The eleven blackjack guides
| Table | Studio | What makes it different |
|---|---|---|
| American Blackjack | Betsoft | Dealer checks for blackjack (hole card) |
| European Blackjack | Betsoft | No hole card: dealer draws second card later |
| Blackjack | Betsoft | Betsoft's standard table |
| Single Deck Blackjack | NetEnt | One deck; check the blackjack payout |
| Blackjack Surrender | Playtech | Give up half your bet on bad hands |
| Blackjack Switch | Playtech | Two hands, swap the second cards |
| Double Exposure Blackjack | NetEnt | Both dealer cards face up |
| Pontoon Pro | NetEnt | British cousin: twist, stick, five-card trick |
| Perfect Pairs | RTG | Side bet on a pair in your first two cards |
| Progressive Blackjack | Playtech | Side bet linked to a progressive jackpot |
| Super 21 | RTG | Variant with bonus payouts; rules in help |
New to the game? Start with American Blackjack or European Blackjack. Then try Blackjack Switch once, just to see how strange a "fair" trade can feel.
The rules that move the house edge
Two tables can both say "Blackjack" and differ by more than one percentage point. These are the rules to look for in the help screen, roughly in order of impact:
- Blackjack payout. 3:2 is standard. 6:5 adds about 1.4 percentage points to the house edge. If a table pays 6:5, walk away; this one is not close.
- Dealer on soft 17. Standing is better for you than hitting, by about 0.2 points.
- Number of decks. Fewer is slightly better, all else equal. "All else" is rarely equal, which is why single-deck tables often pay 6:5.
- Doubling rules: any two cards, and doubling after a split, both help you.
- Surrender, which lets you give up half the bet on a bad hand. Useful when used rarely and correctly.
- Hole card or not. American tables let the dealer check for blackjack first; European tables without a hole card can take your doubled and split bets too if the dealer has blackjack.
With good rules and basic strategy, the edge is often under 1%. With bad rules and guesswork, it can be several times that.
The odd ones: Switch, Double Exposure, Pontoon, Super 21
Some variants hand you an advantage and take it back elsewhere. Every time.
Blackjack Switch deals two hands and lets you swap their second cards. In exchange, a natural blackjack usually pays only 1:1 and a dealer 22 pushes instead of busting.
Double Exposure shows both dealer cards. Lovely. Then ties usually go to the dealer and blackjack pays even money.
Pontoon Pro is the British cousin, with its own vocabulary (twist, stick) and a five-card trick. Super 21 from RTG adds bonus payouts on certain hands. For both, the payouts are in the help screen and we would not trust anyone's memory, ours included.
Different basic strategy applies to each one. A chart for regular blackjack is wrong here, sometimes badly.
Side bets: Perfect Pairs and progressives
Perfect Pairs pays if your first two cards form a pair, more for a suited pair. Progressive Blackjack adds a small side bet that feeds a jackpot.
Our stance, without hedging: side bets carry a much higher house edge than the main game played well, and payout tables vary by casino. Fun once in a while. Expensive as a habit.
It is a bit like hockey pools at the office. Nobody joins for the expected value.
Basic strategy, the short version
Basic strategy is the mathematically best play for every combination of your hand and the dealer's up-card. It does not guarantee a win. It minimises the edge.
A few rules that cover most hands: always split aces and eights; never split tens or fives; double 11 against anything but an ace; stand on hard 17 and up; hit hard 12 against a dealer 2 or 3.
The demo is the ideal place to learn the chart, slowly, with nothing at stake. And no, card counting does not work against an RNG table that shuffles every hand.
Where are the demos? Not on this site any more; the old embedded tables stopped working years ago. Casinos that carry these RNG tables usually offer a "play for fun" mode in the lobby, sometimes after sign-in. Live dealer tables never have a free mode, for obvious reasons: a real dealer costs real money per hour.
RNG or live dealer blackjack?
RNG tables deal from a virtual shoe reshuffled after every hand. Live tables stream a real dealer and real cards, at a slower pace and usually higher minimums.
Live blackjack is easy to find in Canada. Among Québec-accessible casinos in our list, live lobbies run on OnAir Entertainment (Spin Casino, Jackpot City, Ruby Fortune, Lucky Nugget) or Pragmatic Play Live (Royal Vegas), and Tooniebet's help centre lists live blackjack. The specific RNG tables on this page (Betsoft, NetEnt, Playtech, RTG) are not named at those casinos, so search before you deposit. More on the live casino page.
Real-money blackjack from Canada
Spin Casino
WELCOME OFFER
Up to C$1,000 over 3 deposits
Shown to us in euros from a non-Canadian connection; confirm the C$ figure in the cashier.
- Quebec-friendly
- FR
- Interac
19+ (18+ in Québec, Manitoba and Alberta). Play responsibly.
Jackpot City
WELCOME OFFER
Up to C$1,600: 4 × 100%
Shown to us in euros from a non-Canadian connection; confirm the C$ figure in the cashier.
- Quebec-friendly
- FR
- Interac
19+ (18+ in Québec, Manitoba and Alberta). Play responsibly.
Royal Vegas
WELCOME OFFER
Up to C$1,200: 4 × 100%
Shown to us in euros from a non-Canadian connection; confirm the C$ figure in the cashier.
- Quebec-friendly
- FR
- Interac
19+ (18+ in Québec, Manitoba and Alberta). Play responsibly.
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Blackjack usually counts for little toward bonus wagering, often a few percent; read the terms first. Ontario (19+) and Alberta (18+) players should use their regulated provincial sites. Québec players: our Québec page explains the provincial picture.
Frequently asked questions
What is the house edge in blackjack?
With basic strategy and good rules (3:2 blackjack, dealer stands on soft 17), often under 1%. Worse rules can raise it well above that.
Should I play a table that pays 6:5 on blackjack?
No. It adds roughly 1.4 percentage points to the house edge, more than any other common rule change.
Can I count cards in online blackjack?
Not at RNG tables, which reshuffle after every hand. Live tables use a shoe, but cut cards and limits make counting impractical.
Is free blackjack the same as real-money blackjack?
The rules and the maths are the same for that table. The difference is that demo chips cannot be cashed out.
Should I play blackjack side bets?
On value, no. Side bets like Perfect Pairs carry a much higher house edge than the main game played with basic strategy.