edge to less than 1%.

Roulette: Smart Betting Strategies

It’s important to understand that you cannot beat the math of Roulette in the long run. The purpose of a Roulette strategy is to manage your money, not to guarantee a win.

Focus on Outside, Even-Money Bets:
These wagers give you an almost 50% chance of winning.

• Red or Black
• Odd or Even
• High (19-36) or Low (1-18)

They are low-risk, low-reward bets perfect for extending your playtime.

Choose the Right Wheel: Always choose European (or casino French) Roulette over American Roulette if you have the choice. European Roulette has only one zero (0), giving it a house edge of 2.7%. American Roulette has two zeros (0 and 00), which nearly doubles the house edge to 5.26%.