Many gamblers dream of getting rich through casino games. They envision hitting a big jackpot or experiencing a hot run that earns them $1 million or more.

If the dealer does have blackjack, you will win your side bet but lose your original bet. This may get you back some money in the short-term, but long-term the bet makes the casino money. Beginner players have no way of knowing if the dealer has a card worth ten points face-down under an ace.

1. Claim: The average person can make a living off of blackjack.
2. The numbers in the strategy's name indicate the way you should bet after you win a hand of blackjack. You first winning is the trigger that starts the sequence while your first losing hand is the.

Of course, winning seven figures is much easier to do in your dreams. The casino holds an edge in every game, meaning they’re more likely to win in the long run.

Therefore, satisfying your casino fantasies all begins with choosing games that have good odds. And blackjack is definitely among the best when it comes to odds.

Some blackjack games only have a 0.5% house edge or less, depending upon the rules. While this still gives casinos an advantage, it also provides you with a better chance to win.

This game even features advantage play methods that allow you to gain the edge. When done right, you can make lots of money through these strategies.

But do advantage play techniques, or even blackjack’s low house edge allow you to win $1 million? Find out as I cover different ways that you can win big through this game.

1- Blackjack Progressive Jackpots

The most realistic way for the average blackjack player to win $1 million is by hitting a huge progressive jackpot.

Winning a blackjack jackpot involves playing a game that offers a progressive payout on the side. Side bets require between a $1 and $5 wager.

The rules for how you win the jackpot vary based on the exact variation you’re playing. But the general theme is that you need to combine certain card values and suits between your first two cards and the dealer’s up-card.

For example, you may need an ace, king, and queen of diamonds (a.k.a. royal flush) between the dealer’s upcard and your first two cards.

This is how one man hit a jackpot worth $1,044,822 at Caesars Windsor casino in October 2018.

The man, whose first name is Peter, made a $5 side bet and got a diamond blackjack royal flush. This specific hand delivered 100% of the progressive jackpot to Peter.

This brings me to another point in that blackjack progressive jackpots can deliver varying amounts of the prize based on your hand.

For example, you may win 10% of a jackpot if you get a royal flush in another suit. But you have to get a royal in a specific suit to earn 100% of the prize.

The advantage to playing for progressive blackjack prizes is that you don’t need any skill to win. Instead, you simply make the require side bet and hope that luck favors you.

The downside is that your odds of winning a big jackpot are very slim. Progressive prizes are essentially the slot machines of table games.

I’m not saying that you should completely avoid blackjack progressive jackpots—especially when there’s a seven-figure prize on the line. But don’t expect to win any time soon.

2- Card Counting

Card counting is perhaps the most famous advantage play method in all of casino gambling. This technique has been featured in plenty of movies, including 21, Holly Rollers, Rain Man, and The Hangover.

These films make it seem like anybody who knows how to count cards can make a killing. But the truth is that most card counters only earn above the average salary.

That said, you need to grind for years in order to make $1 million through card counting. But if you have patience and are willing to learn the craft, then you can make a nice living until you hit a lofty goal.

The first thing you need to consider before counting cards is your bankroll size. The more money you start with, the less chance that you’ll lose your funds and have to start over.

Ideally, you’ll begin with at least a $25,000 bankroll as a solo counter. Blackjack card counting teams should have closer to $50,000 in order to be saved.

But some people have experienced success when starting out with $10,000 or less.

The next step is to actually learn how to count cards. You can use a variety of systems to keep an accurate count.

But the Hi-Lo is one of the best card counting strategies in terms of both accuracy and ease of use. Here’s a quick overview of how the Hi-Lo strategy works:

• You assign a point value to cards.
• 2-6 = +1
• 7-9 = neutral
• 10-A = -1
• You add up the point values by watching every card that’s dealt.
• You continue counting until the shoe is reshuffled.
• You bet more with a positive count, because you’re more likely to get a blackjack thanks to extra aces and 10s.

Next, you want to know when the count is favorable enough to increase your bets. The “true count” and number of decks (in multi-shoe games) are the two factors that help you make these decisions.

