When online casinos first launched live dealer games in their arsenal they were pretty conservative with the amounts the players were allowed to wager on a hand of blackjack, baccarat or a spin on the live dealer roulette wheel. Betting limits at around $30 per hand was pretty much industry standard, but who can blame the casinos for taking this “coward” approach to the new games. Here we have a set of online casinos that were used to setting their own odds and controlling the outcome of all the bets to make sure they were making a profit from the players. When I’m saying “controlling the outcome” I’m not saying that they rigged the games. What I’m saying is that if the casino was advertising a 97.5% payback to the players they would be sure the RNG machinery would make sure that the casinos made their 2.5%.

The live dealer games changed this over night. The online casinos could no longer be sure that they would collect a set percentage of all the turnover in the casinos as they would have to surrender to variance just like the players. To show just how costly this could be for the casinos I suggest you read this article over at LiveDealerCasino.org about one player that won €180.000 on the live online roulette games at Bet24.

Wins like the one I just mentioned was unheard of when it comes to online casino games that aren’t made up of progressive jackpots before live dealer games came into the picture. Still to this day you never hear of any six figure wins when it comes to random number generated blackjack, roulette and baccarat games, it just doesn’t happen. With live dealer games it does happen, it’s not very often though but it’s definitely not unheard of.

If you are a blackjack, baccarat or roulette player asking yourself if you should be playing live dealer games instead of the good old random ones I will have to tell you one thing. Make the change now! The live casino games are offering much better odds for the players and you can once and for all get rid of that feeling that the casinos are somehow being rigged in an attempt to take the money you are likely to lose to the casino anyway.

Free Blackjack Games

Finding an online casino that offer free blackjack games is very easy as the majority of all the casino sites will let you play for fake money to try out their software before you decide if you want to make a deposit or not. But it’s a lot harder finding a blackjack site that doesn’t require you to give up your email address and some of your personal details in order to play these free games. This might not seem like a big issue but if you are looking to try out the software at about five different casinos before deciding on where you are comfortable to play for real money you will need to create an account at five different sites and give out your email address to all of these. If you don’t like the site they still have your email address and it’s almost certain that they will start sending you offers by email that you have absolutely no interest in taking advantage of.

No Registration Blackjack Sites

There are a couple of blackjack sites that actually gets it and they don’t bother asking you to sign up to try out their software and play for fake money. They know that if you like their games you will create an account and play for real money anyway and if you don’t like it your email address is pretty worthless to them.

I have done a lot of research today to try and find both US friendly and European alternatives for players looking to play free blackjack games without having to register an account. In the list below you will find the blackjack sites that are the best ones in my opinion and they all offer free games without registration requirements.

US Friendly Free Blackjack Without Registration

The only site that I have managed to find so far that is accepting US players and offer free blackjack games without registration requirements is the Bodog Casino. Here you will be able to play all of their blackjack variations with no obligation of creating an account.

No Registration Blackjack Sites for Europeans

As always when it comes to online gambling there are a lot more options for Europeans than US players after the UIGEA and the recent Black Friday events. But even though there are a lot of options not all of them are that great. That’s why I have done the research for you and I am posting my findings below.

My absolute favorite when it comes to playing free blackjack games and not having to create an account is the RedBet Casino where you will be able to play not only their blackjack games but all of their casino games without ever having to give out any personal details.

If you want more interaction you can get even more enjoyment by playing live dealer blackjack. This is essentially the best of both worlds, allowing for you to play in a casino while you are also playing from home. The way that this works is that you log on via your computer but then you are placing bets on a game that is taking place on a blackjack table in a real brick and mortar casino. You’ll get to see the game taking place on a real time, streaming video where you may also even be able to hear everything that is taking place, making it even more interactive.

Having a blackjack strategy will help you make the most with your live dealer blackjack attempts. Of course, blackjack is not all about strategy as there is some luck involved, but if you employ these strategies you will help to do away with the house edge and you’ll help to sway odds in your favor. Black is fun and entertaining, but you need to keep this in mind so you do not go in with unreal expectations, because the odds are always in the favor of the house.

