It varies from game to game, but in general my goal is to make sure that I am betting as little as possible (preferably $0) when the count is highly negative, a bit more when the count is in a neutral range, and as much as I can get away with when the count is highly positive (Hi Lo TC +4 or greater). When you play online blackjack you can play for as little as $1 per hand. Before we get more into the subject of how betting works in blackjack we should remind everyone about the ideal bankroll size. Whenever you sit down to play you should have a starting bankroll of 50X the table minimum. At a $5 table you should have a $250 bankroll.

Over the last half a century or so, both brick-and-mortar and online casinos have introduced a host of side bets to their blackjack tables in an effort to attract more players and their action. What many unsuspecting patrons don’t know is that these side wagers also aim at improving the casinos’ margins, generating more long-term profits for the house.

Nevertheless, side bets are a good way to make blackjack more engaging when posted occasionally. While these wagers carry significant risk, they also have the potential to be quite rewarding, often returning many times your initial stake.

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In the following article, SuperCasinoSites explores the different side-bet options in blackjack, explaining their structure and how much they pay. We also take a look at these wagers’ theoretical return percentages and how they measure up against bets made in the base game.

Side Bets in Blackjack Explained

Side bets in blackjack are additional wagers players can make during the base game. They usually involve guessing what cards the dealer or the player will receive. In some instances, payouts are also awarded when the first two cards of the player and the dealer’s upcard form specific three-card poker hands.

It is important to understand these are entirely separate wagers and as such, they are settled independently from your original stake. They bear no relation to your odds of winning your main wager. Side bets must be posted at the start of a round before anyone has received their cards. They are settled immediately after the initial deal before players have made any playing decisions.

Another distinctive trait of side bets is that they offer significantly higher returns than the winning wagers in the main game. They require you to put a very small amount at stake, typically no more than a dollar.

Rather than paying even money like most other successful bets in blackjack, side bets could potentially earn you many times your stake depending on their probability of winning. In some cases, players can pocket payouts of up to 2,000 to 1. Not a bad return for a $1 wager, right?

With that in mind, we recommend players to experiment with these exciting wagers only occasionally and in moderation. Side bets yield considerably higher house edges and can quickly drain your bankroll if you are not careful.

Their outcomes have extremely long odds of winning and are based entirely on chance, although it is possible to exploit them to your advantage if you count cards. Card counting will enable you to identify the situations when certain side bets stand higher chances of winning due to the shoe’s changed composition.

Most Common Side Bets in Blackjack

There are many different side bets in blackjack but some are more commonly available than others. Perfect Pairs and the 21+3 side wagers are the most widespread options for players looking to earn a little extra on the side.

Online players can find them in RNG-based variations of the game such as those developed by Realistic Games, Playtech, NetEnt, RealTime Gaming, Microgaming, and Felt. The bets are posted in separate betting boxes. The payouts are displayed on the table layout although in some online variations you might find them in the game menu.

The Perfect Pairs and 21+3 side bets are also available across live dealer casinos powered by the Evolution Gaming software. They can be found in live variations like Blackjack Party, Free Bet Blackjack, and Infinite Blackjack, among others.

The Insurance Bet

Insurance is not your typical side wager in blackjack but is a side bet, nevertheless, because it is made independently from your original stake and has no impact on your odds of winning in the main game. Insurance is offered at the start of a round but only when the dealer shows an ace.

Players who accept this optional side bet must cover it with a wager equal to half their original stake. The dealer then peeks under their ace and pays the player at odds of 2 to 1 if their hole card is indeed a ten for a blackjack. The player loses their main bet in this case but breaks even for the round.

If the dealer does not have a ten in the hole, the player loses their insurance and the round continues as usual, with everyone at the table making their splitting, doubling, hitting or standing decisions. At first glance, accepting insurance seems like a good idea because it supposedly helps you protect your hands against potential dealer blackjacks.

It does nothing of this kind. Basic strategy players should avoid posting this optional wager at all costs no matter what hands they have. The insurance bet does not improve your chances of winning in any way. What it does, though, is yielding a monstrous house edge that far exceeds that in the base game.

