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How to Become a Professional Blackjack Player

  • Written By Kevin Parker
  • Edited
  • Reading 6 minutes

Professional blackjack is not popularized as much as other casino games. However, there is so much interest in the game and lots of great players who love it. That said, being a professional blackjack player is not a far-fetched idea, and if you are willing to put in the work, you could succeed at that. Making a living playing blackjack is possible, just like in the case of popular casino games.

Blackjack, unlike many other casino games, is based on skill to a given extent, and this is what makes it an excellent choice for anyone who is looking to gamble professionally.

Tip: The right skills and a great strategy will allow you to better other players and land some wins at the blackjack tables.

With this guide, we will break down a few of the things that will help you succeed with regards to helping you know how to deal blackjack professionally and play like an expert. While this article does not necessarily guarantee any wins, it certainly puts together the best information to get you started and improve on your gameplay.

It all comes down to how well you utilize the tips to become a formidable force at the tables.

We will covering the following:

So, how can you become a professional blackjack player?

Get Fully Acquainted with The Basics

Image of a Blackjack player with cards

You need to be aware of more than just the basics to be a pro at just about any game. These basic rules and gameplay guidelines are supposed to build a foundation for advanced gameplay that you can only achieve by studying and putting the strategies you have learned to use.

Image of Stanford Wong's Professional Blackjack book

A great place to start would be reading books on the game. Stanford Wong, one of the most popular names in blackjack, wrote a book titled Professional Blackjackin addition to appearing on television multiple times as a tournament contestant. Moreover, he was often interviewed as an expert on the game. All these resources are valuable to any aspiring professional blackjack player. Lots of other books also offer more in-depth insight into the game.

With such, you can dig deeper and understand the game further. For instance, you should be able to easily switch your approach based on the value of the cards in your hand. These books train you on how to make quick calculations and make appropriate decisions in any given situation. So long as you truly understand how the game works, you will be ready to play at more advanced levels while putting your own tricks into use.

Master Bankroll Management

The margins in blackjack games are pretty small, which means that making it as a professional blackjack player will not be very easy if you are playing with a few dollars. Since you will need to be playing with higher amounts of money, you will need to be very good at managing your funds.

Image of Blackjack Player Managing their bankroll

Not only is more money at stake (when playing at higher-level tables), but you also do not want to end up losing more than you can afford to.

Moreover, one should be able to understand the expected value of the bets in every blackjack game. Every professional blackjack player should be quick enough to use the expected value to determine how much they could win from a game in the long run. With that figured out, you can make better choices regarding whether to skip out on a game or join one.

Choosing the Right Casinos

As you may have already noticed, playing blackjack both professionally and casually requires excellent decision-making skills. In this case, the choice of a casino is crucial to a professional.

Image of a professional blackjack player at table

Firstly, as you practice and test your skills or strategies, you will need to start at less aggressive tables found in some casinos. Here, you not only stand a chance of winning but can also putt your strategies to the test.

At the higher levels, you will want to choose tables with better returns. The goal of playing professionally is more often than not to make a living off the game and thus, the most profitable tables are where your sights should set. In case you need some more practice and want to learn a bit more about how the experts play, you can join some of the more challenging tables. After all, to be the best, you will have to learn from and play against the best from time to time.

Card Counting as A Strategy

There are so many different opinions regarding card counting, but it is a pretty handy tool for many professional blackjack players.

Tip: We suggest to look at learning a range of strategies to be able to adapt to any situation.

Not all casinos allow it, and therefore, you will need to find a casino where card counting at the blackjack tables is permitted. When used in collaboration with other great strategies, this technique can bag you some wins or better your chances of doing so.

A Few More Things to Consider

Now, even though this article’s goal is to give you a head start by telling you what you need to do to know how to deal blackjack professionally and play it like an expert, there are a few things that you should keep mind when going in.

Image of a professional blackjack players cards

First off, playing professional blackjack on the internet is much harder than in land-based casinos. Card counting is impossible in such a scenario, and other techniques will also be quite challenging to pull off virtually.

Secondly, as mentioned earlier, blackjack has very small margins, which means that you will need a great technique to ensure that you maximize your returns as much as possible. It is not impossible to hack it though – you have to be ready to put in the work to get a decent or impressive salary from professional blackjack gaming.

In summary, as challenging as it may be, blackjack still stands out as an enjoyable game that can easily transform into a career. If you enjoy playing the game, you will have a great time regardless of whether you are winning or losing. However, as a professional, winning is very important and should be what you aim for at every game.

Kevin was raised on sports since a young teen and following a (fortunate) injury pursued new hobbies in table games such as Blackjack and Poker. Since 2009 Kevin has been writing for casino sites for various big names in the industry and CasinoSites.us is but one of his latest passion projects.