The “running count” is your total count without considering how many decks are remaining. The true count does factor in the number of decks.

Here’s an example of coming up with a true count:

• Your running count is +8.
• There are 2 decks remaining.
• 8/2 = +4 true count

The difficulty here is estimating exactly how many decks are remaining before calculating your true count. After all, casinos don’t give you any indication on how many decks are left in the shoe.

You instead need to visually monitor the shoe and make an educated guess. You’ll become better at figuring this out the longer you play and continue counting cards.

It’s also important to consider deck penetration or the percentage of decks that are dealt before the dealer reshuffles. The more deck penetration there is, the more confident you can be in a favorable true count.

It’s best to look for games where the casino allows at least 70% deck penetration before reshuffling the shoe. But you can still be successful if you have at least 65% penetration in a 6-deck shoe.

The final step of using the Hi-Lo is knowing how much to increase your bet by based on the true count. This is referred to as bet spreading, which measures the distance between the table’s minimum bet and your highest wager during a favorable count.

If you bet $75 on a $5 blackjack table, for example, you’re spread is 1-15. The 15 amount comes from multiplying 75 by 5.

Now that I’ve covered the basics, here’s an example on how you can calculate optimal bets:

1. Determine a unit size (e.g. $25).
2. Figure out your true count (e.g. +4).
3. Subtract 1 from the true count (4 – 1 = 3).
4. Multiply this number by your unit size (25 x 3 = 75).
5. Your bet should be 3 units, or $75 (i.e. 1-15 spread on a $5 table).

The great thing about card counting is that it’s a completely legitimate technique that’s been tested and proven over time. As long as you have strong card counting skills, you can make guaranteed profits.

The downside is that you’ll only gain between a 0.5%and 1.5% edge over the house when counting. This means that you’ll experience plenty of volatile swings, making it hard to predict when you’ll profit.

Another drawback is that counting cards is a grind. Therefore, it may take you 10 years or longer to accumulate $1 million in card counting profits.

Also, note that casinos have gotten very good at catching counters based on their bet spread. You need to avoid having crazy bet spreads (e.g. 1-30) and find lenient casinos in order to avoid getting kicked out.

3- Hole Carding

Blackjack dealers in American casinos deal themselves one face-up (upcard) and one face-down card (hole card).

These dealers also peak at their hole card whenever their upcard is an ace or 10 value. They do this to check for a natural blackjack, which would automatically end the round.

You’re not supposed to see the dealer’s hole card when they peek. Therefore, you’re making decisions based on incomplete information.

But what if you could see the dealer’s hole card? This is the idea behind hole carding, where you try to get a glimpse of the dealer’s face-down card.

The exciting thing about hole carding is that it can offer you up to a 13% advantage. This crushes the 0.5% to 1.5% edge that card counting offers.

Another good thing about hole carding is that it’s easy in theory. All you’re trying to do is see the dealer’s hole card value.

The difficult part, though, is finding a dealer who consistently reveals their face-down card’s value. These dealers, who are referred to as the “flashers,” are usually new, poorly trained, or just don’t care about their jobs.

Once you find a flasher, you want to sit at either first base (first seat to dealer’s left) or second base (first seat to dealer’s right). These are the only seats that give you a realistic chance to see the dealer’s hole card when peeking.

The seat should depend upon whether the dealer is right or left-handed. First base offers you an easier chance to see a right-handed dealer’s hole card, while third base gives you the best chance to see a left-handed dealer’s card.

You also want to sit at a natural angle that still allows you to be more level to the table felt. In contrast, slouching or leaning makes it more obvious that you’re trying to see the dealer’s hole card.

Some advantage players also try to avoid making any play that’s obviously bad from a strategy perspective (e.g. doubling down on 7 against a dealer’s 10). Such plays make it easier for casinos to tell what’s going on and determine that one of their dealers is a flasher.

The last thing you want is to lose a vulnerable dealer because they’re difficult to find. I’ve seen estimates that suggest only one out of every 200 dealers is a flasher.

The best place to practice hole carding is in Las Vegas, considering how difficult it is to find these dealers. Sin City gives you access to over 100 casinos and three different shifts per venue, giving you plenty of opportunities to find the right dealers.

