Blackjack is one of the few casino games where a player’s skill and knowledge can reduce the house edge. While the game is fun and fast, it can also be very expensive if you aren’t careful. Fortunately, there are smart blackjack betting strategies that can help you control your losses and maximize your wins.

Whether you play blackjack with real money or at an online casino, it’s important to set the amount of your bankroll that you are willing to spend before you begin. This will help you avoid over-betting, which can lead to losing streaks that can erode your bankroll quickly.

Once you’ve established your budget, stick with it throughout the session. If you’re on a winning streak, Brian recommends raising your bet a little to make the most of the streak, but don’t raise it too high. This way, if your luck turns around and you start to lose, you can lower your bet size again and stop the bleeding.

Many players use a variation of the Martingale system in blackjack. This involves doubling your bet after every loss, in the hopes that you will eventually hit a winning hand. This is a risky strategy that can quickly drain your bankroll, and it’s not recommended for players without deep pockets. A losing streak of ten hands or more is not uncommon in blackjack, so you will need to have a deep bankroll to survive such a streak.

The objective of blackjack is to beat the dealer’s hand by getting closer to 21 than they are. If you get a hand value of 21 or higher in two cards, it is called a blackjack and you win 3:2 if the dealer doesn’t have a blackjack as well. However, if you bust in the same hand as the dealer, you’ll lose your bet.

There are hundreds of side bets that can be made on a blackjack table, including betting on the dealer’s hole card being a ten, betting on your hand making a poker hand with the dealer’s up-card, and betting on whether or not the dealer will bust. While these bets can add some excitement to the game, they shouldn’t be considered a part of your overall blackjack strategy.

Blackjack side bets have a negative expected value for the player, and should only be placed as a last resort when your basic strategy has failed. In addition, it’s worth noting that some casinos have reduced the payout on blackjack to 6:5 in an attempt to increase the house edge and render card counting useless.

While the MIT Blackjack Team managed to achieve astounding success with their card counting strategy, it’s important to remember that the house will always win in the long run. Even the best blackjack players will lose to the house in the end, so it’s important to be realistic about your expectations and bankroll when playing the game.