Blackjack is one of gambling’s most exciting card games. Because it is based primarily on skill, it keeps the casino’s edge to a minimum, and thus affords players who employ solid game strategy better odds of winning.

Naturally, the more experience a player has, the better his mastery of the game will be. But there are many simple tactics that even beginning players can use to improve their chances of winning.

Among these tactics is the use of various blackjack handbooks, as well as blackjack and blackjack-related pages in Wikipedia, that publish images showing recommended moves based on the first cards a player receives.

These images, most often represented as tables, show the probabilities for each of five determined actions – stand, hit, double, split and surrender – combining with the initial cards to form a successful hand.
The probabilities are shown in percentages. Though none can ever be 100%, these calculations closely approximate the potential success rate for each action.

Land-based casinos prohibit players from using any sort of probability tools at the table.
They are permitted, however, in online blackjack, and players have plenty of time to use them. With this in mind, many blackjack players prefer the online casino version of the game to its live counterpart.