Considering the huge advantage that hole carding can offer, this is one of the best ways to earn $1 million through blackjack. Therefore, you can theoretically collect seven figures with this technique in just a few years.

The problem, though, is that you’ll spend far more time searching for flashers than actually playing the game and making big profits.

4- Shuffle Tracking

Vegas casinos used to be full of single-deck blackjack tables with good rules, which are perfect for card counting. But they began switching to multi-deck shoes in the 1970safter seeing how many card counters were beating them.

Shuffle-tracking, which refers to tracking specific cards during shuffles, was born during this era. This advantage play technique refers to monitoring and guessing where 10-value cards (high cards) will be in the ensuing round.

Just like card counting, the goal of shuffle tracking is to bet more when the shoe has more high cards. This strategy is much more effective than counting, though, when used correctly.

The premise behind shuffle tracking is that shuffles aren’t as random as they appear. Dealers— in a hurry to keep games moving so the casino profits more— don’t shuffle shoes perfectly.

Many blackjack dealers use a “zero shuffle,” where cards are separated into piles. The shuffling is done between the piles (i.e. the dealer grabs each pile and riffles them).

Your mission is to track different 10-value cards from the discard tray to the shuffle. Being able to guess which pile the king of hearts is in, for example, allows you to make larger bets in anticipation of getting a natural blackjack.

Card counting comes into the equation when trying to figure out what card values remain based on your count. When you add shuffle tracking to a positive count, you can more precisely guess when certain high cards will be dealt.

The main problem with shuffle tracking is that it’s harder to execute than counting. You have to be great at watching the cards as they’re shuffled and know card counting on top of this.

It’s already challenging to count cards and keep up with the speed of the dealer/game. It’s only more difficult when you’re also visually tracking cards.

Expert shuffle trackers spend countless hours developing their craft. They need to be expert cards counters, then take things further by also being great at tracking high cards.

The payoff is great, though, because great shuffle trackers can gain anywhere from a 10% to 50% advantage.

The latter range makes this strategy even better than hole carding in terms of trying to win $1 million. Assuming you become an amazing shuffle tracker, you could make $1 million in as little as 2-3 years.

5- Ace Sequencing

Ace sequencing is a card tracking technique that begins with memorizing what cards are on top of the ace in the discard pile.

You place bigger bets when you see these cards come out in anticipation of an ace being dealt soon. This is another strategy where you’re looking to bet more in hopes of getting a natural blackjack, or at least aces that give you an edge in regular hands.

The biggest skill to ace tracking is being able to remember card sequences in each shoe. Top players can remember a large number of card sequences.

Here’s a synopsis on how you can use this strategy to win big:

1. Watch discards so that you can guess where card clumps surrounding an ace will appear after a shuffle.
2. Watch where aces go into the discard tray.
3. Remember 2-3 cards that are placed on top of the ace (a.k.a. “key cards”) in the discard tray.
4. Increase your bet size when you see key cards come out in the next round.

The biggest downside to ace sequencing is that it’s perhaps the hardest advantage play technique to learn. It doesn’t help matters that this is one of the least-discussed blackjack strategies.

However, knowing when an ace will be dealt gives you up to a 50% edge over the casino. Therefore, ace sequencing can be just as good as shuffle tracking when trying to win $1 million.

6- Playing High Stakes with Great Rules

One more way to win seven figures through blackjack is playing for high stakes with great rules involved.

High stakes allow you to quickly profit on a hot streak. Getting the best rules in your favor lowers the house edge even further and boosts your chances of winning.

Casinos, of course, want to maintain their edge in any situation, because this is how they make their money. But they’re willing to negotiate more with high rollers.

Don Johnson is the ultimate example of a high roller using his leverage to whittle down the house edge. During the early 2010s, Johnson negotiated for such favorable rules that he actually gained a long-term edge over casinos.

A 20% loss rebate and free bets after dealer mistakes were key elements that helped Johnson overcome the house advantage.

He was so good at these negotiations and mathematics that casinos didn’t know what hit them. Johnson won a combined $15 million from several casinos before the industry caught on.

