There are lots of casino games out there, but blackjack is one of the most popular and exciting among gamblers. This is often because unlike other casino card games like baccarat and poker, it is quite easy to play and gives players the best possible odds of winning. But what if you could increase your chances of earning more money by using science during gameplay?

In blackjack, the main objective of the gameplay is relatively straightforward; players have to attempt to beat the dealer by getting a count as close to 21 as possible without exceeding it. Despite being a strategic game, blackjack isn’t too difficult to learn if you’re a first-time player and you also don’t need to stake a large amount of money. However, if you’re willing to increase your gameplay experience and stand a chance of winning even bigger rewards, you can try your hands on high limit blackjack.

Swinging the odds in your favour using scientific methods while playing blackjack isn’t exactly new as several players have tried to get one over the house using scientifically formulated moves. The most popular technique to gain an upper hand at blackjack is the counting cards method, where a player keeps a mental count of the cards they’ve been dealt to better predict what type of cards are left. In theory, card counting gives players as high as a 1.5 per cent advantage over the casino. A blackjack deck that contains high cards like a king, queen, ace, 10, and jack favours the player, whereas anyone with low number cards favours the dealer. Therefore, when the counting player expects to receive a higher value card, they bet more money and bet less when the cards favour the dealer.

A lot of players believe that the card counting technique is illegal, especially after its portrayal in the popular movie adaptation of the MIT Blackjack Team, but that’s actually not the case. Nonetheless, this technique is highly frowned upon by a lot of casinos, who even go as far as relying on technology in fishing out players who indulge in this practice. There’s a high chance of you being kicked out and even permanently banned from a casino for using this technique.

If you would rather not risk a casino ban, there are other scientific strategies that are not as obvious or perceived as a threat by these casinos but would improve your chances of winning. One way would be to make a comparison of the cards you have with that of the dealer, and you can then make a mathematical decision based on the probability of cards left on the dealer’s table.

For this technique, you will need to hold when you’re at a mathematical disadvantage and only strike when it tilts in your favour. For example, you would need to hold if you have between 13 and 16, while the house has between 2 and 6. But if the house has between seven to Ace, you can hit if you have between 12 and 16 and always remember to split aces and eights. While this basic strategy is often suggested to players who are new to blackjack, the fact that it is based on pure math means it’s equally beneficial to any blackjack player, whether a rookie or a seasoned professional.

A recent study by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and California Institute of Technology (Caltech) showed that blackjack players can gain a bit of an advantage using a scientific theory called quantum entanglement when there are fewer cards left on the deck. The authors of this study realized that all the cards dealt to each person in a game of blackjack are correlated, since they all come from the same deck and are all unique. Therefore, to beat the house, two players can work together by combining three different strategies which include counting the cards, sharing information about each other’s cards, and using a quantum system to determine what point they should hold or hit—though the chances of this strategy being used in a casino are quite slim.

Regardless, learning and incorporating scientific techniques into your blackjack playing strategy can boost your chances of winning. Although with gambling, you’re never guaranteed a win every time—and losses are still possible irrespective of whatever strategy used—these methods can reduce the house’s advantage and give you a better chance of winning more playing sessions.