The casino advantage on insurance bets ranges from 5.8% to 7.5% depending on the number of decks in play. Only card counters can exploit this side bet to their advantage. By keeping track of the cards that leave the shoe, they can identify the instances when the dealer indeed has higher chances of having a blackjack.

Insurance is never a profitable bet for basic strategy players because their playing decisions, as mathematically correct as they are, are based on a neutral shoe, i.e. they only have knowledge about their two cards and the dealer’s upcard.

The Perfect Pairs Set of Side Bets

Perfect Pairs is easily the most popular and commonly available side wager in blackjack. It comprises a category of side bets that win when the player’s first two cards are of equal rank like a pair of Queens or a pair of 8s, for example.

The dealer’s upcard has no bearing in this instance. Also important is to remember this wager loses or wins separately from the player’s main bet. The bet wins as long as you get any pair of cards. If not, the dealer collects your chips immediately after the initial deal before you make any playing decisions.

The payouts range from 30 to 1 to 5 to 1 depending on the probability of getting certain pairs. The poorer the odds for a specific pair, the higher it pays as you can see below. There are three types of pairs that pay in blackjack.

• Suited pairs consist of cards of the same suit and rank, such as [10s][10s]. These are called “perfect” pairs and offer the highest payout of 30 to 1 (25 to 1 in Playtech’s variation).
• Colored pairs comprise two offsuit cards that are of the same rank and color like [Qs][Qc], for example. They yield a payout of 10 to 1 or 12 to 1, depending on the online blackjack variation.
• Mixed pairs are those consisting of two cards of the same rank but of different suits and colors like [6s][6h]. Such pairs offer lower returns because of their higher probability of showing up. Some online blackjack variants pay at odds of 6 to 1 while others offer lower returns at odds of 5 to 1.

The 21+3 Set of Side Bets

The second broadly available set of side wagers in blackjack comprises the so-called 21+3 bets. You will find those in some online variations developed by software suppliers Realistic Games and Felt Gaming, among others. These are also available at many live-dealer tables by Evolution Gaming.

To win with a 21+3 side bet, you must make a qualifying poker hand that consists of three cards, your first two cards and the dealer’s upcard. The payouts range from 100 to 1 to 5 to 1 but there may be discrepancies in the paytables from one online blackjack variation to the next.

How much you pocket depends on your poker hand’s strength. The house edge on this group of side bets also varies depending on the payouts and the number of decks the respective blackjack game uses. Here are the qualifying poker hands and their payouts:

• The flush offers the lowest payout of 5 to 1 for three cards of the same suit like [6s][9s][Qs].
• The straight yields a payout of 10 to 1 for hands consisting of three cards of consecutive rank but of different suits. An example is [5s][6h][7c][8s][9d].
• Trips, i.e. three of a kind, pays at odds of 30 to 1 for three cards of the same rank like [Qs][Qd][Qh].
• The straight flush pays at odds of 40 to 1 for three cards of consecutive ranks and of the same suit like [10s][Js][Qs].
• The top payout is awarded for suited trips like [Ks][Ks][Ks] or [7d][7d][7d], for example. Such hands pay at casino odds of 100 to 1.

Other Supported Side Bets in Blackjack

Perfect Pairs and 21+3 are only some of the numerous side bets players can find in online blackjack. You won’t believe how inventive casinos are when it comes to increasing their margin and attracting new customers to their blackjack tables. Most of these are niche bets in the sense they are unique to specific blackjack variations developed by certain suppliers. We explain some of these exotic side wagers below.

The Lucky Ladies Bet

Lucky Ladies is among the best-known side wagers in landbased casinos across North America but recently made its debut online thanks to software developer Felt Gaming. These side wagers win when the player is dealt a two-card total of 20 or their starting hand features a Queen of any suit.

The biggest payout is awarded for paired Queens of hearts, otherwise known as the “lucky ladies”. Some variations offer staggering extra prizes of 1,000 to 1 if you get lucky ladies and the dealer has a blackjack at the same time. However, this payout is unavailable in Felt Gaming’s online variant. The exact payout depends on the rank of the player’s first two cards. Check out Felt’s paytable below.

