The rules of blackjack
In a perfect world the rules of blackjack would be exactly the same no matter where one played, from Australia to the Caribbean to the smallest of casinos located in rural areas like Northern Minnesota. But unfortunately what about blackjack rules
that’s not the case, and for the longterm player it’s essential to interface only in games where certain rules don’t negate too much of the edge otherwise obtained through advantage play.
The differences that exist are largely dependent on locale, although variations do exist from casino to casino in the same city. The classic example of this is the difference in how to black jack play online between casinos in downtown Las Vegas and those located out on that amazing stretch of pavement known as the Las Vegas Strip. Downtown, dealers hit on Soft 17 - somewhat of a departure from that old saying we read about in Chapter One: “Dealer must draw to 16, and stand on all 17s”. A change in rules usually means a slight change in the player’s overall advantage or disadvantage. In this case, that’s a slight increase in house advantage, because in those situations where the Exclusive blackjack
dealer would have otherwise stood with 17, he instead will get another chance of improving his hand without the possibility of busting (since the ace can be totaled as “1″ if totaling it as “11″ ends up exceeding 21). In this case, the house advantage increases by about 0.2 percent, which in the long run will end up costing the player a couple of dollars in expected value.