Blackjack Payouts and Betting Odds
Blackjack generally offers betting odds more favorable than other casino games; however each decision a player makes on hit, stand, double, or split changes those odds. Also each casino has their own set of house rules such as when a player can double down, when they can split, and whether or not the dealer hits on soft 17. These differences alter the house advantage. In most standard blackjack games, those that pay 3:2 on winning blackjacks and 1:1 on all other winners, the house edge is between 0.45% and 0.85%. In this article we’ll address some of the different blackjack rules that change the betting odds and will also analyze the blackjack game of an online casino.
Blackjack Rule Variations
Here are some of the blackjack rules which change the house advantage (betting odds):
Number of Decks: The number of decks used in a blackjack game varies from 1 to 8 decks. In online blackjack eight deck shoes shuffled each hand are the most common. When you find an online game that uses a six deck shoe the house edge is reduced by around 0.028%. The lower the number of decks used, the better the blackjack betting odds are for the player.
Soft 17: Most blackjack games require a dealer to hit on soft 17. In games where players dealer stands on soft 17 the house edge is reduced about 0.21%
Peek for Blackjack: In most versions of blackjack the dealer peaks for blackjack when showing an ace. The difference comes in whether or not the dealer peaks when showing a face card. Generally the different variations of checking for blackjack change the houses edge by between 0.01% and 0.10%.
Double Down: Casinos generally allow doubling on any two cards. In some cases casinos restrict the hands which can be doubled. This is usually written as D8 or D9. D9 means doubling is only allowed on hands of 9-11. The difference in house edge between “double any two” and “D9” is around 0.11%.
Double After Split: Generally casinos allow split hands to be doubled. When they do not allow this, players have decreased blackjack betting odds as the house edge is increased by 0.14%.
Resplit: Casinos have different rules about if hands can be resplit, and if so how many times. Using resplit up to three total hands as the base: the house edge is reduced by 0.008% if the rule changes to replits up to four total hands, and is increased by .045% if all resplitting is prohibited. This of course depends on the casinos other rules so our numbers are only approximate and based off the more common rule averages.
Uncommon Rules: There are other rules such as hitting/re-splitting Aces, surrender options, 6 or 7 Card Charlie etc that can change blackjack betting odds. These rules are uncommon so we do not give examples of the percentages in this article. We mention them only so you’re aware they exist and will change the blackjack odds.
Blackjack Payouts
Now that the various rules have been covered the final thing we want to warn you about is short blackjacks payouts. This is not very common online, but many live casinos have introduced tables with blackjack payouts of 6-to-5. When a winning blackjack hand (an ace, accompanied by a ten, jack, queen or king) is paid only 6-to-5 as opposed to the traditional 3-to-2, the casino picks up an extra 1.36% house advantage. Even with all other rules favorable to the player a casino can triple or even quadruple their house advantage simply by shorting the blackjack payouts. Blackjack players should refuse to play at any table paying less than 3-to-2 for winning blackjacks.
Bodog Blackjack Odds
We decided it would be helpful to sum this article up by looking at the blackjack betting odds for an online casino. We chose Bodog for our example because they are one of the few online casinos to offer a sign up bonus that is clearable at Blackjack and because their blackjack game use six decks as opposed to eight used at many online casinos and because they allow doubles after splits (these are all rules favorable to the player).
At Bodog a full list of rules includes six decks shuffled each hand, dealer hits on soft 17, players can double any two cards, dealer always peaks for blackjack, resplits allowed up to 3 total hands and double after split allowed as their blackjack game rules. Of course they also offer the full 3:2 payout on winning blackjack hands. When using optimal strategy, which means never taking insurance and playing all hands correctly, the house advantage is about 0.63% in Bodog Blackjack. This is quite low compared to most other online casino games.
Of course to keep the favorable betting odds (only a 0.63% house edge) you’ll need to know blackjack strategy as it applies to Bodog’s casino games. We got you covered based on a chart we developed below.
Play Blackjack at Bodog.com now!
Best Online Blackjack Betting Odds
For those who live outside the United States even more favorable blackjack odds can be found in the Zero lounge of Betfair’s online casino. Their blackjack game uses modified rules designed to create a game that when played optimally carries no house advantage. To learn more about this game and to claim a £100 bonus use this special link to the Betfair Casino website.
