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In fact, you will notice that when playing a single-deck game of blackjack many casinos only offer a 6:5 payout for blackjack, while multi-deck games offer 3:2. If you placed a $10 bet and got blackjack on a multi-card game with 3:2 payout you'd walk away with $15, whereas you'd only get $12 for a single-deck game with a 6:5 payout. But step into any casino, you will find at least five to eight decks of cards used in Blackjack game! Excluding jokers, each of these decks come with a standard 52 cards. That being said, let’s take a look at how the decks of cards used in Blackjack affects the house edge as well as card counting.

If you are asking the question, you have probably played your fair share of hands at the blackjack tables.

You seem to have been doing pretty well too, so now you are thinking of becoming a professional blackjack player.

Great! We're here to tell you that it's possible to make a living from playing blackjack, as long as you know all the right things and you are lucky enough to win your games.

The world of online gambling has made life even easier for pro blackjack players. They no longer need to worry about those pesky casino croupiers we see all too often in the movies.

Becoming a pro is more accessible than most blackjack enthusiasts expect. But...

It does take commitment, a stellar ability to count cards in blackjack, solid money management skills, and a lot of luck. That's among many other things.

Playing blackjack games for fun is good, but if you want to make some cash, we have some tips for you.

Go practice and test your skills at one of the top casinos for real money blackjack!

How to become a professional blackjack player

So you know how to play blackjack, you know you're good enough to make a full time living, you just need that extra push and a plan.

There are three significant steps in becoming a professional:

• Commit time and energy to understand the game.
• Learn how to count cards. Do it phenomenally.
• Manage your money and do it well.

Let's take a closer look at each of those.

How Many Decks Is Blackjack Played With The Most

Understanding the game

Look:

If your pockets are full, but you don't know how a 1% edge can benefit you, turning professional might not be the right move for you. At least not just yet.

Luck is a major factor in gambling, but if that's what you've been counting on and winning up until now, that does not ensure success in the pro arena, not one bit.

However, if you're willing to learn the blackjack strategy, then earning a healthy living is doable.

By this point, you should know the basic rules of blackjack, all the variances of the game, and all the different ways to play blackjack with friends.

If you don't, it's about the time to start, and you can do it with this blackjack cheat sheet.

Casinos offer different types of online blackjack games. Practice all of them first to make sure you play the right one when the time comes to commit for the long run.

Knowing the rules of each table you visit is vital. When you hit a card, you should know what you need to get closest to 21 and how to get it.

Counting cards

Compared to most other games played at casinos, blackjack has a small house edge. Turning that house edge in your favour is the most critical way to make money at the blackjack table.

If you have played at a recreational level, chances are you haven't been counting cards. And that's fine, yet that won't work for a pro.

A card counter is someone who can better predict what card is drawn from the deck and doing that takes skill and knowledge. It includes keeping track - in your head - of all the cards that are no longer in play because they were used during the game.

Play live dealer blackjack at this online casino and perfect your blackjack strategy!

We know what you're thinking; if you get caught card counting, you'll be kicked out of the casino or kicked from your online game.

And that could happen because while it's not against the law, it's against many of the casinos' rules. But that's only if you get caught.

And that's what separates a professional from an amateur - an amateur will evidently behave as if they are cheating and give away signs while a pro will simply be assessing the situation with no grounds for suspicion.

It's important you get to that higher level. You might not need to be as good as the MIT Blackjack Team, but you need to be pretty good at card counting if you are to make a living from blackjack.

Now let's talk numbers.

Don't get all scared by thinking that you need to remember every single card that has been dealt. That's not it.

There is a system that helps you keep it simple.

Assigning numerical values to cards helps a player count cards. For example, value cards 2-6 are put as +1, 7-9 as 0, and face cards and aces are counted as -1.

It's a standard card counting method used by blackjack players, so give it a try and see how it works for you. You won't be able to master card counting overnight, and it can be an expensive lesson. But it's a crucial one.

Don't forget - losing at blackjack from time to time is inevitable, especially when you're practicing something new. It's a tough game to win at, so when you're learning how to count cards, we suggest lower-limit tables to start and a conservative attitudes when it comes to blackjack side bets.

