Texas Hold’em and Blackjack are two of the most popular games that online european casinos for UK players have to offer. The question is: which one is more suitable for you?
Nobody plays to lose, so you might want to understand what the best game is to have some return over your hard-earned money.
Blackjack
Blackjack was invented by the French in 1700 and despite some alterations, the game still exists on the same basis that was created over 300 years ago. The idea behind Blackjack is not to surpass the number 21. Adding to that, you also need to total more points than the dealer.
All cards from 2 to 10 are exactly the value that they display with the jack, queen and king being worth of 10 points. The ace is 11. The game begins with the dealer giving you and himself 2 random cards from the deck.
After getting your 2 cards, you can decide between 4 options – hit (another card), stand (refuse to receive more cards), double down (double your bet and get 1 more card), split (you will get 2 hands with each card being separated; you will get then another card for each) or surrender (give to the casino half of your bet and the hand ends).
Add your points and see if you are close to 21 and decide what is your next move.
If you have more points than the dealer and less than 21, you win. If you and the dealer tie, you will get your bet back. If you go over 21 or have fewer points than the dealer, you lose.
As every game that requires skill, people always try to find a way to get some leverage, either studying the game, counting cards or even with quantum entanglement.
Texas Hold’em
Texas Hold’em is by far the most popular game in Poker. In this game, you will receive 2 cards and the idea is to have the best hand in the table or make them believe you do.
After receiving your 2 cards, 5 cards will be displayed on the board in 3 segments (flop (3 cards), turn (1 card), river (1 card). There are also 4 chances to make your bet, before the flop, after the flop, after the turn and after the river.
If you get your opponents to fold before the final bet, you will win the pot without having to show your cards, if there is more than 1 player that commits until the end of the play, all players need to show their cards (called showdown) where the best combination between the cards given, and the community cards wins
In Texas Hold’em the game can change in a brief moment and your “big hand” might become a major loser.
The Differences
If you want to choose only 1 of these games to master, you must choose what does excite you the most. The games are different, and to master the games you need to be ready to study, put in a lot of time and effort and you need to understand that you might lose at first in order to succeed.
On a comparison between both games, on Blackjack you are playing against the house (or the dealer) and as people say, “the house always wins”, so if you start to win big, you might face some issues.
In poker you are playing against other people. You have the option for a game that has more routine in it (Blackjack) or a game in which the behavior from last hand or the last time that you had the same exact hand might not be a good way to approach, since poker has so many variables. You can click here if you wish to practice blackjack games.
Many people will say that blackjack is easier to master as the game follows the same pattern each time and you will play more hands in less time as you play on your speed, whether in poker you will have to wait for every player at the table to make their move.
Also, if you are looking for a game that you can have some beers and some chit-chat, you might want to know that poker is also looked more as a social game, since you are usually surrounded by other players and if you look at poker tournaments you often see the players chatting about situations.
Adding to this, poker is arguably a game that requires more skill as you can always bluff your way into winning money and sometimes it is easy to spot a skill-gap. If you have less time to offer into learning a new game, Blackjack might be a better option.
How They’re Played
The biggest difference between blackjack and Texas hold’em is how they’re played. In blackjack, players compete directly against the dealer with everyone trying to get as close to 21 as possible without going over. The number of cards dealt to each player can vary depending on the rules of the game, but players typically receive only two cards.
In Texas hold’em, by contrast, each player is dealt two face-down cards (the “hole” cards) and then has the option of betting or folding after seeing three community cards that are dealt face-up in the middle of the table. Once all betting rounds are complete, players reveal their hole cards to determine who has won the pot.
Whatever you choose, the best advice would be to start with low amounts (or with “fake” money), always try to have fun and lose only what you can afford.