If you plan on playing blackjack for real money you should always take the time to understand the game, including the lingo that is associated with the game. If you don’t know the terminology associated with the game you may have to spend too long thinking about what you should be doing, which can cost you time and money. Know the game, it will help you avoid mistakes that are otherwise very easy to avoid.

Knowing when to stand and when to hit is vital to doing well in your live dealer blackjack game. You should always stand if you have a hand value ranging from 12 to 16 and the dealer has an up card that ranges from two to six. You should stand if your card count is between 17 and 21. You should stand if your hand is valued between 12 and 16 and the dealer has an up card of seven or more. Additionally, you should always plan to split aces and eights, and never split fours, fives, or 10’s. Lastly, your live dealer blackjack strategy should involve doubling down on 11, unless the dealer has an ace or a 10. Following these simple rules you can increase your odds while having a lot of fun playing an old game in a new and exciting way!

Remember that the dealer has to hit when they have 16 or less, so you will never win with a hand value of 17 or less. You should always hit on any hand valued below 17 when the dealer shows a King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, or 8. You should stand on any hand above 11 when the dealer shows a four, five, or six card. Following these rules will mean that the dealer will bust 40% of the time and you will win.

Your goal should always be to choose a table that has a minimum that is about 5% of your total bankroll. You also want to consider the rules of the table, as they do vary. Rule variations can benefit the player, so be sure to check out the rules before you start playing.

Knowing when to double down will help you immensely. Doubling down will allow you to double your bet and receive one additional card when you believe that you will beat the dealer by doing this. Doubling with 10 against a nine or lower and with any hand of 11 is a great options. You may also double with a 9 or with soft hands of 13 through 17 with the dealer showing a four, a five, or a six.

Knowing when to split pairs is also important. If you have two cards with the same value you can double your bet and play two hands. You should avoid splitting 10’s or 5’s and always split eights or sevens when a dealer has a card of equal or lower value. You should always split twos or threes against a four, five, or six. Lastly, you should always split aces but never split face cards or fives.

If you want a reputation of being a classy player you should always tip the dealer. Generally blackjack dealers are very poorly paid so you should tip them. A good rule of thumb is to tip a dollar for every 20 hands that are played with the dealer.

Above are some simple tips that will help you become the best blackjack player that you can be. It may take some time to begin implanting all of these tips into your game play, so just take it one thing at a time and enjoy playing free games while you make it work for you.

How the Casino Can Cheat at Live Blackjack

Again I would like to start out by saying that there is absolutely no reason for the solid live dealer casinos out there to rig their games since they already have the house edge working to their advantage. There is just no value in the casino to start cheating when they already know that they are likely to end up with your hard earned cash anyway, so why risk their reputation.

Shuffling the Deck Behind the Scenes

I don’t know of any live online casino that actually does this but it would be one way to rig the deck to give the house an additional advantage. The tricky part here though is that the casino will never know how many players are going to sit at the table and they can’t predict every stupid move move made by the potentially drunk players at the table. So even if they would be able to shuffle and rig the deck off camera it could still only be useful if they knew the exact amount of players at the table throughout the shoe.

Interrupt the Live Stream for a Few Seconds

A live casino could “fake” the stream going down for a few seconds and during that time switch the cards around so that you bust. But if the stream went down simultaneously for all players at the table there would almost certainly be a riot unless all the players in the hand won. So again this is not a very likely scenario.

Fake a Misdeal on a Big Blackjack Win

Every now and again it happens that there is a misdeal due to the dealer giving the wrong amount of cards to the players or the cards not registering in the scanner. When this happens the hand is usually canceled and all the bets are refunded. If you are a real conspiracy theorist you could cook up a scenario where the dealer makes it a misdeal on purpose after someone being dealt a natural blackjack on a big wager. But this is also very unlikely to happen as the casinos tend to want to keep their players happy while they are losing their money. Making a big betting player pissed off due to a misdeal during a sure win would not be good PR and they would surely lose that player as a paying customer and lose more money in the long run.

