- The 21 + 3 blackjack side bet Unlike your main blackjack bet, where you simply get a 1:1 return if you win the hand (unless you made a blackjack), with 21 + 3 you can get much more by piecing together a decent three-card 'poker' hand from your own two hole cards, and the dealer's face-up card. The better your 21 + 3 hand, the higher the return.
- The House Advantage in Blackjack The house advantage, or house edge, is the percent of a player's initial bet that the casino will expect to make in the long run. Flip it around, and it is the.
- Every time you make a bet at blackjack, there is a 'hidden' cost due to the casino's mathematical advantage or edge. (The latter arises mainly because players have to draw first, and if they.
Click chips from your bank to move them onto the table and make your bet. Click chips on the table to take them back. Click Deal, and the dealer will toss you two cards. Options to Hit, Stand. Making the First Blackjack Bet Every game of blackjack begins with a starting wager that is equal to or greater than the table minimum. So, in the case of a $1 minimum online blackjack bet you would begin by making the minimum wager or higher. To do this online you simply click the denomination of chip that you would like to bet.
This is our first blackjack game and trainer and I'm proud to finally add our version 2 with enhanced graphics and the ability to learn how to count cards to my website. The game is mostly self-explanatory. If you make an inferior play, the game will warn you first. I recommend that before you play for real money both online in person that you practice on the game until you very rarely are warned you a making an inferior play. If doubling or splitting is mathematically the correct play, but you don't have enough chips, the game will give the best advice for what you can afford to do. Do not change rules mid-hand. If you do, the change will not take effect until the next hand. The advice is based on my own analysis and basic strategy tables for one, two, and four+ decks. The deck(s) is(are) shuffled after every hand.
If you find any bugs, please contact me. A screenshot would be appreciated if you claim the game is misplaying a hand. I get a lot of incorrect reports that the advice given is incorrect. This usually can be explained by the user not using the correct basic strategy for the rules selected. I have also had many comments about the advice on a player 16, composed of 3 or more cards, against a 10. As a rule of thumb, the player should stand in that situation. However, that is a basic strategy exception. The game only knows basic strategy. Also, please note that it is a standard blackjack rule that split aces get one card each. If one of them is a ten, it is not a blackjack, it is just 21 points. That is how blackjack is usually played.
I would like to thank JB for his outstanding work on this game, and Dingo Systems for the cards.
Online Blackjack Bonuses
We constantly maintain a database of all the casino bonuses from the hundreds of online casinos we have reviewed, and we note which bonuses allow blackjack to count towards the wagering requirements. The below table shows a ranked list of the best money online blackjack bonuses, the ranking also takes into consideration wagering requirements, bonus amount offered, the quality of the site and more.
Rank | Casino Name | Bonus | % | Wager | Cash | Code | Casino Name | Bonus info |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | King Billy Casino | 🧙 | $100+100 spins | 200% | 1000xB | |||
King Billy Casino | Bonus | 🧙$100+100 spins | ||||||
% | 200% | |||||||
Wager | 1000xB | |||||||
Code | ||||||||
2 | Sloto'Cash Casino | 🧙 | $33 | - | LCB33 | |||
Sloto'Cash Casino | Bonus | 🧙$33 | ||||||
% | ||||||||
Wager | - | |||||||
Code | LCB33 | |||||||
3 | Win A Day Casino | 🧙 | $68 | - | FREE68LCBN | |||
Win A Day Casino | Bonus | 🧙$68 | ||||||
% | ||||||||
Wager | - | |||||||
Code | FREE68LCBN | |||||||
4 | Las Vegas USA Casino | 🧙 | $11000 | 100% | 90xB&D | WIZARDBONUS | ||
Las Vegas USA Casino | Bonus | 🧙$11000 | ||||||
% | 100% | |||||||
Wager | 90xB&D | |||||||
Code | WIZARDBONUS | |||||||
5 | Old Havana Casino | 🧙 | $11000 | 100% | 90xB&D | WIZARDBONUS | ||
Old Havana Casino | Bonus | 🧙$11000 | ||||||
% | 100% | |||||||
Wager | 90xB&D | |||||||
Code | WIZARDBONUS |
Blackjack Online FAQ
Q1: What are the rules in online blackjack games?
