In the world of casino gaming, character traits and personalities counter just as much as hard skills and experience. Whatever happens to be a game of choice, who you are as a person will directly influence whether and to what extent you are successful.
Blackjack is no different – one of the most attractive casino games because of its accessibility and comparatively low house edge. Skill, experience and intuition can all help with the blackjack experience, but so too can the ideal character traits.
Ever wondered if you’d make a truly outstanding blackjack player?
If you tick the following 10 boxes, there’s every chance you might:
1 – You Prefer Skill-Based Games
First and foremost, some people like the kinds of games where the outcome is based entirely on the 100% random roll of the dice. Or perhaps, the spin of a wheel. Blackjack is different because it is perfectly possible to influence the outcome with your own skill and decision-making. While it’s certainly possible to take a completely random approach to blackjack, those who enjoy the skill element get so much more out of every hand – in terms of pleasure and potential profits alike.
2 – You Don’t Rely on Hunches
Just about the biggest mistake anyone can make while playing blackjack is to develop a reliance on hunches. Common examples of which being experiencing a losing streak and believing you must be due a win, not seeing a King for hours and so expecting to see one soon etc. Pretty much anything that sees logic taken entirely out of equation and replaced with a complete lack of common sense. Even when a hunch turns out to be correct, it is simply a case of blind luck – never skill or true intuition.
3 – You’re Mathematically Minded
Just get one thing out of the way – you don’t have to be in any way mathematically minded to get a real kick out of blackjack. It isn’t even remotely necessary and you can still have a great time, regardless of your lack of mathematical prowess. Nevertheless, if you are somewhat mathematically minded, you may find yourself in a position to extract maximum value from blackjack in particular. The reason being that it is and always will be a numbers game – one that a select few can tip quite generously in their own favour.
4 – You Know How to Manage Your Money
Of course, this doesn’t apply exclusively to blackjack – it’s the same with every casino game across the board. Strong and capable bankroll management is of critical importance, in order to ensure you remain in the black (so to speak) and retain control. Those who are prone to getting carried away are typically advised to stay away from casino gaming in its entirety.
5 – You’re Happy to Do Your Homework
Truly mastering the art of blackjack means not only getting plenty of practical experience, but also investing a good deal of time in associated research. You don’t have to dedicate your life to it, but you do most certainly have to familiarise yourself with as much of the theory as you can. Which is the kind of thing that you need to do not just willingly, but happily and enthusiastically. Approach the research side of things begrudgingly and you cannot expect to get the same kind of value for your efforts.
6 – You’re Technologically Savvy
This is important for the simple reason that playing blackjack online these days is far easier and more convenient than paying a visit to a traditional casino. Meaning that if you really want to get into blackjack as something of a future profession, you are probably going to need to get busy online. These days, playing online doesn’t have to mean playing against robots – the dealer blackjack tables recreating the classic casino experience more faithfully than you might believe.
7 – You Can Maintain Focus for Long Periods
Blackjack is the kind of game where you intend to play a couple of hands and summarily find yourself still sitting at the table several hours later. Which, just as long as you can maintain focus and avoid making mistakes, doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It helps if your time management skills are at least decent, but just as long as you don’t allow things like fatigue and frustration to adversely affect the decisions you make, you should be fine.
8 – You Bounce Back Quickly
It’s important to acknowledge the fact that playing blackjack means you are inevitably going to lose – probably just as frequently as you win. Which in turn means that you need to be realistic, in terms of both your expectations and the way in which you approach/handle losses. If you are the kind of person who takes losses personally and goes nuts at the slightest setback, blackjack isn’t for you. By contrast, if you’re and the kind of person who can simply count to 10 and move on, blackjack could be your game.
9 – You Don’t Get Distracted Easily
If planning to play blackjack in a traditional casino, you are going to need to deal with a lot of distractions. Not to mention, a serious amount of noise from every direction. The fact that there’s a fair amount of skill and mathematics involved in blackjack means you need to keep your eye on the ball (or the cards!) at all times. If this is the thing that comes naturally to you, you might just be in your element with blackjack.
10 – You Can Accept the Learning Curve
Last but not least, one of the biggest mistakes many newcomers to blackjack make is that of having unrealistic expectations. They expect to sit down at their first blackjack table and make out like a bandit – all while looking seriously badass in the process. In reality, there’s an inevitable learning curve to traverse – one that involves any number of mistakes, setbacks, losses and potentially embarrassing blunders. There isn’t a great deal you can do to avoid them, so you need to embrace them as valuable opportunities to learn and grow.
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