• A pair of Queens of hearts yields the biggest payout of 100 to 1 and wins whenever the first two cards of the player are both Queen of hearts.
• Matched Twenty hands pay at casino odds of 30 to 1. You win when the first two cards you receive from the dealer are suited, have the same face value, and their total adds up to 20. An example is when you are dealt two Kings of spades.
• The Suited Twenty is pretty much self-explanatory. This hand wins at odds of 10 to 1 and comprises two suited cards whose combined value equals 20. One example is a hand that consists of a Jack of spades and a 10 of spades.
• The Any Twenty pays out 3 to 1 when your first two cards total 20 but are of different suites as is the case with a hand of Queen of spades and a Jack of diamonds.
• The Any Queen is the lowest payer out of all Lucky Ladies side bets because the player stands the highest chances of obtaining this hand, especially when multiple decks are in play. The only condition here is that your starting hand contains a Queen like [Qd][6s]. The card’s suit is irrelevant in this case. Any Queen pays even money, or 1 to 1.

Suit ‘Em Up Bets

The Suit ‘Em Up side bets are available at the blackjack tables at some landbased casinos in Las Vegas like the Red Rock Casino in the downtown part of the city. Software supplier Felt Gaming recently developed an online variation of the game, bringing a host of new side bets to the attention of online gambling mavens.

The exact house edge on the Suit ‘Em Up side wagers varies depending on the paytable and the deck number. Felt Gaming’s version, in particular, offers the following payouts for certain special hands consisting of suited cards.

• A pair of suited aces earns you a payout of 50 to 1. Some casinos would offer odds of 60 to 1 for this hand.
• A suited blackjack wins at odds of 10 to 1 whenever the player’s first two cards make a natural and are of the same suit like [Qs][As].
• Suited pairs win whenever the player has two cards of both the same rank and suit like [10s][10s]. The payout is 5 to 1.
• The suited eleven pays out 3 to 1 when your first two cards have a combined total of 11 and are of the same suit. Examples are [6s][5s], [8d][3d], [9h][2h], and [7c][4c].
• Two suited cards of any rank pay 2 to 1. You win as long as your first two cards are of the same suit and unlike ranks. One example is a hand of [6h][7h].

The Lucky Lucky Bet

Similarly to the 21+3 side bets, the Lucky Lucky side wagers are based on the player’s first two cards and the card the dealer is showing. According to American gaming expert and mathematician Michael Shackleford, this is the first ever group of blackjack side bets settled on the basis of players’ starting hand and the dealer’s upcard.

Lucky Lucky is available at numerous landbased casinos across Canada and the USA. You can now post it from the comfort of your home thanks to Felt Gaming, the software studio that adapted these side bets for online play. A Playtech version is also available online.

The Lucky Lucky paytables differ across landbased casinos and so does the number of decks in play. Some casinos use a single deck at their Lucky Lucky tables while others utilize as many as six. Felt Gaming’s version also incorporates six full decks and offers payouts for the following three-card hands:

• A hand of 7/7/7 of the same suit yields the highest return of 200 to 1.
• A hand of 6/7/8 of the same suit pays at odds of 100 to 1.
• 7/7/7 of different suits yields a payout of 50 to 1.
• 6/7/8 of different suits offers a payout of 25 to 1.
• A suited 21 wins whenever the player’s first two cards and the dealer’s upcard have a combined total of 21. The three cards must be of the same suit, however. The payout is 15 to 1.
• An offsuit 21 is basically the same as the suited 21, the only difference being the three cards’ ranks add up to 21 but are offsuit. The payout is lower at 3 to 1 because this hand is easier to obtain.
• A total of 20 wins the side bet as long as the player’s first two cards and the dealer’s upcard add up to 20. The cards’ suits are irrelevant in this instance while the payout stands at 2 to 1.
• A total of 19 also returns at odds of 2 to 1. The player wins as long as their first two cards and the dealer’s face-up card have a combined value of 19.

Dealer Bust Side Bets

Thanks to this group of side bets, blackjack players now have one more reason to rejoice when the dealer busts their hand by exceeding 21. With the dealer-bust side bet, you have the chance to pocket extra-large payouts when your dealer breaks their hand. How much you get depends on the number of cards the dealer has busted with.

