If you’re looking for some no-download free blackjack action, Bodog Casino has the Triple Crown Blackjack game available. You get $1000 to start out, and you get to re-load if you bust out. Betting limits range from $1 to $500, which are a little wider than you’ll usually find.

You can split pairs and double down if you so desire. There’s also insurance and a surrender option available. Blackjack pays 3 to 2 and the dealer must hit on soft 17. The game plays really fast and I was able to turn my $1000 into $3600 in just a couple of minutes. Why doesn’t that happen on the real tables so easily?

I liked the fact that there wasn’t a punch of slot-machine sounds in the background as I played. The only sounds were the betting and the dealing that was going on in the game I was playing.

Online blackjack is a tough game to beat. You can’t count cards or see dealer leaks. The cards are shuffled after every hand and the dealer is programming code. All you can do is play optimum strategy and hope for some good cards. Here are a few basics that you should never do:

– Don’t split a pair of face cards or two tens. You’re better off with one hand of 20 than two hands of 15, which you could get if you split them.

– Don’t drink in excess at the blackjack table. It makes you take too many chances and you won’t be playing optimum strategy. You will lose at a faster rate.

– Don’t split fours or fives. 10 or eight are both better than two 14s or 15s.

– Don’t waste your money on insurance. All you do is increase the house edge by making this wager.

The highest paying casino games online today would be the progressive slots, video poker and bingo jackpots. Progressive slot jackpots have reached the millions, and the new MegaJackpots on the WagerWorks software system will start off at $3 million. There are other software systems that have jackpots bigger than this number, but none have ever started out at this number. The biggest jackpot I’ve heard of was over eight million dollars.

Bingo jackpots have spilled over the million-dollar mark. It’s become especially popular in the U.K. by numerous age groups. Finding a million-dollar bingo game is no easy feat to achieve in land-based bingo halls, but they’re becoming common online.

Video Poker has progressive jackpots too. The SupaJax progressive Jacks or Better game has a progressive payout if you hit SupaJax with four jacks. Jackpot Deuces is another game with a progressive that has grown over $20,000.

The best free online games I’ve found are at  http://casino-games.pogo.com/, where there’s a huge selection for any taste. This site even offers prizes to winners without requiring a buy-in at all. The casino game selection includes slots, table games and poker.

The popular games are Turbo 21 and Vaults of Atlantis Slots. Turbo 21 requires that you play four hands at the same time, while trying to make each hand add up to 21. The faster you play the game the higher your score. Special features include Black Jack Express (you play against a clock), Big Payout (extra points for making 13 combos of 21), and Bonus Game (as many 21’s as you can make in 30 seconds).

Vaults of Atlantis Slots is a multi-line slot that takes you through undersea adventures as Tex Carter searches for the most legendary treasure in history. This game also has a chat option available.

Match Play 21 is essentially blackjack with a few twists added. The rules are basically the same, but the tens have been taken out of each deck in the shoe. This is done apparently to weight the odds back in the favor of the house because the game pays out bonuses.

If you happen to get dealt three suited sevens (multiple decks in the shoe) and the dealer has a seven for his up card, you will get paid 40 to 1. There are other special payouts for different card combinations. 7-7-7 or 6-7-8 of spades both pay 3 to 1, so does a total of 21 on 7 or more cards. There are other 2 to 1 and 3 to 2 payouts for certain combos.

It’s a fun game if you’re looking for a break from the regular form of blackjack, or if you want to try something new.

You hear of all kinds of systems that you can use to beat a casino out of their money. A lot of these claims are myths, but some are true. Some games can be beaten, and the easiest game to beat is blackjack. It’s no simple task to beat a seven deck shoe blackjack game, but many have and many continue to do it.

Blackjack is a game that has the house at a small edge, usually around 0.4 of a percent. If a player is able to pick up an edge their results can be drastically different. If a player knew when the deck had more big cards left in it, as opposed to small cards, it would be an advantage for that player to place larger bets when the deck is in this condition. In turn the player can lower his or her bets when the deck has more small cards left than big ones.

If you’ve seen the movie “Rainman” you’ve heard of counting cards. Slick grifters have been counting cards since these games were introduced to this part of the world, and casinos still deal with multiple card counters on a weekly basis. To combat this, casinos have staff hired to locate card counters and other players that are trying to work an advantage. Most pit bosses are trained and have a good amount of experience at recognizing counters and their schemes.

Card counting is not illegal, but if you’re discovered doing it you will be asked to stop playing blackjack and will most likely be asked to leave the casino. Because of this, counters develop intricate methods to camouflage their counting, like using other people to make their bets once they know that the deck is ripe for the bigger bets.

Lots of people make their living beating blackjack. It takes a mathematical mind and proper instruction to get good enough at counting to where you can go into a casino and not get detected, and don’t forget the bankroll required to get started.

Tipping the dealer was always a trivial thing to me. I would usually tip the dealer after I won two consecutive hands, and even then it would only be around 10 to 20 percent of my bet. I never gave any thought as to the amount I was giving away because I only did it when I was winning. As I gained more experience on the blackjack tables, I noticed that some players were tipping in different ways. It made immediate sense to me why they were tipping in this manner and I’ve tipped this way ever since.

Tipping the traditional way by just taking a chip and saying “this is for you”, is a guaranteed loss. I realized there was a better way when I noticed that players were making outside wagers for the dealer as a tip, instead of just handing them some chips. Tipping this way, the dealer is given an opportunity to win more than the original gratuity. But they also face the risk of losing the tip altogether. This gesture is recognized the same as the other method, and I’ve yet to have a dealer that doesn’t enjoy this.

Since then I’ve discovered an even better way to tip. Instead of placing an outside bet for the dealer, of which they will get the wager and the winnings, I place the tip amount on top of my original bet. If I win the hand I will control the tip that goes to the dealer. If I place a five-dollar tip on top of my wager and win the hand, I will give the dealer five dollars. I give the bet amount, not the bet and the winnings. A loss changes nothing for the dealer; and a win pays the dealer a five-dollar tip, instead of the ten dollars an outside bet would have cost.

This has other advantages other than the five bucks you’ll save. If I’m betting $20-a-hand blackjack and I start periodically playing a tip bet on top of my hand, I go from being a $20-a-hand player to a $25-a-hand player in the eyes of the pit boss. My comps go up and the dealers love me. How can you go wrong with that?

One of the nice things about playing in an online casino is there is no need to tip at all!