Live Casino Blackjack Side Bets
Blackjack side bets are wagers that you can make beyond the regular game bet. They cannot normally be placed without a regular bet having been placed first.
The payouts in First Person Blackjack are the same as in the live version of the game. Blackjack wins pay 3 to 2, winning hands pay 1 to 1, and insurance bets have a payout of 2 to 1. When it comes to side bets, you can get a flush (5 to 1), a straight (10 to 1), three of a kind (30 to 1), straight flush (40 to 1), and suited trips (100 to 1).
In land based casinos there are a lot of different side bet variations on offer, especially if you go to somewhere like Las Vegas. But at online live casinos the list is quite small, so I have detailed the ones available at the casinos I’ve reviewed here on Live blackjack sites.
- When playing Live Dealer Blackjack in our casino, you get access to the Pairs side bet. This is a fairly common side bet, also known as Pair Play, that pays 11:1 if your initial two-card hand is a pair, say for example, two Jacks. The suits don’t affect the outcome.
- 21 + 3 Side Bet. The 21+3 side bet uses the first two cards plus the dealer’s up card. This side bet can be played at the 888 Casino, which uses a 8 deck shoe. This is one of the few side bets available, that have the ability to pay out big when you win.
- In Blackjack Perfect Pairs, the 21+3 side bet options have varying odds. These should be considered if you’re going to place a bet on one of them. Let’s look at each 21+3 side bet and its odds, according to the pay-table: Flush. A Flush is three cards with the same suit, for example, a King, 10 and 6 of diamonds. This is the lowest paying.
- Be cautious with the Lucky 7s side bet as it has an abysmal house edge of 49.88%. The last entry in our list of less common live dealer Blackjack side bets is available at a Live HD Blackjack table powered by Visionary iGaming. Again, we have a side wager that functions like the 21+3 bet to a certain extent.
The odds for each side bet are normally displayed on the table.
Blackjack Side bet Casinos
| Casino | Stakes | No of Decks | Bet Behind | 21-3 (Poker) | Perfect Pair | Software | Star Rating | Play |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £5 – £25,000 | 8 | Evolution – BV Grand | ||||||
| £0.50 – £500 | 6 | Visionary Igaming | ||||||
| £5 – £5,000 | 8 | Evolution | ||||||
| £5 – £2,000 | 8 | Evolution | ||||||
| £5-£5,000 | 8 | Evolution | ||||||
| £5 – £5,000 | 8 | Evolution | ||||||
| £3 – £10,000 | 8 | Evolution | ||||||
| £2.50- £100 | 8 | Playtech |
Perfect Pair
In this blackjack side bet you can bet that your own first two cards or the dealer’s first two cards form a pair. The winning Perfect Pair hands are:
- Red / Black pair
- Black / Black pair
- Red / Red pair
- Same suit pair – Perfect pair
Insurance
The most popular of the blackjack side bets is Insurance, whereby If the dealer shows an Ace then he will offer you insurance, which is a side bet of 50% of your initial stake that the dealer has Black Jack. This pays a 2:1 return.
This means that if you win the insurance bet you collect twice your insurance bet. It also means that you lose your original stake money, effectively meaning that you have broken even and not won or lost anything for the hand.
If you lose the insurance bet then you still have your original bet in play and have the opportunity to win at even money, but you net result will be 0.5 : 1.
Top 3 Blackjack Side Bet
The general advice is to not take the insurance bet as it is not a value bet.
21-3 Poker Hands
Of all the blackjack side bets this is probably my favourite, I guess its because I also like to play poker. This is a bet that your first 2 cards and the dealers up card will make a “poker hand”, such as a straight, flush, 3 of a kind etc. The pay table is normally displayed on the blackjack table. I’ve seen someone do very well with this side bet, but he was betting a large amount each normal hand, and playing a small bet for 21-3. Not enough to tempt me though as I was betting the table minimum!
Blackjack Live Casino
Bet Behind
Bet Behind is not really a side bet as such. In Land based casinos you can place bets on other peoples hands whilst you are playing and you can find that at the William Hill Live Casino. generally though other software providers only let you bet on other peoples hands while you are waiting for a seat at the table. Some live casinos limit your bet to a range lower than the table stakes, and others allow you to bet the table limits.
In Between Side Bet Blackjack
What you need to know about Blackjack Side bets!
Online Blackjack With Side Bets
You do need to be wary of the Blackjack side bets, they are offered by the casino because the house edge is greater than normal blackjack, quite substantially actually. So my advice is to play these for fun and concentrate your bank roll on the main event.