Common “Proof” of Live Blackjack Being Rigged

There are players who can’t just accept the fact that they are losing money at the blackjack tables even though deep down they know that they have the odds working against them from the time they sit down at the table until they leave.These types of players sometimes approach me with “proof” of the live blackjack games being rigged.

I always Lose When I Bet Big

This is the most common “proof” of the live online blackjack games being rigged but is it really that unlikely that you will lose when betting big? Not really. The odds are the same at the start of each hand no matter the amount you bet. Sure sometimes it feels like you lose every time you raise the stakes but that’s the universe working against you rather than anything else. There  is just no way for the casino to rig the hand in the middle of a shoe just because you decided to raise the stakes.

I Never Win When I Split or Double Down

If you say you never ever win when splitting or doubling down you can’t have played that many hands of blackjack. The thing with this is that we tend to remember the times when we were really unlucky and lost on a double down 11 against the dealers 6 but we just take the wins for granted and move on. It could also be that you keep insisting on splitting tens which would explain why you never win when splitting your cards.

I’m not going to go on and on about how great my videos are. Instead I will show you hat they look like by embedding them in this post.

Here I am playing live blackjack at the Evolution Gaming powered Ladbrokes Casino

In this video I am playing at the Playtech powered Europa Casino

In the coming days I will also make a couple of videos showing the live online blackjack games at the SmartLiveCasino and Microgaming powered casinos. It’s a lot of fun making these videos but at the same time it’s a lot of work leaving me with very little time to give this website the attention it needs. But I will try to better myself and make more time for LiveOnlineBlackjack.net and start adding new articles at least once a week.

1. Understand the Difference

Understanding the difference between regular table blackjack and blackjack tournaments is absolutely essential for players desiring to win tournaments. When a player is playing in a blackjack tournament, he/she is not only intent on beating the house, but also the other players seated at the table. In regular table blackjack, the moves made by other players at the table do not matter because beating the dealer is of utmost importance. In live blackjack tournaments, the moves made by opponents and the size of their chip stacks has a major impact on a participant and need to be considered carefully.

2. Choose Live Blackjack Tournaments Carefully

Players who want to win live blackjack tournaments should choose them carefully so that they get the best deal. Players should check if 100 percent of the entry fees they paid to gain access to the tournament goes into the prize pot. Choose only tournaments that offer somewhere between 95 percent and 100 percent cash back. Blackjack tournaments are no fun if the entry fees are too high, but the prize pot is too low.

3. Keep an Eye on the Opponents’ Chips

Players eager to win tournaments should keep an eye on their opponents’ chips because their victory depends on how lucky their opponents are. Smart blackjack players always modify their gaming strategies, stake sizes, and other moves depending on how big or small their opponents’ chip stacks are.

4. Final Round

The final round is the most important in a live blackjack tournament; and if players are lucky enough to reach the round just before the final round, they should ensure that they are in the leading position. Experts say that it is impossible to reach the lead position in the final round; so it should happen in the round just before the final round. This means that players should work hard at increasing the size of their chip stack at the earliest stages of the tournament to ensure that they will be in the leading position in the final round.

5. Table Position

Table position is very important for obvious reasons. If players are at the extreme left of the live blackjack table, they will get the chance to make their move after all the other players. This gives them an opportunity to modify their gaming style as per the moves made their opponents.

Live Blackjack Software

Playtech -The Playtech live blackjack software is available both as a downloadable version (that is a bit more stable) and a instant play flash version for Mac and Linux users. I prefer the downloadable version as it offers a couple of extra features that are not available in the instant play version but since I am a Mac user I have to stick with the instant play version when playing at a Playtech powered live casino.

Evolution Gaming – Ever since trying out the Evolution Gaming software for the first time I am been completely in love with this live gaming platform. It’s simply the best one out there when it comes to stability and you hardly ever have any problems while playing at casinos that are powered by Evolution Gaming. The Evolution Gaming software is only available as an instant play version which is great if you are on a Mac or at an internet cafe. They really don’t have to develop a downloadable version as the instant play one is so solid.

The great thing with Evolution Gaming blackjack games is that the video stream quality is automatically adjusted according to what your connection can handle so instead of having the games lagging behind when you connection is slow the video quality will go down a bit but you will still be able to see the cards.

