Side bets are almost all horrible bets with huge house edges. A 'decent' game of blackjack has about a.36% house edge, where as these side bets are typically 5%-10% and higher. Side bets are sucker bets. The link you were provided on the side bet should give you all the information you need to answer your question. BLACKJACK SIDE BETS. In an effort to encourage more players to play blackjack, and also to improve their margins, many land-based and online casinos have added side bets on their blackjack tables.The innocent-looking side bets usually require a rather small wager (typically only a dollar), and they generally have payoffs that are greater than the customary even-money blackjack payoffs. Oct 18, 2013 Blackjack by the Wizard of Odds - Duration: 18:16. Michael Shackleford 273,735 views. Learn the World's Most Popular Blackjack Side Bet! - Duration: 4:07. GalaxyGamingLV 93,177 views.
Blackjack side bets come in many shapes and sizes. Many traditional and online blackjack games have their own lineup of side bets. It would be impossible to come up with a complete list of side bets, though all blackjack side bet options generally fall under a few different categories. Here’s a breakdown of both common and obscure blackjack side bets.
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Super Sevens Side Bet
The 7 card is a big player in blackjack side bets. Sometimes called Super Sevens bets, this side bet is a proposition wager on whether or not the first card you are dealt is a 7. This bet traditionally pays off at 3-to-1.
Another Super Sevens side bet is whether the first two cards you receive are 7s. Because this is a far less likely event, a winning Double Sevens bet pays off at 50-to-1 or more. Taking it a step further, some casinos that use multi-deck blackjack shoes offer Suited Sevens bets, which state that if you are dealt two suited sevens, you win a payoff as high as 100-to-1.
There’s one more Super Sevens bet that is one of the least likely occurrences in the casino. If the first 3 cards you are dealt are 7s, regardless of suit, you can earn between 500-to-1 (for unsuited triple 7s) or as much as 5,000 to 1 (for suited triple 7s).
Royal Match Side Bet
The Royal Match bet pays a small bonus if the first two cards you receive are suited, called an “easy match”, and a much larger bonus if the first two cards you receive are a suited king and queen, which is called the Royal Match. You’ll find several versions of this side bet, with the payouts expected just under 97% to 93%.
Streak Blackjack Side Bet
One blackjack side bet you might not see as often in the streak bet. In this proposition, you win the bonus if you have a certain number of winning hands in a row. When you have split pairs, you’ll need to determine a net win for the total hand. For instance, if you split 7s and win on one hand while pushing on the other, that’s considered a net win. Take note that most streak bets don’t allow you the surrender option.
Over/Under 13 Side Bet
This proposition calls for you to bet on whether your hand will be over 13, under 13, or exactly 13 after you’re dealt two cards. For the purpose of this bet, aces count as 1. If you make this wager and all things are even (when card counting), the better proposition is to be Under 13, which has a house edge of over 6% instead of over 10%. The exactly 13 bet, which pays at 10 to 1 odds, is over 7% house edge.
Pair Square Side Bet
In this bet, you win money if your first two cards are a pair. If the first two cards are a suited pair, you’re paid even more. This blackjack side bet, which has been spotted in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Tunica, is one of the better side bets in blackjack from the player’s perspective. The expected return ranges from 99.41% for a popular one-deck variation to a 96.15% for one of the six-deck variations.
21 + 3 Side Bet
The 21+3 side bet in blackjack is based on the first two cards you’re showing and the dealer’s face card. If the combination of these cards are a straight, a flush, a straight flush, or a three of a kind, you win your side bet. The house edge on these games ranges from over 2% to somewhat over 3%.
Sweet Sixteen Side Bet
The Sweet 16 side bet in blackjack pays if you get a 16 or more on your first two cards. This bet pays at 1 to 1. Also, one ace pays at 1 to 1, while two aces pay at 2 to 1. If you get a pair of 2s through 7s, you get a push. This combines for a 97.42% house edge.
Lucky Ladies Side Bet
The Lucky Ladies bet involves making a 20-hand, while the best payoff is for a pair with the Queen of Hearts. If you receive a Queen of Hearts pair making 20, you’re paid at 125 to 1. If you receive a Queen of Hearts pair while the dealer makes a blackjack, you win 1000 to 1 in payoff money. A matched 20 (matched rank and suit) gives you 19 to 1 odds, while a suited 20 pays off at 9 to 1. If you build a hand with an unsuited 20, you’re paid at 4 to 1.