A: As in land casinos, they vary. Online help files are notoriously badly written and incomplete. The Wizard of Odds, we try hard to keep an accurate listing of rules for every brand of software and live dealers. You may find such rules, for every game, in our Software Review section.
Q2: Generally speaking, are the rules better in land or online casinos?
A: All things considered, I would say they are better online. For one thing, you almost never see a blackjack (ace and 10) pay 6 to 5 only online, while this is becoming the norm in land casinos in the United States.
Q3: What are the typical rules at live dealer casinos online?
A: Live dealer rules are very similar to what you would see in a land casino. The typical rules are:
- Eight decks
- Dealer stands on soft 17
- Dealer does NOT peek for blackjack
- No surrender
- Player may double on any two cards
- Player may double after a split
- No re-splitting
Be careful double or splitting if the dealer has a ten or ace showing. At most live dealer brands, you will lose everything if the dealer gets a blackjack. Under this 'no peek' rule, the only time you should put more money out on the table against a potential dealer blackjack is to split two aces against a dealer 10.
The house edge under the rules above is 0.61%.
Q4: When are the cards shuffled in online blackjack?
A: In a fully electronic game, they are probably shuffled after every hand. In a live dealer game, they are usually shuffled about half way through the shoe.
Q5: Oh really?! Even with only 50% penetration, what is to prevent me from counting cards against a live dealer? Nh lottery winning numbers.
A: I've asked this question of some people in the business. Nobody would tell me exactly how they protect their game against counters, but they assured me that they do. If I ran a live dealer casino, I would run a test of every player to see how their bet size is correlated to the true count. Then I would carefully examine the play of such players with a strong correlation.
Q6: How do 'probably fair' casinos accomplish so-called in blackjack?
A: It is rather involved, but here is typically how it is done:
- The casino will generate a random long string of characters, called a Server Seed, hash it, and give the hashed result to the player BEFORE he makes a bet.
- The player chooses a string of characters himself, called the Client Seed, or accepts a random default provided by the casino.
- The client and server seed are combined and hashed.
- The hashed result from step 3 will be parsed somehow, with the hexadecimal characters converted to base 10 and then mapped to specific cards if in a desired range.
- The game will deal cards according to their order in the hash from step 3. This hash should be long enough that running out of cards would be almost impossible.
- After the hand, the casino should reveal the Client Seed, which the player may verify hashes to the result provided before the bet. It is then a tedious process above to do all the math to convert the hash to actual cards, but the player may do that if he wishes.
I go into this in greater depth for a particular brand in my page on Blackjack (Encrypted Version).
Q7: I don't want to bother jumping through all those hoops to verify fairness in an encrypted game. Do you think that just the ability to verify fairness is enough to keep the casinos honest?
A: No. Encrypted or not, a casino could cheat the player in any game, except sports betting, any time they wished. In the case of an encrypted casino, the operator could choose a Server Seed that causes the player to lose after the bet is made. If the player catches them in a hash mismatch, which I think very few players bother to check, the casino can simply ignore the accusation or deny it without comment. This is exactly what happened to me at Wixiplay.
Q8: Your story aside, how common is cheating at blackjack, or any game, online?
A: In my opinion, it is quite rare.
Blackjack Betting Online
Q9: How can I improve my odds of not being cheated?
A: There are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Internet casinos out there. In the absence of any serious government regulation, the industry has done a pretty good job of regulating itself. Between legitimate watchdog affiliate sites and some common sense, here are some ways to choose a reputable brand to trust with your hard-earned dollar:
- Read the fine print. Most casinos have a good looking main page, but dig around the more obscure pages like terms & conditions. If you see a lot of spelling and grammatical mistakes, that should set off a red flag.
- Ping customer support. If you can't think of your own question, ask anything, for example, 'Do you accept players from Kyrgyzstan?' See how long it takes for them to reply and measure their professionalism and courtesy of their reply.
- Check reputable affiliate sites. Many affiliate sites promote whoever pays the most, but the good ones are picky about who they promote and will intervene in the unlikely event of a player dispute. We would like to think of ourselves as one of the good ones. A good way to avoid the worst of casinos is to check the blacklists of reputable affiliates.
- Smart small. Players should always bet in moderation anywhere, but especially when opening a new account online with an unfamiliar brand. Dink around with a small deposit and small bets until you have built up some trust.
