As honorable as it is to earn money through hard, passionate work, let’s face it: making a ton of cash in a hurry is a lot more fun! Gambling is one of humankind’s oldest traditions in this matter, where punters attempt to spin up their bankroll by catching a streak of luck on their way to riches.

Of all the games one can play in a casino, blackjack ranks among the most popular of the bunch, due to its relative simplicity and its social nature, as opposed to the self-imposed solidarity confinement of those that repetitively pull the one armed bandit.

The success of many players tends to vary though, with some hanging in there long enough to get hot and end up booking a winning session, while others burn through their stack of cash as if it were kindling for a campfire.

Winners follow a certain set of rules that land them among the former group, the most basic of which we will divulge below. These tips will work equally well both in a live setting, as well as online at sites such as http://sg.888casino.com/casino-games/blackjack.

No matter where you decide to satisfy your urge to hit, stand, or double down, the following five blackjack tips will have you playing better blackjack the very next time you sit down at the table. Let’s get started!

1) Set a win/loss limit before sitting down

At the end of the day, casinos and online gambling sites have a house edge built into the table games that they offer, blackjack included. Because of this, it is vital to set both a win AND a loss limit. A loss limit prevents you from burning through all the cash in your wallet and your bankroll.

A win limit is a device designed to keep you in a positive state of mind, as booking a winning session will guarantee that you leave the casino having had a great experience, instead of having your luck dry up and watching a win turn into a loss due to a frozen wave of cards unlike anything you have seen before.

2) Pay attention to what the max bet per hand is at your table

You will have a lot more fun with $100 of gambling money if you stick around at a $5 max bet table, rather than burning out in a hurry at a $25 max bet table. Don’t let runaway greed dictate your choice of table. Big swings occur in blackjack due to the way the game is structured. Even if you play properly, you will go through long stretches of losing through no fault of your own.

3) Limit or abstain from alcohol consumption

Alcohol removes your inhibitions, magnifying the emotions that will be feeling during the course of a blackjack session. Be it irrational exuberance during a hot streak, or mega-death tilt during a legendary losing streak, you will make decisions from a place of passion instead of logic when you have been drinking. Proceed with caution when it comes to accepting free beer/cocktails, or refuse to consume them at all. That bottle of coke never looked so good!

4) Always stand when your hand totals 17 to 21, always hit from 5 to 8, etc

When it comes to actual blackjack strategy, there are many advanced techniques that can be used to shrink your edge close to break even (some even give you the advantage, but casinos take a dim view of card-counters … so don’t), but a good grounding in this game starts with the basics. Generally speaking, any card that you will be dealt when your hand totals 5 to 8 will improve it (so hit), while the majority of cards when you have a score of 17 to 21 will bust you (so stand).

Between 9 and 16, your decision to hit or stand will depend on the dealer’s upcard (the one that is exposed); generally speaking, if it is 2 to 6 when you have 13 to 16, stand (otherwise hit); 9 to 12 scores should stand if the upcard is a 5 or 6 (otherwise hit). Once you’ve got the hang of this, feel free to dig into the trove of advice on gambling forums on the internet to adapt even more complex strategies.

5) Have fun … if you aren’t, then walk away

Above all else, if the smile on your face and your jovial nature has faded from you, it is time to stop playing. Tilt (a state of emotional disruption that distorts your ability to make logically sound decisions) sets in not long after this, which can cause you to lose it all very quickly. Gambling is supposed to be fun, so keep it light, and when your emotions begin to get heavy, get out fast.