Blackjack and poker are two of the most popular casino games available, but we can’t help but favour the game 21 more. We take a look at all the reasons why blackjack is better than poker and why you should opt to play the game online over the tables at live casino venues. Sometimes, poker tables can progress at a snail’s pace, which makes it way less exciting compared to the nonstop action at a blackjack table. JUICY COMPS Casino VIP hosts in Las Vegas and throughout the casino industry treat blackjack high-rollers much better than high roller poker players. Which is Better Poker or Blackjack? Published by Kul October 3, 2020 Categorie(s): Gambling Strategies. Many players have been asking whether poker or blackjack is better to play at casino sites. As a player, you may also want to know which game is more challenging to learn as a beginner player.

Blackjack is a fun, fast-paced game but can it help you become a better poker pro?

The games are vastly different and the strategies involved could not be any more philosophically diverse.

However, several aspects translate well to poker and vice versa.

What are some of the benefits?

You get to play against the house, make easier decisions, absorb losses better, have a higher edge over the house versus other casino games, and most importantly the higher frequency of hands played per hour means more action.

And more action means increased fun.

FREE BONUS

Get this article as a beautiful PDF for print and daily use.

Download an amazing infographic covering this topic to share with your friends.

Poker Or Blackjack Better Video Poker

Get a free copy of our popular eBook “21 Secrets to Dominate the Poker Tables Like a Pro“.

ANDY AND ERICA

Many former pros have made the successful transition across the felt to poker.

The two most notable are Andy Bloch and Erica Schoenberg. Andy Bloch was a member of the infamous MIT Blackjack Team that was made famous from the film “21.” Meanwhile, Erica Schoenberg made the jump from women’s volleyball to competitive poker.

They made a smooth transition, and both suggested that the experience with huge swings made it easier to handle the fluctuations of winning and losing streaks at the poker tables.

BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE

The most significant benefit is that you will be playing for house money.

Even though there are other players at the table, you play heads-up against the dealer in an attempt to make 21.

You are playing against the house, whereas in poker you’re beating up on your fellow poker players, many of whom are trying to bluff their way into winning pots.

blackjack: AUTOMATIC DECISIONS

Blackjack requires much easier decisions, however depending on which variant of the game you are playing, the betting options and table rules will need a little bit more thinking.

Playing optimal blackjack is as simple as memorizing what to do in specific situations. Poker is much more difficult, especially in tournaments because it is situational and requires outplaying multiple opponents.

Poker requires a series of complex decisions on different betting streets in a single hand. Choices are automatic. You know what do every single time.

EMBRACE THE LOSS

Playing blackjack helps you understand that losses cannot be avoided. Bad beats happen in both poker and blackjack, but losing hands frequently happen in blackjack.

In a single session, you are exposed to more blackjack hands; thereby, you’re also exposed to more losing hands.

You get used to the feeling, so it gets to a point when a losing hand does not faze you.

NO MORE ANALYSIS PARALYSIS

Decisions in blackjack are cut and dry.

You either follow the optimal strategy, or you do not. If you have a losing session and play optimally, then there’s nothing you can do about it, except to accept the variance and move forward.

One of the more important aspects of poker is revisiting your hands and studying your online hand history. Poker players tend to overanalyze hands and overthinking can get you into trouble because it could destroy your confidence.

Sometimes players will overthink a situation to their detriment, particularly in the middle of a hand when they get lost in their over-analysis. That’s why you often see poker players go into the tank and take several minutes to come to a decision.

Poker Or Blackjack Better Games

At the blackjack tables, the action progresses at a much swifter pace because the decisions are automatic.

You will never get bogged down in analysis paralysis playing blackjack.

HIGH LIMITS, SAME MATH

The skill required to play a $1 hand of blackjack and a $100 hand (or even a $1,000 hand) is the same.

The math is the same no matter what the stakes. In blackjack, the dealer’s skill does not grow as the stakes increase. As a blackjack player, the decisions are still the same no matter the stakes. Poker is the complete opposite.

The higher up the food chain you go, the better the competition. That means you need to step up your own game and have a certain level of skill if you want to move up in stakes, where the opponents are more dangerous and the decisions become more complicated.

MORE ACTION

Poker is 99% boredom and 1% exhilaration. Sure, that 1% feels incredible, but if you are playing poker the right way, then you are folding a significant amount of hands and waiting for playable hands, or picking the right spots to make a move.

Blackjack happens so fast that you can blink and miss a round. You get your best bang for the buck playing blackjack because you get to wager on every hand. In poker, you often fold the majority of your hands, but you have to wait until the hand is complete until you get another one.

Sometimes, poker tables can progress at a snail’s pace, which makes it way less exciting compared to the nonstop action at a blackjack table.

