Five Things Poker Players Can Learn From Blackjack

After the Chris Moneymaker’s 2003 WSOP win and the subsequent boom enjoyed by online poker, many people around the world were inspired to heavily invest time, effort and funds into the game in the hopes that they might emulate Bertand “ElkY” Grosspellier or Daniel Negreanu. Many have taken to this as naturals and achieved varying degrees of success, allowing huge poker sites to spring up, offering giant prize pools.

That said, becoming a skilled poker player is a complex process that requires time, dedication, and a logical approach to the game. As the saying goes, Poker takes a minute to learn but a lifetime to master.

There are, however, alternative routes to the top and transferable skills from other strategy games that can help with this. Games such as Hearthstone, a game enjoyed by both ElkY and Negreanu, has many crossover skills that has got people talking about it as a training tool. Indeed, ElkY himself has long been preaching about the benefits of one, assisting the other. But, there is another skill based card game that could also teach your average poker player useful tips; Blackjack.

By utilising skills from Blackjack and applying them at the poker table, successful results can be achieved.

Here are five things poker players can learn from playing Blackjack.

Observance

A sharp and keen eye for detail is as crucial at the Blackjack table as it is in Poker. Keep an eye on the all-important dealer’s up card before making your move. Examine the dealer’s strengths just as you pre-judge or read your opponents in Poker. If you are judging the dealer to be weak, then it gives you the opportunity to stand on weaker totals than if the dealer was strong. For poker, read the others at the table, pay attention to everything and read the room, the table, the atmosphere, pick up on all the potential strength or weakness around you, leaving nothing to chance and hopefully turning a fold into a bet for you and a bet into a fold for them.

Negotiation

Both games require negotiation skills to succeed and make it deep in any tournament. Believing in yourself and your skills is crucial but so too is knowing how to manipulate the situation and negotiate favourable conditions for yourself. Here, it’s all about a trade-off between the bet and the skill edge. Getting this right in one game will help win big in another depending on the stakes you’re playing for.

Study

Keeping those skills razor sharp is another vital element for both games. To achieve results in a game of Blackjack, players should really crack those books and study hard. So too must any potential Poker champion. There are numerous ways to keep ahead of the latest strategies. Poker and Blackjack online forums are a great way to share experiences and discuss tactics for the table, while many find online blogs to be an effective way to stay sharp. There are also countless books on either game, that are constantly being updated or, in some cases, even classic books by legends of the game that remain relevant ways to improve upon skills. As with poker, it pays to research finding a good, trusted casino to play on. OnlineCasino.ca provides a list of reviews catering for Canadian players who’d like to get started.

Know When To Hold’em

When playing online Blackjack, it’s important you understand when to adjust your bets. This is best achieved by careful analysis which a good Blackjack player will deduce when the deck contains more high value cards and when it contains low value cards. Although, this is not entirely replicable in a Poker game like Texas Hold’em, a similar process of elimination and deduction will result in better outcomes. Also, in games such as Seven Card Stud, by looking at your personal hand and the faced cards your opponents have, you will gain a better estimate of which cards remain in the deck that you yourself could draw to help your own hand. In this way, you should know better when to bet, stick, twist or hold. You can speed up the learning using an odds calculator.

Have Fun

It is a game after all and while this won’t help you win more money at the Poker table, it will enhance your experience of the game and the more you enjoy it, the more likely you are to practise longer, read more and work harder than if you were working with a game you didn’t enjoy. This, of course, applies to any game not just the two being discussed here as all games exist, at least originally, as entertainment. Gambling elements have been added later to some games and both Poker and Blackjack are designed to be fast, fun and action filled. Each and every time you sit down and take your place at the table, either live or online, you should be having fun and enjoying yourself. If you’re not enjoying your time, then maybe choose another game or simply take a break before you start betting again, otherwise you’re sure to lose money. To win big, keep it fun.

Most Viewed Articles