Bonus Blackjack Side Bet
This is a series of side bets in which either you or the dealer, or both, get a blackjack. You can bet on the player getting the blackjack, the dealer getting the blackjack, or both of your hitting on it. If both you and the dealer get blackjacks with an ace and jack of spades, you win a progressive bonus payoff.
More Blackjack Side Bets
In Between Blackjack Side Bet
Below are some other blackjack side bets you’ll find in casinos. Each blackjack floor is going to offer its own list of side bets, so learn what the side bets are in the local card rooms where you live. Online casinos also sometimes offer their own selection of blackjack side bets.
Bonanza Blackjack – Player has a hard or soft 20 and the dealer has a 10-point card of any type.
Hi/Low Side Bet – You can bet on whether your first card is going to be higher or lower than the dealer’s card.
2 through 6 Side Bet – If the dealer is dealt a 2 through 6 card, you win a side bet.
Jack Magic Side Bet – This involves getting jacks in your hand and the dealer’s face-up card. You’re paid more for one-eyed jacks.
Match the Dealer Side Bet – For each of your first 2 cards which matched the dealer’s up card, you win a side bet.
Lucky Lucky Side Bet – This involves getting certain combinations in your first 2 cards and the dealer’s up card: 777, 678, and other combinations that add up to 21.
Bonus Spin Side Bet – In this game, you’ll receive a spin at a wheel if you win the bonus spin side bet. The prize wheel range from 5x to 100x.
Dare Any Pairs Side Bet – This bet pays at 11 to 1 and is simple as can be. If your first two cards are a pair, you win the 11 to 1 bet.
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Yes, I've seen that bet in Tunica. I address it in my blackjack appendix 8. I agree that side bet would seem very countable.
This is a sucker bet. The most likely time the dealer will bust is with a 6 up. However even then the dealer will only bust 42% of the time, give or take depending on the exact rules, for a house edge of 16%.
The probability of three seven of diamonds is combin(6,3)/combin(312,3) = 0.00000398937. The probability of three unsuited sevens is (combin(24,3)-combin(6,3))/combin(312,3) = 0.000399735. According to my blackjack calculator the house edge is 0.6233%. The expected loss on a $5 bet would be 3.12 cents. Just the value of the $50 for three unsuited sevens is $50*0.000399735=2.00 cents. To make up the other 1.12 cents the meter would need to reach $2802.
The wheel in Wheel of Madness is weighted. In other words it is designed to stop on the lower prizes more often. Without knowing the exact weights I can’t analyze it. I have tried to get the weights from casinos and the manufacturer but alas have had no luck.
Spirit Mountain Casino in Grand Ronde Oregon added a side bet in the last 24 hours called 'Field Gold 21.' It resolves before the rest of the hand begins and concerns the first two cards dealt to a player. The side bet can be between 1 and 25 dollars. The pay table follows.- Ace, Jack Suited = 25 - 1
- 2 Aces = 10 - 1
- 3 or 4 Total = 3 - 1
- 9 or 10 Total = 2 - 1
- 11 or 12 Total = 1 - 1
- Any Blackjack = 3 - 2
Aces always count as 1 and 10’s and faces count as 10. What is the house advantage? If I keep an Aces and Fives count is there a positive count where the possible remaining aces make the bet a positive proposition? Would counting remaining aces divided by remaining decks be better?
You didn’t tell me the number of decks, but assuming six the house edge is 5.66%. Here is the return table.
Field of Gold — Six Decks
| Event | Pays | Permutations | Probability | Return |
| Ace/jack suited | 25 | 144 | 0.002968 | 0.074202 |
| Two aces | 10 | 276 | 0.005689 | 0.056888 |
| 3 or 4 total | 3 | 1428 | 0.029434 | 0.088301 |
| 9 or 10 total | 2 | 4884 | 0.100668 | 0.201336 |
| Any other blackjack | 1.5 | 2160 | 0.044521 | 0.066782 |
| 11 to 12 total | 1 | 6612 | 0.136285 | 0.136285 |
| All other | -1 | 33012 | 0.680435 | -0.680435 |
| Total | 48516 | 1 | -0.056641 |
Just eyeballing it, I would say aces would be the best card to track, betting into an ace-rich deck. My advice would be to count aces as −12 and all other cards as +1.
