7 beginner mistakes in blackjack that cost you money every session

Although success in gambling depends heavily on luck, blackjack is precisely the kind of game where the player's influence on the outcome is easy to see too. You won't be able to guarantee steady wins, but you can at least avoid the basic mistakes that lead to losing money with a very high probability.

Three numbers worth remembering

Mistake 1. Buying insurance

The bet that insures a customer against a dealer blackjack looks to a beginner like a great move, but it isn't: its RTP is only 92.6%. It might pay off once or put you ahead within a single session, but the smarter choice is to never use it — even if you already hold a blackjack, it's wiser to accept some chance of a push than to risk extra money. The dealer, even showing an ace (the required condition for offering insurance), will make a natural blackjack just 31% of the time — in every other case you lose the insurance bet for nothing.

Mistake 2. Refusing to split eights and aces

Two eights (16) in one hand is bad by definition: clearly too little to win, with a real risk of busting on a third card. Split them into two hands and you get good odds of making 18-19 in one or even both. With aces it's even clearer: two aces in one hand is 12 with murky prospects, two in separate hands is a good shot at one or two naturals. The experts always split eights and aces, regardless of the dealer's card (unless a specific rule set forbids it — in Atlantic City Blackjack, for instance, you can't split two aces).

Mistake 3. Not using the double down

In blackjack you double the bet when you see an especially good chance to win off a single extra card. When you're holding 9-11, the odds of making a blackjack (or at least strengthening the hand to 18-20) on one card are fairly high. If the dealer is showing a low card on top of that, they'll likely have to draw at least two more (raising their bust chance) or stop on 17-18 — which makes a customer win very likely.

Mistake 4. Choosing a 6:5 table instead of 3:2

A dead-simple example: on a $100 bet with a natural blackjack, the player wins $120 in the first case and $150 in the second. Even if your bankroll can absorb the $30 shortfall on every natural, there's simply no point: a 6:5 table offers no advantage — with a little effort you'll always find blackjack with the same rules and a 3:2 payout.

Mistake 5. Chasing losses on emotion

In gambling you sometimes run bad — you have to be ready for that in advance. Faced with a losing streak and already down too much, don't convince yourself the next one is bound to hit: your odds of winning are always the same and don't rise one bit because of how many losses came before. And if the player is also using aggressive progressive systems like the Martingale, chasing an instant recovery can burn through the whole budget in a flash. Set a stop-loss before the session: once you've lost a set amount, stop playing immediately.

If you notice you can't stop, are losing an unacceptable amount, or feel excessively strong negative emotions from your losses, be sure to use responsible-gambling tools.

Mistake 6. Playing with money you can't afford to lose, or with your whole bankroll

Gambling becomes a problem when a player starts losing money they need for real life. Blackjack offers no guaranteed win, so you should only stake funds you're emotionally ready to part with and whose loss won't affect your financial well-being in any way. Enter each session with a budget decided in advance, and ideally your bet shouldn't exceed 1-2% of your bankroll — that lets you stretch out the fun of playing, partly on your winnings, rather than losing everything in one bad hand.

Mistake 7. Not understanding the difference between soft and hard 17

Holding an ace and a six (soft 17), a beginner stands, afraid of busting: they figure 17 is enough. In reality it's a weak hand that often loses, and the ace can also count as 1 — meaning you're really holding just 7, and taking another card, you definitely won't bust. On soft 17, hitting is mandatory, and if the dealer's card is very low, you can even try to double the bet.