If you play blackjack online with any regularity you should know how to play basic strategy. This is a set of rules for the player to follow that will give them the best possible chance to win in any hand situation they may find themselves in. Basic strategy decision-making varies depending on the blackjack variant that you’re playing, and you can potentially lower the house edge over you to less than a half percent. Counting cards is not an option in online blackjack, so the best way the increase your chance of winning is to learn basic strategy. It’s not rocket science to learn, and you can even use a cheat sheet until your decision-making becomes automatic to you.

These cheat sheets are not cheating, they’re charts that outline which decision is best to make in any hand situation. Most land-based casinos allow you to have a copy of a blackjack strategy chart with you as you play, but not all will. But when you’re playing online blackjack there’s nothing to stop you from using them; and you can reference it anytime you’re unsure of the best play to make. With enough practice you’ll memorize every situation and you won’t need the charts anymore.

Using these charts will not guarantee that you’re going to win the next time you play the game. But they will lower losses in the long term, and your playing bankroll won’t have to deal with such a wide win/loss variance because you lowered the house edge against you. The blackjack strategy charts will provide you with information on when to hit, stand, double down, split, or surrender. They will also inform you what move to make if either doubling or surrender is not allowed in that variant of the game.

Basic blackjack strategy charts can be found easily online. The best ones are color coded so you can find the information faster. Make sure you have the right chart for the variant of blackjack that you’re playing and always follow the chart. If you’re not disciplined about following it you won’t lower that edge over you like you should.