Online blackjack

dayloon · 28 Jul 2009 at 12:00

This may be a stupid question but i apologise in advance if it is.

I have just played blackjack online for the first time ever. I opened a skybet account, put £5 in it and won a total of £27.50 at which point i thought to myself "Better quit while im ahead". My question is, are online games like blackjack fixed so that they only pay a certain amount in a day or they will mainly pay out on new accounts to get you hooked? In real life, i don't suppose a casino can fix a game when you can actually see the deck of cards etc but i get the impression that the online versions are probably all fixed. Right now im very tempted to play again because i quadrupled my money.

Rotty · 28 Jul 2009 at 12:05

they are not fixed and do not need to be, the natural mathematics of the game results in the casino winning in the long term

MowyTone · 28 Jul 2009 at 12:08

only reason you might not be able to take your winnings out is if you put the £5 in with an offer that gives you more cash. The terms will change according to the offer terms

Cocky-Roach · 28 Jul 2009 at 12:09

Same as what rotty says, tbh if u keep playing you will lose your winnings eventually

Also that Boss coming look busy! button on sky bet's site is funny as hell

PinkPig · 28 Jul 2009 at 12:17

I wouldn't be surprised if there were a few rogue casinos, but the big names are legitimate and have their random numbers independently reviewed to check that they are consistent with being chosen randomly.

The rules of blackjack are designed so that the casino will, on average, always be up in the long run. The variation is enough that over the number of games that individual players play you can still have a substantial win if you're lucky. Your win was down to good luck!

Be careful though, you won't keep winning forever, and when you do lose it will be easy to blame the casino and claim they're "fixed"!

Greebo · 28 Jul 2009 at 12:23

Not fixed (or they shouldn't be legally). Quit while you are ahead though as blackjack is at around 0.5% in favour to the house.

In fact, it's one of the best games you can play in a casino as it has the lowest house edge but over a long enough period of time, the house will always win due to it being in their favour by 0.5% so if you played £100 in bets you would expect to get £99.50 back.

Another fact for you is that statistically it is better to bet all your money in one round/hand/game in a casino on whatever game you play than do lots of smaller bets. Boring? yes, better chance of being up? Yes.

John_V85 · 28 Jul 2009 at 12:33

Greebo said:
Another fact for you is that statistically it is better to bet all your money in one round/hand/game in a casino on whatever game you play than do lots of smaller bets. Boring? yes, better chance of being up? Yes.

Really? Surely statistically bet size is irrelevant. The greater bet size the greater the variation you will experience, but the house edge in the long run is always the same. The chance of being up (or not as the case is) is exactly the same. Bet it all at once, bust out and you will never experience any positive variation for certain.