The more you play, the better you become at predicting cards. A card counter can never perfect their craft, but all the best blackjack professionals are pretty darn good at it. And you should be as well.

How Is Blackjack Dealt

Since the number of decks in play affects the difficulty of card counting, you should always look for games of single deck blackjack.

In these, you can apply all the principles of the single deck blackjack strategy and increase your winning chances to fight the 'luck' factor.

Managing money

While that might not be the most exciting part of a professional blackjack player's day-to-day routine, it's a mandatory one.

It includes understanding your tolerance for risk so that you don't go broke all of a sudden.

Look at it this way - adjust the size of your bets based on the bankroll you have available for playing and never bet more than you can afford. If you stick to this, you'll have a chance to earn back the money you lost on a couple of bad bets and it will keep you afloat even if the luck is not on your side (which will inevitably happen once in a while).

As your bankroll grows, you'll be able to move up in stakes, and you'll be able to make more money.

It's a process though, so don't just dive in with everything you have or you might as well find yourself opting out of this whole professional blackjack player thing.

You need to take emotion out of the equation and stick to your strategy. Otherwise, you'll spend hours trying to get back what you lost, and chasing is no good for any gambler.

How much do professional blackjack players make

How much a professional blackjack player makes depends on many variables. Factors such as bankroll, table limits, number of hands played, and the counting system all play a significant role in what a gains on a case-to-case basis.

Some professionals make upwards of £150,000 a year at casinos.

Professional blackjack games aren't for the faint of heart. Gambling for a living is one of those professions where you can lose money on a day-to-day basis.

You are not guaranteed a salary, and you have to commit your time and expertise to the game. A professional blackjack player comes in many forms, so try not to get disillusioned by a player making thousands each week.

The reality is that playing blackjack at casinos is a grind, and the same goes for an online casino. Some play upwards of 200 hands per hour, which can be taxing on your mental well being and financial well being.

Tips from professional blackjack players

Every blackjack player offers similar advice on how to become an expert.

We have collected the best tips from professional blackjack players to help you take your game to the next level:

• Find your groove. A table you feel good at will help you keep your emotions in tact.
• Play at casinos that offer excellent odds when blackjack is struck.
• Fewer decks are preferred over more decks. The more decks, the harder it is to count.
• Find tables with the best rules, such as Soft 17, and surrender rules.
• Find the right table limit for your bankroll, especially if you play online blackjack with a live dealer. If you have a small budget, try smaller limit tables at first.
• Don't get frustrated. Keep a level head.
• Don't drink and play. It might seem simple, but professionals don't let outside factors affect their game.
• Don't play based on emotions. The cards won't magically change, so stay within yourself and trust your ability.
• Control your money. Don't double your bet because you lost the previous bet. Keep calm and stick to your strategy.
• Whenever possible, play blackjack surrender.

Best professional blackjack players

Unlike poker, we don't hear much about the best blackjack players in the world. Why? Because it's not a game that is heavily televised, so the media usually doesn't cover the big events.

That being said, there have been some high-quality and hugely successful blackjack players in the history of the game. Let the inspiration sink in.

At the top of the list is none other than Bryce Carlson. A pro since the '70s, Carlson knows all about the ups and downs of blackjack.

He once went on a losing streak that lasted 47 hours. However, through developing custom strategies and perseverance, he has been able to win consistently throughout his career.

Arnold Snyder is another famous name in the world of blackjack. He has authored many books on how to play blackjack, which looks at card counting and shuffle techniques.

He believes there's always a new angle to explore, and that's always great when you're looking to bring in some fresh strategies into your gameplay.

Still unsure if you can handle the pressure of pro blackjack arena? Go practice blackjack online at one of the top casinos, test your strategies, mental strength and find out for yourself!

You’ve heard it time and time again – the fewer decks used in a game of blackjack, the better your odds.

Have you ever stopped to wonder why this is?

I got the inspiration to write this blog post after fielding a question from a buddy of mine who isn’t much of a gambler. He’s preparing to head to a bachelor party in Vegas and started to study blackjack. He noticed that everyone says “fewer decks is better,” but didn’t understand. After all, he said, the overall proportion of each rank of card is the same no matter how many decks are shuffled together.

