While success in playing many casino games, such as roulette, can be very much a matter of luck, blackjack brings a greatly increased need for skill and strategy. Luck can still play a part, such as with your starting hand; however, luck and skill can interact to exciting effect.

Furthermore, blackjack is one of the many traditional casino games that you can now play online. The choice of operators offering games is broad; you should therefore think carefully about what different such sites offer before you decide which of them would be most appropriate for you.

Assessing the casinos in this way can be easier when you also take into account the information on this page. Here, we have listed many of what we deem fantastic providers, along with user ratings letting you see what online players think of them.

While such sites will often let you sample their blackjack opportunities by playing for free, there are also plenty of sites at which you can compete for genuine money.

When you are comparing different online portals in an attempt to identify the best one for you, our reviews of blackjack sites can really help. These sites have particular aspects to which we have devoted strong attention in our reviews, including...

• Bonuses and promotions - Many casino operators offer hefty welcome bonuses and exciting promotions, although you should also remember to look through the terms and conditions attached to them.
• Variety of games - There are many different types of blackjack game, but you shouldn’t necessarily expect all online sites to offer every type. You ought to also look out for chances to play for free; this could enable you to hone your competitive strategy before you start playing for real money.
• Cross-compatible games - Many operators will let you play games not only on standard computers, but also on smartphones and tablets.
• Payout percentage - Check that this percentage has been independently verified, too. The higher the percentage, the more money you could stand to win.

Here is a rundown of various kinds of blackjack that can be played online.

• Classic - This is blackjack in its original form. Its rules are very easy to learn, making it an obviously ideal choice if you are new to the game.
• Multi-hand - This is played like the classic version, except that you can simultaneously play five hands rather than just one. This game is more challenging, but also offers more opportunities to win.
• European - In Europe, this is often played in both land-based and online casinos. It has different rules and payouts compared to classic blackjack.
• Pontoon - With this variant, you are unable to see the dealer's two cards, so the hand that you are dealt out cannot form the basis of your strategy.
• Stravaganza - Here, when a hand is fully played, the player and dealer are each dealt three cards.
• Live blackjack - Unlike other forms of the game, this lets you see, via a live video feed, the dealer plus their table. Live dealer games are the closest that playing online comes to the feel of land-based blackjack.

When playing blackjack, your success can depend heavily on both luck and strategy. You obviously can't do anything to improve your luck, unless you believe in the merits of four-leaf clovers and the like; however, you can put together a good strategy to boost your chances.

Your primary objective during a game is to form a hand with a value reaching as near 21 as possible, but which doesn't go over. Along the way, it is the dealer, not other players, with which you are in competition.

A major source of challenge is that the dealer acts last, following the other players. Therefore, a player is likely to bust - go over 21 - ahead of the dealer doing so. We have written a guide that further details the basic rules of playing blackjack online.

To form a reliable strategy for playing blackjack, it is crucial that you first consider different situations that could arise when playing. Having a basic strategy table or chart at hand can help to ensure that, whatever the situation, you make the right move.

Once you have picked up this habit, you can move onto strategies that are more advanced.

Before you begin playing, keep in mind that at the table, there could be various terms that have the potential to bewilder you. Hence, it could pay for you to spend your time away from the table clueing yourself up on relevant jargon like that below.

• Ace rich - A blackjack game warrants this description if its deck or decks have a higher number of aces than what would usually be possible.
• Double down - The process of doubling a bet ahead of continuing with a game.
• Even money - An instance of you winning just as much as you bet.
• Face cards - These cards are each worth 10; they are the ten, the King, the Queen and the Jack.
• Paint - This refers to a card on which there is a picture; so, the Queen, the King or the Jack.
• Split - This is where two cards of matching value are divided across two new hands.
• Up card - The dealer's card that has been revealed.

You can familiarise yourself with an even longer list of terms and definitions by reading the informative glossary featured on our website.

We wish you luck on your journey towards enjoying great games of online blackjack. The detailed information in our reviews of casino sites can help, so we invite you to read our assessments.

Visit Top 10 Best Online Casinos today to discover the highest-rated sites.