There is one way to get the ace and four ways to get the 10-point card, for a total of 1*4=4 winning combinations. There are combin(52,2)=1,326 ways to choose 2 cards out of 52. So the probability of winning is 4/1326 = 0.30%. Fair odds would be 330.5 to one. The expected return is 0.0030*300 + 0.9970*-1 = -0.0920. So the house edge is 9.2%.
The reason they limit this bet to the first hand after the shuffle is a card counter could take advantage it otherwise. Without tracking the cards, you can assume the house edge is 9.2% all the time.
For the benefit of other readers, the Match the Dealer side bet pays when either of the player’s first two cards match the dealer’s up card. A traditional count is not going to be useful against this side bet. Rather, the odds would swing to the player’s advantage if the distribution of cards by rank were unusually unbalanced. It isn’t going to be practical to keep track of 13 different suits. The Big Book of Blackjack by Arnold Snyder, which I highly recommend, has a short chapter on how to beat a similar bet, the ’Royal Match.’ With only four suits to worry about, this side bet is vulnerable to the method described in that book in a single-deck game.
Yes! That side bet is extremely vulnerable to card counters. As long as the minimum is not too low, you should be using another strategy to exploit it, one that treats aces as a low card. Arnold Synder presents such a strategy in The Big Book of Blackjack. Otherwise, if you are using a standard hi-lo count, Synder says to only make the Over bet in very high counts.
It sounds like you are talking about Lucky Pairs, a side bet that wins if the player’s first two cards are a pair. Many baccarat tables also offer this bet. As I show in my baccarat page, the house edge is 10.36%, assuming eight decks. In either game, you would pretty much need to eliminate all cards of at least one rank to have an advantage. To know that, you would need to keep 13 different counts. In baccarat, this could be done, since you are allowed to take notes while you play. However, based on some very extensive analysis, profitable opportunities don’t happen often enough for this to be a practical use of time.
I have not studied the effect of card counting of that bet for myself. However, Arnold Snyder has, and his results can be found in his Big Book of Blackjack. There he says you should make the bet in a six-deck game if it is the last two decks, and the count is +10 or greater, using the Red Sevens count. In a double-deck game he says to bet in the last deck, and a count of +6 or greater.
Based on six decks, I get a house edge of 3.40%. I show all my math in my blackjack appendix 8. An extremely high or low count would indicate the ranks in the remaining cards are clumped together, which would lower the house edge, but I don’t think it would be enough to warrant bothering with.
This question was raised and discussed in the forum of my companion site Wizard of Vegas.
Odds Of Winning Blackjack At Casino
My blackjack appendix 2B was created for questions like this. It shows the probability the dealer will bust is 28.19% under those rules. That would make the house edge 1.33%.
This question was raised and discussed in the forum of my companion site Wizard of Vegas.
At the Lake Elsinore Hotel and Casino in California there is a blackjack side bet called the Red Flex. It pays according to the number of consecutive red cards in the dealer's hand, starting with the first card. The pay table is as follows:- Seven or more reds pays 200 to 1
- Six reds pays 100 to 1
- Five reds pays 50 to 1
- Four reds pays 10 to 1
- Three reds pays 5 to 1
- Two reds pays 1 to 1
If the dealer busts, or isn't required to draw cards because all the players busted, the dealer will still draw cards as necessary to adjudicate the side bet.
What are the odds?
Wizard Of Odds Blackjack Side Bets Games
I show my analysis of the Red Flex in my blackjack appendix 8.
This question is discussed in my forum at Wizard of Vegas.
I found a blackjack dealer who exposes his hole card when peeking for blackjack. He offers insurance after peeking. So, when the dealer has an ace up and I can see a 10, I take insurance. How much does this reduce the house edge of the overall game?
Let's assume six decks. The probability of the up card being an ace is 1/13. Next, the probability the hole card is a 10-point card is 96/311. So, this opportunity will occur 2.37% of hands.
The insurance bet I assume will be half a unit and insurance pays 2 to 1. So, every time this happens, you can expect to gain a unit. Since it happens with probability 2.37% of the time, that is what it is worth to you. Subtract the house edge under whatever the blackjack rules are to get the overall player advantage of the game.