Q10: Any other words of advice before playing blackjack online?
A: Whether playing online or in a land casino, use the appropriate basic strategy for the rules offered. The Wizard of Odds blackjack strategy calculator will give the correct basic strategy for almost any set of rules.
A much greater problem than outright cheating is online casinos faulting players on a technicality in the rules and seizing whatever funds they deem appropriate. This is a particularly a problem with bonuses. The terms and conditions for bonuses can be pages long and very restrictive in terms of allowed games, bet sizes, and types of bets. If the player loses, nobody ever checks, but after a win and withdrawal request, suddenly the play may be subject to careful review for compliance. Never assume that because you were invited to play a bonus via Email that you're eligible for it. Casinos typically blast everybody in their list. An easy rule to overlook is when a bonus is eligible for 'new money' only. Don't expect the casino to enforce this rule when entering a couple code, but do expect it when you actually make a withdrawal and they look for any reason to deny it.
While bonuses can make your money last much longer and increase your chances of winning, they are a minefield in terms of compliance. Read the rules carefully. If in doubt the way you play is compliant, then don't ask for the bonus in the first place.
Side bets are an extremely popular way to diversify the gameplay and add some additional edge to it. As all things, it has it pros and cons. We will try to be short here and give all the basic details of various blackjack side bets options so you could decide for yourself. For more details – you can check the dedicated pages of each version and try these games for free before playing for real money.
Side Bets – Pros and Cons
It's going to be short:
The good: side bets add additional rush to the standard black jack game play. Plus, they offer much higher payouts. Some, such as Progressive blackjacks for instance, can sometimes offer life changing multi-millions jackpots.
The bad: basic blackjack game is the best payout game can be found in casinos. Some game offer house edge lower than 0.3%!!! That's not the case with side bets, where the house edge usually goes from 3% and up to even 10-15%.
Word of advice:
If we were asked for advice as whether to use side bets, we would say:
- If you enjoy them – go ahead.
- But! be aware that you are likely to loose more money faster.
- We would recommend to use them from time to time and not on every hand you play.
- Check the specific game rules before playing, as the payouts vary between one game to another, even within the same game variation (21+3 Blackjack by Felt Gaming will give you 3% more than similar game by Realistic Games and so on).
Free Side Bet Blackjack Games Online
Bonus Spin Blackjack
Hi Lo 13 Blackjack
High Streak
Lucky Lucky Blackjack
Progressive Blackjack
Super Fun 21
Black Jack Side Bets Odds & Payouts
Bet | Rules | Common House Edge | Maximum Payout | Where to Play |
---|---|---|---|---|
21+3 Blackjack | Combination of blackjack and three card poker (on players first 2 cards and dealers up card). | 3-5% | x100 | Guts Casino |
Bonus Spin Blackjack | If you are handed a blackjack, you will get to spin the money reel for opportunity to win massive prizes. | $25,000 or Progressive Jackpot | N/A | |
Buster Blackjack | Bet on whether the dealer goes bust. | 6-7% | x2000 | Vegas Casino Online |
Hi Lo 13 | Whether the total of your first two cards will be higher than 13, lower than 13 or exactly 13. | 0.09 | x9 | Ignition Casino |
High Streak Blackjack | Bet on your winning streak. | x10 | Royal Panda | |
Lucky Ladies blackjack | You win if your first two cards are queens or you reach 20. | 12-25% | x1000 | Ignition Casino |
Lucky Lucky Blackjack | You get extra payout for reaching 19,20,21 with specific cards. | 2-3% | x200 | Guts Casino |
Match the Dealer Blackjack | Bet if on of your initial cards matches the dealer's one. | 3-4% | x22 | Black Diamond Casino |
Perfect Pairs | Most popular side bet. You win if your initial cards match. | 3-7% | x30 | Extreme Casino |
Progressive Blackjack | Endless variations of the game, each one has its own trigger for progressive jackpot. | Progressive Jackpot | Miami Club Casino | |
Suit ‘Em Up Blackjack | You win if your first two cards are suited. | 3-5% | x60 | Roaring 21 |
Super Fun 21 | You win extra on Diamond blackjack and 5-6 charlie. | 0.09 | x2 | Vegas Casino Online |