The Blackjack Dealers

Playtech -The people at Playtech seem to have a thing for Asians as the majority of the blackjack dealers at any Playtech powered casino will be Asian. I personally don’t really care where the dealers are from and how they look (but it doesn’t hurt if they are pretty), I’m just there to try and win money. What I find good about the blackjack dealers at a Playtech live casino is that they are always extremely friendly and they are more than happy to interact with the players.

Evolution Gaming – If the people behind Playtech seem to have a thing for Asians you could definitely say that Evolution Gaming have a thing for women from Eastern Europe. At Evolution powered live casinos you will find female dealers from all the Eastern European countries. These dealers always speak proper English (but with a Eastern European accent) and they are very friendly when they interact with the players at the blackjack tables. But after countless hours at live blackjack tables I have found that their fuse is a bit shorter than the Asian dealers and they are a bit more outspoken when it comes to handling the idiots at the tables asking to see their boobs and all other idiotic stuff that is completely inappropriate.

Tipping Dealers at the Blackjack Tables

Playtech -For as long as I can remember you have been able to tip the blackjack dealers at any Playtech powered live casino which is probably a great thing for the dealers. It also gives them an extra incentive to be friendly to the players so I’m all for this function even though I don’t use it very often.

Evolution Gaming – Evolution Gaming currently do not have an option for tipping the dealers at the tables. This doesn’t affect you as a player in any way but it would be nice for us to have a way of tipping the dealers after a great session to show our appreciation. And it sure would be nice for the dealers to have that extra bump in their paycheck every month when the tips are being split up amongst the crew.

The Pace of Play at the Live Blackjack Tables

Playtech -This is actually the thing that is bugging me the most with the games at any Playtech powered live online casino. between every hand of blackjack you have 30 seconds to place your bet which means there is some wait in between the hands. I don’t see how anyone could need 30 seconds to place their bets and click the confirm bet button. If it was up to me I would like to see it changed to a maximum of 10 seconds and this way we would be able to play a lot more hands every hour. It might only be the action junkie in me talking but I really can’t stand sitting around waiting for that next hand to start.

Evolution Gaming – At the live blackjack tables at Evolution Gaming the wait between hands is 8 seconds at the fast paced tables which means there is literally no wait at all in between hands. They also don’t have the annoying confirm bet button that I always forget to click at a Playtech powered casino which speeds up the game even more.

Disconnection Policy at the Blackjack Tables

Playtech -This is one place where I have to give Playtech credit. Their disconnection policy is awesome and even though I hardly ever have to use it it’s a great comfort knowing that if my Internet connection should go down I will still be able to finish the hand later.

The way it works is that if you get disconnected from the game for any reason whatsoever you will be taken to a Random Number Generated mode the next time you open the blackjack table and in that RNG mode you will be able to complete your hand. It’s not optimal but it sure beats having to stay on 11 against the dealers 6 only to have her draw to a 5 card 17 to have you beat.

Evolution Gaming – This is the only major downside with the Evolution Gaming platform, they are not offering any kind of disconnection protection for their players. Should you lose your connection in the middle of a hand at a Evolution Gaming live casino you are out of luck (or at least at the mercy of the gambling gods) as the hand will keep on playing without you having any option to make a move. I’m sure the people at Evolution are working on some kind of solution for this as their team of people are simply amazing when it comes to making the player experience the best possible.

Summary

If it’s not obvious by now have to tell you that I am a huge fan of the Evolution Gaming blackjack games and it’s very rare that I play live online blackjack on any other platform. Don’t get me wrong, the Playtech platform is still great and it’s a very good option for playing live blackjack games but there is just something about Evolution that I love.

The only reason I would choose to play at a Playtech casino rather than at Evolution Gaming is if I found myself sitting on a terrible connection where I am likely to use their disconnection protection policy to finish the hand at a later time.

I hope you found this post helpful and I would be happy to answer any questions you might have about the live blackjack games at these two platforms. Just leave your questions in the comment form below and I will make sure to answer them for you.