Blackjack: the sport of kings.

No, wait – our bad. The sport of kings in actually horseracing but we are now of the opinion that blackjack should be the newly designated holder of this title. Find out why in our below guide on how to play blackjack.

Horseracing might be all fancy hats and sports jackets but blackjack can elevate you to a new level of dignity, relevance and dare we say kingliness, within the casino. Don’t believe us? Check out 21 starring Kevin Spacey. Admittedly, in the end nobody really makes any money and Spacey’s character finds himself in the foreboding bowels of the casino with some burly head of security. But before all that happens, those enriched math students were livin’ it up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KfktaRCvLY

This leads us to our first tip on how to play blackjack:

Be Humble

Unless you wake up tomorrow morning as an MIT math student in the 1990s, you’re probably not going to beat the game of blackjack. And if you do beat the game, it will be based on either luck or a sound strategy that doesn’t involve word association where Glove=5 and Sweet=16.

Whether it be a game of cards or a game of thrones, it’s ok to be bold and borderline arrogant when the occasion calls for it. But don’t overhype yourself. Remember, many kings didn’t conquer their way to leading an empire– they inherited one. Sometimes they needed to be forceful but they also needed to respect their surroundings.

Be Prepared

Ok, we couldn’t resist incorporating the MIT Blackjack team in the above section. But we were also telling the truth. We’re actually pretty humble – that’s why we do our homework before sitting down to any table game whether it is blackjack, poker, craps or even Risk. What? Risk is the game of world domination; you’re going to tell us that doesn’t require strategy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzLtF_PxbYw

No one in their right mind would recommend card counting – and not just because of scary security personnel based on out-of-date stereotypes. If you become hyper-focused on what other players are doing, you run the risk of forgetting about the one person at the table you are playing against: the dealer.

There are a lot of great sites out there that go in depth with tips and rules – one of our favorites is BlackjackInfo. They will even give you links to a couple of articles about card counting should you decide to give that strategy a whirl and ignore our advice. This will of course irreparably damage the bond of trust we’ve established over the last 400 words.

Practicing Online

We used this same point in our earlier entry on how to play craps and we unabashedly do it again here. Like most people we have made trips out to the casino on a Friday night with our buddies to blow off some steam. But it’s one thing to put money down when you’re in a fun-loving mood and aren’t too concerned with losing a few bucks. It’s another to go there with intent and strategy in mind.

Playing online may not fully prepare you for the initial stress of sitting down at a table with people that your mind is already telling you are superior players. What it will do is prepare you to make confident decisions while focusing on your primary target:  the dealer. We’ll keep reiterating that as many times as it takes. Seriously, this is online and there’s no word limit.

Besides, look at the dealer in the below video. You’re telling us you don’t want to take this guy for all he’s worth? Yeah, now you have your motivation to learn how to play blackjack and make sure you’re a king instead of the jester.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvH34nJ7EFE