No other high roller has ever pulled off what Johnson did. Therefore, I don’t expect any whale to negotiate for such great rules that they actually have the edge.

However, you can at least drop the blackjack house edge below 0.3% if you bet big enough and work out a favorable deal. This puts you on a near-even footing with the casino, meaning you only need a little luck to win big.

Conclusion

Winning $1 million through blackjack is certainly no easy feat. In fact, it’s essentially impossible if you’re playing low stakes and relying on basic strategy.

But certain techniques and formats do give you an opportunity to win seven figures through this game.

Progressive jackpots are the most practical way to win big in blackjack. I say “practical” lightly because your odds are very low of winning a jackpot.

But the good thing about blackjack jackpots is that they’re easy to play for. You merely make your side bet and hope that you get the right card combination.

High rollers also have an easier path to $1 million. They can combine an extremely low house edge with big bets to earn large profits.

The drawback to high roller play is that you’re still at a long-term disadvantage. But the upside is that you can realistically win a fortune on a hot streak.

Card counting is the easiest way to make guaranteed profits in blackjack. But counting also takes the longest of any advantage play technique with regard to making a million.

Ace sequencing, hole carding, and shuffle tracking all give you a far greater edge than card counting. But each of these advantage techniques is much more difficult to master.

In the end, there’s no easy way to earn a $1 million blackjack profit. But the nice thing is that you at least have different options if you’re serious about this goal.

• Every gambler wants to know how to win at Blackjack
• The basic strategy and some math can help you get better odds
• There are 11.2 million articles on 'how not to lose at Blackjack' on the internet

Playing Blackjack can be a frustrating experience.

On the one hand, Blackjack is known to be the Casino game with the best odds of winning. But on the other one…it's impossible to win at Blackjack every time you play.

Experienced players say you only need to apply the 'optimal basic strategy' to get a better ROI and improve your chances to win at Blackjack but -

It's not that easy when you are at the table, is it?

Blackjack is an exciting game. But to keep playing, you need to know how to battle the dealer and finish your session with more chips than you begin with.

In other words, you need to know how not to lose at Blackjack.

Play Easy Blackjack Games Online!

Join the best Blackjack site in 2020 to play easy Blackjack games — with a bonus!

Sign up for a free account to activate the offer and play the best games of Blackjack in 2020!

Blackjack is not Slots.

Unless you don't play one of those crazy (and unusually weird) variants that online Casinos offer you, you don't need to base your strategy to improve your odds entirely on luck.

In the long term, the only way for you to improve your chances to win at Blackjack is to rely on your skills and on your ability to focus. You need to know how to do the right thing every time you get your cards.

This is the only way to minimize the impact of luck — a factor the doesn't depend on you and that you'll never be able to control.

If you want to improve your chances to win, you need to know exactly what to do - every single time you are dealt your cards.

Some combinations are more helpful than others, that's true. But if it's safe to assume that you are not going to get 21 every time, you need to know how to play your cards to get more winning chances.

This article tells you how to do just that.

You are going to learn how to use whatever cards you receive to beat the Dealer and win money at Blackjack.

I can't guarantee that you will win at Blackjack every time. But if you follow the pieces of advice I included in this strategy article and use all of them in your next games, you will have improved your winning chances.

Let's begin.

Basic Strategy to Improve Your Chances to Win at Blackjack

Blackjack is a game based on luck and mathematical probability.

Like it happens for all the games that are based on mathematics and probability, there are some systems you can use to increase your chances to win at the Blackjack table.

None of these systems is easy, nor they guarantee a 100% success rate.

Unless this the first article on how to win at Blackjack you read in your life, you should know by now that the Blackjack basic strategy ought to be your starting point.

As a beginner, you have just one way not to throw your money away, and that is to learn and use the basic Blackjack strategy.

Online Casinos might do anything to push you to fire up a new Blackjack game and play the way your guts tell you, perhaps with the most beautiful-looking dealer you have ever see in your life.

Don't do it.

That's not how you win at Blackjack. That's the gambling equivalent of Russian roulette. And you know how that ends.