In Felt Gaming’s version Buster Blackjack, the top payouts are awarded when the dealer exceeds 21 with specific cards. The general rule of thumb is the more cards it takes for the dealer to go over 21, the higher the side bet’s payout.

Understandably, the side bet loses when the dealer fails to bust. Unlike the rest of the side bets, the Buster wager is not settled at the start of the round. The player must first act on their hand and wait for the dealer to complete or bust theirs afterward.

In Felt’s variation of Buster Blackjack, the biggest prizes drop when the dealer busts with at least 7 or 8 cards against a player blackjack. Examine the rest of the payouts below.

• An 8+ dealer bust while the player has a blackjack offers the mind-blowing payout of 2,000 to 1. Do not get over-excited, though, as a dealer busting with eight or more cards is something that happens on extremely rare occasions. The payout is reduced to 250 to 1 if the dealer busts with eight cards but you lack the blackjack.
• A 7+ dealer bust occurs when the dealer exceeds 21 with seven or more cards. The Buster side bet returns at odds of 800 to 1 in this case but you need to have a blackjack to collect this payout. Without the blackjack, the dealer busting with 7 or more cards pays at lower odds of 50 to 1.
• A dealer bust with 6 cards pays at odds of 18 to 1.
• A dealer busting with 5 cards offers a payout of 4 to 1. This only happens around 1.9% of the time in a six-deck game where the dealer stands on soft 17 (S17).
• Finally, we have a dealer busting with 4 or 3 cards, which yields a payout of 2 to 1. The likelihood of this happening stands at 26.6%. Meanwhile, the probability of the dealer not busting at all is a little over 71% so you better think twice before you overdo it with the Buster side bets.

Under/Over 13

The over/under 13 must be the simplest of all blackjack side bets. This category comprises a couple of wagers that win whenever the first two cards in the player’s hand have a total below or over 13. The side bet loses if the hand’s total is precisely 13.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the aces lose their flexibility when this side wager is in play. Rather than being counted as 1 or 11 depending on the player’s preferences, the aces are always assigned a value of 1.

This side bet is usually offered at select landbased blackjack tables that utilize either six or eight decks. Regardless, you are battling a terrible house edge with this side bet which stands at 6.5% for the over 13 proposition and 10% for the under 13 proposition.

The Royal Match Side Bet

The Royal Match side bet partially resembles Perfect Pairs because payouts are awarded when the player’s first two cards form specific suited pairs. How much you get depends on the complexity of getting the match.

Respectively, there are two types of matches with this side bet, an easy match and a royal match. An easy match is when you have a pair of two suited cards. This is easier to accomplish which is why the payout is only 5 to 2, or 2.5x your stake.

The royal match consists of a King and a Queen of the same suit like [Ks][Qs], [Kh][Qh], [Kc][Qc] or [Kd][Qd]. It pays at casino odds of 25 to 1. Some tables that support this group of side wagers also award bonus payouts of 5 to 1 when the player gets a blackjack consisting of suited ten-value cards and aces. Since the Royal Match is available in both pitch games and multi-deck blackjack, its house advantage fluctuates based on deck number.

Playing for the Progressive Jackpot with Side Bets

Progressive blackjack games are hard to come by but are well-worth the digging online because they have the potential to award life-changing prizes. In such games, players are normally required to post a small side bet, usually no more than a dollar, just to qualify for winning the pot.

There are two popular progressive blackjack games available for real-money online. One comes from the Playtech studio while the other one was developed earlier by supplier Microgaming. Let’s have a look at the Microgaming variation first.

Triple Sevens Blackjack by Microgaming

Triple Sevens is available at some Microgaming-powered casinos and offers a progressive pot that pays $80,000 on average. The progressive pot drops once every year or so. To play for the huge prize or a portion of it, you need to place an optional side bet of $1.

The entire pot goes to the player who obtains a hand of three sevens of diamonds. Needless to say, this affects the way you should play this hand, requiring you to deviate from basic strategy. Splitting paired sevens would obviously destroy your chances of winning the pot.