JUICY COMPS

Casino VIP hosts in Las Vegas and throughout the casino industry treat blackjack high-rollers much better than high roller poker players.

It’s nothing personal, it’ simply a dollar and cents thing because blackjack tables, especially high roller tables, bring in much more revenue than the rake from the “Big Game” inside Bobby’s Room at the Bellagio.

If you play blackjack in a live casino, you can rack up a significant amount of comps in a relatively short amount of time. Brick-and-mortar poker room comps are not very lucrative (typically $1 per hour much to the chagrin of middle-stakes players), even for high rollers.

But blackjack is often the fastest way to earn points. You can grind it out all day in a poker room and barely earn enough for a breakfast buffet comp.

However, you can play a couple of hours of blackjack and earn a comped dinner at the steak joint and a free room for the weekend.

HAVE FUN, BEAT THE HOUSE

Some blackjack players were able to become professional poker players, but the average poker player can learn a lot by playing blackjack.

The wonderful world of blackjack is a lot more fun; it requires a significantly lesser amount of deep thinking. All of your decisions are automatic in blackjack; so there’s less stress involved. The more enjoyment you have often means you are more relaxed.

So playing a fun session put you in better head space to play poker. At the same time, blackjack requires discipline and patience, so it helps keep your mind sharp.

Poker players are ultra-competitive; so playing against the house gives them a chance to get their competitive fix; while trying to win money off the casino; instead of fleecing a fellow member of the poker community.

After all, you always want to beat the house.

Two of my go to games when I choose to risk a few dollars is either blackjack or video poker. They are both games which offer some of the best odds for the player when played correctly and with the best variations available. Finding those best variations however can be quite difficult at times. For those unfamiliar 3/2 means that for every two dollars you bet you will win three dollars if you get a blackjack. This means that a $5 bet you would win $7.50 for a blackjack. With 6/5 blackjack however for every $5 bet you would only win $6, so for every additional $5 you have wagered you would be making $1.50 less than you would playing the traditional 3/2 version of the game.

In Las Vegas specifically, finding blackjack games on The Strip that pay 3/2 for a blackjack instead of the more prevalent 6/5 is becoming near impossible. My last visit I do not remember seeing anywhere on the strip offering the better paying 3/2 version. Downtown Las Vegas however had far more casinos offering the standard 3/2 payout for blackjacks. I can be hopeful that things have changed since I was there last a few years ago but I have my doubts. Finding blackjack on The Strip with minimum bet limits less than$10 was damn near impossible as well, even on early midweek mornings. The only place I remember seeing low limit games was at the north end of The Strip at Circus Circus and Stratosphere, and those are off the general beaten path from where most people are generally walking.

Low limit video poker starting at 5₵ a play though is universally found almost everywhere even on The Strip, with the exception of some of the higher end places like The Cosmopolitan, Cromwell, and the like. Still, even playing 25₵ a hand is still a slow way to play and win or lose money. Of course video poker plays at a drastically higher rate of speed than blackjack. However you are able to control the speed in which you play, whereas blackjack is largely controlled by the dealer. If one is playing blackjack at a $5 table that is half full, during the time it takes to play one hand, one could go through a dozen or more hands of video poker, effectively risking drastically more money over the same time period. In theory then if you want to make your money last longer, and depending on your rate of play blackjack is the better bet to make your money last a longer time period.

A good deal of it would come down to personal preference as to what is the better game to play. Finding a video poker game at a value that you with to pay is often far easier than attempting to find a blackjack table at your value of choice especially if you are looking for one at a lower demonization. Finding a video poker game with the pay table you desire though can be a challenge at times.

Personally I generally enjoy blackjack more, it is usually a more predictable game, and it is a physical game as opposed to one controlled by a computer. There are times though I have no desire to sit at a table and actually interact with anyone else, and in that case video poker is my preference. In Reno specifically one issue at many of the casinos, Eldorado and CalNeva specifically was that the chairs at their blackjack tables were horribly uncomfortable and were generally not conducive to extended gambling sessions. In comparison, in downtown Silver Legacy had and hopefully still do have some of the most comfortable casino chairs my butt has ever had the privilege of sitting in. One would think that casinos would care more about the comfort of their patrons. This isn’t to say that the quality of seats at the video poker games were much better, but I found it far easier to get comfortable at a video poker game than at a blackjack table where there was often more reaching or leaning and rarely somewhere comfortable to put your feet.

I know that comfort is something a bit nitpicky, but I feel that if I am going to hang out in a casino and spend my money and potentially lose my money as well the very least they can offer a customer is somewhere comfortable to sit. One thing that most casinos are better at serving the table games compared to the slots and video poker is that cocktail or drink service at the table games is generally better and quicker than that at the video poker or slots.