You hit a lucky streak; you win a few hands…and things suddenly get worse.

There's nothing more dangerous than to feel in control when you aren't. You think you know what you are doing and you think you need to continue because 'Luck favours the brave'…until it's too late to quit while you are ahead.

And if you don't know when to stop - you stand no chance to win at Blackjack.

Luckily for you, it's not too hard to learn the best Blackjack strategy, even if you are a complete newbie.

Read the article I linked above and memorise the right way to play every single hand.

Then, open an account on this site to practice for free.

Continue to play for free until you are 100 percent sure that you know how to play each combination of cards. Again, Blackjack is not a game of improvisation - there are rules you need to respect.

Don't Practice at a Casino - Stay Online

Most brick-and-mortar casinos will not allow you to bring a Blackjack cheat-sheet with you at the table.

It is against their rules and, let's face it: it would make you the most ridiculous nerd in the room. And even if you want to win at Blackjack - you don't want to be that guy.

This is to say that you won't be able to check how to win your Blackjack hands. You will have no external help besides that of your brain.

If you don't remember exactly how you are supposed to play - you are doomed.

That's why you need to play online. Until practice will have made you perfect.

Follow these steps to play free games where you can apply the basic strategy:

• Open this page (opens in a different tab)
• Register an account
• Launch the free Blackjack games and practice

Once you are all set, split your screen and keep the basic strategy chart open right next to the table. That will help you to know how to play and how to take your decision fast.

Because the next time you'll play with a real dealer, they will not let you much time to decide whether to hit or stand.

Attention: from here on, I am going to assume that you know the game's basic strategy. All the next tips to improve your chances to win at Blackjack are based on the fact that you know how to play.

If you don't, go back and practice Blackjack online over and over again.

Do that, and you'll be ready to continue.

Do Blackjack Online Courses Work?

There are 15,100,000 pages dedicated to Blackjack courses on Google. That's three times the population of Denmark.

The problem is - over 90 percent of those courses come from people who never won anything at the table. The only money they make comes from their courses, not from their skills.

As a longtime LinkedIn aficionado, I once took one of the courses to win at Blackjack they host on their learning platform Lynda.com.

What a boatload of c*ap that was.

Do you know what the most painful part of the course was? To discover that more than 6,000 people wasted their money on that.

Better than a Course: Free Practice!

Why pay for a course when you can get a free bankroll to play real games of Blackjack online?

Register a free account today to access the free Blackjack trainer and practice Blackjack online for free.

Mixing impossible calculations with Captain Obvious-like revelations, the whole aim of the course was to convince you to buy another course where you would finally find the secrets you missed to win at Blackjack.

How's that for upselling?

The truth is that winning at Blackjack is much easier than you think.

Big Blackjack Wins

You just need to play cum grano salis, as my professor of Ancient Latin and Greek used to say.

And that's because the first secret to becoming a winning Blackjack player has nothing to do with hitting or folding.

If you want to be a winner, you need to behave like one.

Don't Try to Predict Patterns

You don't have to be a genius to know that you can't beat a casino.

That's how the gambling business works. The house has an advantage over the players - so the longer you play, the higher are the chances that the house will win.

Do hot and cold streaks exist? Probably.

Can you plan or control them? You wish.

Flip a coin 100 times, and it won't come up in a pattern of heads-tails-heads-tails-heads-tails all the way to 100.

There will be streaks of heads and streaks of tails.

How to predict that? Perhaps only Fibonacci knew that. Too bad it's a little too late to ask him now.

As a gambler, your job is not to force faith and find impossible ways to guess what will happen. It's to win as much as possible and leave before your winnings are gone.

And it all starts from picking the right Blackjack table.

Fewer Decks Can Make You Win More

Single deck games are rare in most casino these days. But remember this: the fewer the decks are, the easier it is to keep track of the face cards.

As you are going to see very soon, that's a key factor to win at Blackjack online and live.

While 'card counting' is not allowed, there's nothing wrong with keeping a general count of how many face cards have come out.

Be smart about that and this will be enough for you to get a little more adventurous with your play when you know that a lot of them have yet to appear.

