Free Blackjack / Blackjack side bets
Blackjack side bets
Side bets pay big on rare hands, and they cost far more than the main game. With good play the main bet keeps about 0.5% of your money. Perfect Pairs keeps about 6%, and 21+3 about 3% to 5%.
Perfect Pairs
A bet that your first two cards are a pair.
| Hand | Pays |
|---|---|
| Perfect pair (same rank, same suit) | 25 to 1 |
| Colored pair (same rank, same color) | 12 to 1 |
| Mixed pair (same rank, different color) | 6 to 1 |
In a 6-deck shoe you get a pair about 7.4% of the time. The house keeps about 6.1% of every Perfect Pairs bet.
21+3
A bet that your two cards plus the dealer's up card make a poker hand: a flush, straight, three of a kind or better. That happens about 9.7% of the time in a 6-deck shoe.
| Paytable | House keeps |
|---|---|
| Any winning hand pays 9 to 1 | about 3.2% |
| Suited trips 100, straight flush 40, trips 30, straight 10, flush 5 | about 4.6% |
Other side bets
Lucky Ladies, Buster Blackjack, Royal Match and others come in many paytables. Read the felt: the biggest payouts sit on the rarest hands.
What they cost you
A $5 Perfect Pairs bet on every hand for 4 hours, at about 70 hands an hour, costs about $85 on average. The same 4 hours of $25 hands with good play on a 3-to-2 table cost about $35.
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Questions
Are blackjack side bets worth it?
No. They keep about 3% to 6% or more of every bet, against about 0.5% for the main game with good play.
What is the house edge on Perfect Pairs?
About 6.1% in a 6-deck game with the 25/12/6 paytable.
What is the house edge on 21+3?
About 3.2% when every winning hand pays 9 to 1, and about 4.6% on the 100/40/30/10/5 paytable, in 6 decks.
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