You are better off hitting your sevens no matter what card the virtual dealer shows in an attempt to draw a third card of this rank and pocketing a portion of the progressive prize. In this vein, smaller payouts from the progressive pool are awarded for the following hands:

• 1 seven of any suit pays 5 to 1.
• Paired sevens of any suit pay 25 to 1.
• Paired sevens of the same suit offer a payout of 50 to 1.
• Trips with sevens of any suit pay out at odds of 250 to 1.
• Trips with suited sevens (bar sevens of diamonds) pay at odds of 1,000 to 1.
• Triple sevens of diamonds award the entire progressive jackpot.

Progressive Blackjack with Side Bets by Playtech

Playtech’s take on progressive blackjack allows you to play anywhere between one and five hands per round. A single-hand version of the game is also available at some Playtech-powered casinos. Similarly to Microgaming’s version, you must play the jackpot side bet to even stand a chance of collecting the progressive prize.

The side bet is again a nominal amount, only a dollar. However, playing it each round can quickly leave you with an empty balance so we advise caution with this side wager. To win the pot or the entire prize pool, you are expected to draw one or more aces.

How Much Should I Bet On Blackjack Tonight

You should draw the aces consecutively, which means hands like [As][7h][As] do not qualify for larger portions of the pool. We recommend you wait until the jackpot goes being $581,000 as otherwise, you are playing a negative expectation game. The payouts for the progressive side bets are as follows:

• A single ace in your hand offers the smallest payout of 5 to 1.
• A pair of aces awards a payout of 50 to 1.
• Two aces of the same suit pay 100 to 1.
• Three offsuit aces pay 250 to 1.
• Four offsuit aces pay 2,500 to 1.
• Three aces of the same suit pay 5,000 to 1, the biggest portion of the pool.
• Four suited aces award the entire progressive jackpot.

Side Bets and Theoretical Player Return Percentages

The massive payouts are easily one of the most enticing aspects of playing the blackjack side bets, along with the added excitement these wagers yield to one’s gameplay. With that said, casinos do not offer side bets just to spice things up a little for their patrons.

The main goal here is to attract more customers to the blackjack table and lull them into playing bets with a huge negative expectation value. Or no value at all, depending on how you look at things.

As much as we hate to say it, side bets offer a significantly lower theoretical return to player than that in the main blackjack game. We advise you to look up the table below to see precisely what you are up against in terms of house edges and player return percentages with the most common side bets. By way of comparison, the base game has a house edge of roughly 0.50% with perfect basic strategy and an RTP of 99.50%.

One of the most often asked questions from players about blackjack strategy, is 'how should I bet?' You've got severaloptions and I'll discuss them in this article and offer my recommendation.

Flat Bet Blackjack Strategy

This means betting the same amount all the time. Most players don't like to bet this way because they figure if the dealer wins more hands then them they'll never win any money. Also, playersfeel it's boring betting this way. They prefer the thrill of sometimes betting more in the hopes that when they do so, they will win the hand and make a nice profit.

Here are the facts on the flat betting blackjack strategy. If you bet say $5 on every hand in a standard multiple deck game the house will have an edge of 0.5% against theskilled basic strategy player. That means you will lose on average 0.5% of every wager you make. So if you bet $10 on every hand and average 80 hands per hour you will have made a total of $800worth of bets. The casino expects to earn 0.5% of the $800 or $4.00. Of course, the more likely result is that you'll win or lose much more than $4 after an hour of play. But on average you canexpect over time to lose at the rate of $4 per hour.

Let's take an example of a player flat betting $10 on every hand. It's is a conservative betting strategy that leads to a relatively low theoretical loss rate. The fluctuation in this player'sbankroll will also be low which means the likelihood he'll have a big winning or losing session is not great.

Watch 'Why You Should Never Make the Blackjack Insurance Bet with Blackjack Expert Henry Tamburin' (March 2016)

In this video blackjack expert Henry Tamburin explains why a basic strategy player should never make an insurance bet. He gives details on three different situations that a player may encounterand why he considers blackjack insurance to always be a sucker bet.

Progressive Betting Blackjack Strategy

This is where things get interesting. The Progressive betting blackjack strategy is when players vary their bets in some way from one hand to the next rather than alwaysbetting the same amount on every hand. There are all different types of betting progressions but they all have one common denominator. You either decrease or increase your next bet dependingupon whether the hand you just played won or lose.