Read the Rules of Your Game

Everything you see on a Blackjack table tells a story.

Everything is a piece of a puzzle you have to complete before you put your money on the line.

Here's an example?

A table that pays Blackjack at 3-to-2 odds will make you more money than one that pays at 6-to-5.

Even better:

Did you know that a table where the dealer has to hit on a soft 17 makes the house more money?

And guess where does that money come from...

That's why you should never sit to play at a table you know nothing about.

Table selection is essential to win at Blackjack and you can choose the right table only if you have the information you need.

Choose where you sit down based on the table's rules – not on whether the dealer is pretty or plain out-of-this-world-sexy.

You are there to win money, not to pick up a dealer.

How to Find the Right Table?

Don't sit with the pros if you are still a beginner.

Check out the cheapest games of online Blackjack and play real money games for cents!

The Oscar System

Do you remember how alleged Blackjack experts make money online?

They sell 'systems to win at Blackjack' to people who would spend a fortune to find an easy way to win.

Too bad none of those revolutionary and proven Blackjack winning system work, though.

The game of Blackjack is based on probability, meaning most of those systems are just plain nonsense.

The only real Blackjack system that works does not deal with cards – it deals with money management.

It's called Oscar System, and here's how it works.

The key to improving your winning chances at Blackjack is to approach the game with the right mindset.

Don't look at a night of Blackjack as one long game with endless swings. See it as a long series of individual sessions.

Why?

Because the goal in each session is to win at least one chip (whatever denomination you may be playing).

As soon as you are a 'winner' and you have scored that one chip, the session ends and you start fresh.

If you want to use the Oscar System to win at Blackjack, you need to follow four basic rules:

• Whenever you win, increase your bet by one chip
• Whenever you lose, play the same amount you just be
• If you made any money in the session, pocket your winnings and start the progression again.
• Never try to come out ahead more than one unit – in other words, if you're down by one chip, your maximum bet would be two chips (which would still make you a winner).

Let's see this strategy in action.

In this example, we start with a one-chip bet.

I will use the symbols (-1), (+1) and so on to indicate where you stand in the game.

How To Win Blackjack Machine

Example 1:

Bet	Result	Standing	Comment
1	Lose	(-1)	We lost, so we repeat the same bet
1	Win	(0)	We won, so we 2x the bet
2	Win	(+2)	We made money. The session ends with a two-chip profit

Example 2:

Bet	Result	Standing	Comment
1	Lose	(-1)	We lost, so we repeat the same bet
1	Lose	(-2)	We lost, so we repeat the same bet
1	Lose	(-3)	We lost, so we repeat the same bet
1	Win	(-2)	We won, so we 2x the bet
2	Win	(0)	Since we never try to come out more than one unit ahead, we just bet one chip
1	Win	(+1)	We made money. The session ends with a one-chip profit

Ways To Win Blackjack

By limiting your losses and by controlling your bets you increase the chances to stay ahead and to keep all the money you win on Blackjack intact.

The Oscar System is structured in a way that your winnings are always safe.

You only play with the initial capital, the bankroll you set before you started to play your first mini session.

This way it only takes a few wins in a row to recover any losses. That's because you only 2x your bets after the first win.

Sure, it could happen that you will have to dig deep to build back to a winning session, but experiments with this system show it's your best chance to win money at Blackjack.

Best Way To Win Big In Blackjack Games

That's all there is to it.

Follow the optimal strategy, choose the right Blackjack table, and use the Oscar System to break your play up into a lot of small sessions.

Play the Best Blackjack Games Online

Access the best Blackjack games to play online and a welcome bonus - with one click!

How To Win Blackjack

Check out the amazing games and Casino.com and use the free version to apply these tips to win.

How To Win Casino Blackjack

Disclaimer: Gambling is a game of chance and there's no sure-fire formula that guarantee winnings. You can improve your winning chances by using the right in-game strategies but there is no way to predict when a machine or a Casino game is going to pay. Also, this page contains affiliate links. If you click through and play, we might earn a commission. That’s what allow us to keep CasinoSmash free and bring you the best online Casino bonuses!