This post is all about deck size and blackjack. We’ll cover why fewer decks is better, in detail, and include a little bit of math where appropriate.

Fewer Decks = More Blackjacks

The main reason we say that fewer decks is better for players is that, in each deck, exactly 1/13^th of all cards are Aces.

Yes, my friend was right, the initial proportions of card values to one another is equal no matter how many decks you play with. The reason you’ll be dealt more blackjacks with a smaller shoe is that the impact of removing a card from the game is greater in a game with fewer overall cards.

Odds of Drawing Blackjack in a Single-Deck Game

Let’s start by getting an idea of how often a player will draw blackjack in a single-deck game. To get to the probability of drawing a blackjack from a one-deck shoe, all you have to do is multiply the odds of drawing an Ace by the odds of drawing any card with a value of ten points. We know that a single deck of fifty-two cards contains four Aces and sixteen cards worth ten points – four tens, four Jacks, four Queens, and four Kings.

That means probability of drawing any Ace is 4/52, which we simplify to 1/13. Once you’ve drawn your Ace, the probability of then drawing any ten-point card is 16/51. Notice anything about those two numbers? The first probability is based on a fifty-two card deck, but since you’ve already drawn a card, you have to now work out the probability of drawing one of sixteen ten-point cards from a deck of fifty-one.

This change in the divisor is the reason why a smaller number of decks is advantageous to the blackjack player, and gives the house a distinct disadvantage.

If you want to get an accurate number of the likelihood of drawing a blackjack from a single-deck shoe, you actually need to double your result, since you could technically get a blackjack with either a ten-point card OR an Ace at the start.

All told, the probability of drawing a blackjack from a single deck shoe is 4.83%. That’s the probability of drawing an Ace (1/13) multiplied by the probability of drawing any ten-point card (16/51), multiplied by two.

Odds of Drawing Blackjack in a Two-Deck Game

To give you an idea of the statistical difference between one and two decks, let’s look at the odds of drawing a blackjack when you start with 104 cards instead of 52.

The probability of drawing any Ace from a two-deck shoe is 8/104. The probability of then drawing any ten-point card from the same shoe is 32/103. When we multiply those two together, then double the result, we get 4.78%.

Odds of drawing a blackjack in a one-deck shoe = 4.83%. Odds of drawing a blackjack in a two-deck shoe = 4.78%. By adding a deck (and not changing any rules of the game), the casino has decreased your likelihood of drawing a blackjack by 0.05%. Remember, though, that each one of those lost blackjacks would have been a win under standard casino rules at a 3:2 payout. Losing those 3:2 payouts makes a big impact on your bottom line, and on the casino’s.

Why do Double Downs Work Better with Fewer Decks?

If you’re following along closely, you’ve probably already figured out that the same phenomenon that makes blackjacks more likely with fewer decks probably also affects the likelihood of a successful Double Down. If you double your initial hand (6 and 5), you’ll be more likely to draw a face card to form a total of 21 if the game uses fewer decks.

Here’s where things get tricky – don’t forget that your dealer also benefits from these changes at lower deck counts. It’s not just the player that has a shot at more blackjacks. The reason why this fact doesn’t impact the game as much as it might is that players win 3:2 for blackjack, while the house wins just even money. Also, the dealer can’t Double Down, while the player can. That additional doubled-win gives the player a bigger advantage than the dealer.

How Many Decks Is Blackjack Played With

Conclusion

How Many Decks Is Blackjack Played With Poker

All things being equal, meaning all rules being pretty much identical, a blackjack game that uses a smaller number of decks to build the shoe is advantageous for the player. One situation I’d warn blackjack players about – casinos that offer single-deck blackjack with a 6:5 or even 1:1 payout for player blackjack. The implication is that the casino is only willing to give you those improved single-deck odds in exchange for a reduced penalty at the point of player blackjack. In the case of games that don’t pay the traditional 3:2, don’t play them just because of the appeal of the single deck setup.

How Many Decks Does Blackjack Use