Blackjack And Psychology Articles | Gambling

By: Richard Bleuze

Blackjack and psychology.

If you want to win at blackjack, you need to understand the psychology of the game and its importance.

Psychological errors will lead a blackjack player to his or her downfall.  These psychological errors are easy to avoid, however, with the right attitude so let’s look at them.

Disciplined Play

To win at blackjack players use basic strategy and card counting to gain an edge over the casino and emerge with big profits.  The blackjack player must understand that you can win at blackjack longer term.

However, many players who can play blackjack think they will do so to quickly. This is the first mistake that they make since they think because they have an edge to win at blackjack which is quick and easy.

You need to have bankroll to sustain you over hundreds of hours of losing play.  You must be willing to accept the fact that winning at blackjack is  long term.  Many players get frustrated and chase loses and then end up being wiped out.  If you don’t take a longer term view and have adequate bankroll you will lose.

The Fear of Going Bust

The fear of going over 21 is a common error made among blackjack players.
Many players find it hard to draw an additional card even though it is the right play to make, the fear of going bust prevents them but it’s in many instances the WRONG play not to draw.

Standing on 16 when you should take a hit stops a player going bust.

However, the dealer has to stand on 17 and above, so the advantage the blackjack player sees of not going bust is counterbalanced by the fact that the blackjack player cannot win unless the dealer goes bust.

Losing by busting is psychologically more devastating for many players than losing to the dealer.  If you hit and bust, psychologically you are wrong and we all hate to be wrong!

Players get obsessed with trying to avoid going bust and they fail to focus on the probabilities of winning and losing, when neither player nor the dealer goes bust.

OK, if you draw another card you could go bust and you may feel stupid, but the odds in the long term are in your favor on a lot of occasions.

Lady Luck

Many players increase bet after a loss and reduce it after a win.  Blackjack players that do this reason that if you lose a hand, the odds go up that you will win the next hand, but of course this is simply not true.

Other players do the reverse, increasing the bet size after a win and decreasing it after a loss.  The odds are the same at the start of each hand and to win at blackjack you need a disciplined logical approach and you must not rely on gut feelings.

Why Do Players Act Like this?

Well, money is on the line and if money is important to you then you act differently.  In blackjack, it’s the money that acts as pressure.  Players know what they should do logically to win at blackjack, but they can’t do it because of psychological issues.

Generally psychological issues cause the following:

1. Players cannot detach themselves emotionally from the fact that winning at blackjack might create long losing periods.  The player, thus, tries to get their losses back quickly and discipline goes out of the window.

2. The blackjack player falls into the trap that breaking their plan only once will not make any difference. The problem is once they have broken their method once, their tempted to do it again!

3. Focusing on the game is an obvious requirement to win at blackjack but many players play with alcohol clouding their judgment, watching TV while playing online, etc.

Players need mental discipline to focus over the long term, take losses and have the discipline to execute their plan in good periods and bad.

Winning at blackjack requires discipline to execute a method and for this you need to have the RIGHT mindset and psychology.

If you achieve this, you can win at blackjack in the long term!