When watching people playing at thebest rated online casinos, often times you'll notice that they'rejust guessing at what decision to make next. This is most obviouswhen watching people who play blackjack. They are totally unaware ofhow much of an effect they have on the total outcome if they werefamiliar with some of the basics of blackjack. Unlike many otherconventional casino games, blackjack is actually a positiveexpectation game and can work to your full advantage, if the rightdecisions are made while you play.

One of the first strategies thatblackjack players use when trying to beat the game is what is knownas the Effective Blackjack Strategy.

HIT AND STAND The most basic thing to remember is,because the dealer always has to take a hit on any hand 16 or lower,you won't win as much money when you're holding less than 17, unlessthe dealer busts. Like these one: Ifyour hand is below 17 and the dealer is flaunting an Ace, King,Queen, Jack, 10, 9, or 8, you need to take a hit. Remember, Wheneverthe dealer holds one of these cards his chances of busting are verymeager, so unless you clear 16 your chances of winning are alsomeager. When to stand?

Let's say your hand is beyond 12 and the dealer showsa 4, 5, or 6, your best play is to stand. When the dealer is showingany of these 3 cards, the dealer's chances of busting are on a high.In fact, it's more than 40% of the time. Think of how silly you'dfeel if you took a hit with 15, caught a 10 and busted, only to seethat the dealer had 14 and would have been forced to take a hit anddraw the 10 instead of you. Every time you bust yourself instead ofbusting the dealer, you're not winning as much money as you could bewinning.

DOUBLE The best and the fastest way to make it whenplaying Blackjack is by successfully doubling down at every chance.Doubling down can make you double your bet or end up costing youdouble if you do it in a bad spot. The first and most important ruleof doubling down is, always double down any hand summing up 11.

No matter what the dealer's showing, ifyou hit a 10 when you've got 11 he won't beat you. So when else should you double down? When your hand is 10and the dealer is showing a 9 or lower, double it up. When your handis a 9 or you have a "soft" hand like an Ace counted as 11between 13 and 17 against a dealer's 4, 5 or 6, double it up. That'sit though. Those hands give you the best shot at cashing in when youdouble down.

SPLIT

Splitting can be highly profitable if you do it withthe right cards, or you could end up costing you by splitting awinning hand into a pair of losers.

The first thing to remember whensplitting is, never split 10's or 5's. The 10's refers to any cardvalued 10, whether it be the actual 10 or any face card. Conversely,always split aces and eights, no matter what the dealer is showing.The reason behind splitting aces should be obvious, but you might beperplexed about 8's.

A pair of 8's is equals 16, which isreally a middle-of-the-road hand in Blackjack. With 16 your onlychance of winning is if the dealer busts. By splitting into a pair ofeights, your chances of hitting 2 hands higher than 16 are actuallyquite good.

Other than Aces and 8's, your best betswhen it comes to splitting is to split 2's and 3's against a dealer's4, 5, or 6. When it comes to the rest of the cards in the deck like4, 6, 7, 9, the easiest rule is to only split these cards when thedealer's hand is showing a card of lesser value. There are variationson this rule however, so you may want to stick with aces, 8's, 2'sand 3's for now.

SOFT HAND Soft hands have their own special rules whenit comes to hitting, standing and doubling down. As a quick reminder,Soft hands are any hand with an Ace, where the player can choosebetween 2 totals, ie A and 5 could be 6 or 16.

Let's say you want a soft 13 through 17whenever the dealer is showing 7 or higher. Remember, with any softhand no matter what card you receive you cannot bust. Now here comesthe tricky part, doubling soft hands. If you've got a soft 13 through17, only double down when the dealer shows a 5 or 6. If you've got a soft 15 through 17, you can also doubleup if the dealer's showing a 4. Most of the time you'll want to standon a soft 18, but if the dealer's sporting a 9, 10 or an ace, you'llprobably be better off taking a hit. No matter what the dealer isshowing, always stand on a soft 19 or higher. Remember,in the final soft hands, if the dealer holds a 2 andyou've got a soft hand, do not double down.

SURRENDER Don't be afraid to surrender if the optionis given to you. However, if after the cards are dealt, the dealer isway ahead and the chances of you pulling out a win are meager,surrender and get the 50% of your bet back and live to play anotherhand.

If you're stuck on when to surrenderand when to play on, remember this: always surrender with a hard 15when the dealer has a 10, and always surrender with a hard 16 whenthe dealer has a 9, 10 or Ace. Blackjack has been taken apart piece by piece by professionalgamblers with one thing in common, how to beat the game and find astrategy that will win big.