Win progressions encourage you to increase your bet size after a winning hand. For example, you make a minimum bet of $10 and if you win, you raise your next stakes on the hand to $20.

There are all different kinds of win progressions. The most common is a 1-2-3-5 progression. This means you increase your bet by the above multiples after each winning hand butas soon as you experience a loss, you start the progression over with a 1 unit bet.

Proponents of win progressions will tell you that you'll win more money if you win 5 consecutive hands compared to the amount you lose if you lose 5 consecutive hands. Of course, what theydon't tell you is that you never know when that 5 consecutive winning hand streak will occur.

There are also betting progressions in which you increase your bet following a loss. These Martingale type betting progressions are dangerous and you should never consider using them.

There are also hybrid betting progressions, which have you increase your bets following a win, but after two or three success wins you lock up some profit and gradually regress your bets. Thecreativity of progressive bettors is never-ending.

First of all, the blackjack strategy for betting progressions does not change the 0.5% house edge one iota. There has never been a correlation between the hand just won (orlost) and your chance of winning the next hand. In other words, using the criteria of the result of one hand (W/L) to base how you bet on the next hand has no scientific validity. So bettingprogressions, in the long run, don't work in the sense that they won't improve your long-term chances of winning.

But here's what betting progressions will do. First off they increase the fluctuation in your session bankroll compared to flat betting. This means you can win more using abetting progression compared to flat betting but you can also lose more. Secondly, betting progressions will increase the amount of money you wager per hour compared to flat betting. If a $10bettor uses a 1-2-3-5 betting progression, his average bet will $20. Over an hour he will average $20 times 80 hands or $1600 worth of bets. The casino's expected win is 0.5% of $1600 or $8. Inother words, a $10 progressive bettor stands to lose twice as much per hour as a $10 flat bettor.

Here's a tip to save you some money in the long run if you insist on using a betting progression. Instead of starting your progression at $10, start at a lower amount (ie. $5). This will reduceyour average bet to $10 per hour and cut your hourly theoretical loss rate in half.

But in the long run flat betting and betting progressions don't work in the sense they won't change the house edge against you and you will lose in the long run. So what betting system works?That, my friends, is card counting.

Betting When You Have The Edge (Card Counting)

With card counting, you know when you have the edge based on the change in the composition of the decks and therefore you'll know when it's the right time to bet more. Sounlike betting progressions that are based on whether you win or lose the previous hands, card counting is based on the mix of cards that were played on previous hands. If more small valuecards were played in previous rounds, there are more big value cards left in the unplayed cards, and the edge shifts from dealer to the player. This would be the best time to bet more.

But I'm a realist. Not a whole lot of average blackjack players have the time or mental concentration during play that is required to master one of the popular point count cardcounting systems. These are readily available in blackjack books. But even though millions of blackjack books have been sold since Ed Thorp's classic book, Beat The Dealer (circa 1962) firstrevealed card counting to the masses, the number of players who can successfully win money in the long run at blackjack number in the hundreds and thousands.

So what's the answer to betting at blackjack for the average player? I asked Don Pronovost that same question about four years ago. Don is a software developer that markets blackjack trainingsoftware. He spent the better part of two years and a trillion computer simulated hands looking for the solution to this dilemma. What he developed is Speed Count.

Speed Count is unlike any conventional card counting system. It's much simpler to master and requires much less concentration when you play. And unlike progressive betting systems, Speed Countwill give you a verifiable advantage over the casino You can read about Speed Count in Frank Scoblete’s book, Golden Touch Blackjack Revolution.

How Much Do You Have To Bet On Blackjack

Now that you know the scoop on betting at blackjack, I wish you many aces and faces the next time you play.

Henry Tamburin has been a respected casino gambling writer for the past 50 years. He is the author of theUltimate Blackjack Strategy Guide and was editor of theBlackjack Insider newsletter. You can read his latest articles on blackjack, video poker, and his personal playing experiences at https://www.888casino.com/blog/writers/henry-tamburin

How Much Should I Bet On Blackjack Today

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