Side bets in blackjack

The rules of classic blackjack are simple — you can get your head around them in a couple of minutes, and much of the game’s popularity comes down to that simplicity. But some players want the opposite — a bit more complexity: more betting and winning options. Many online casinos meet that demand and offer side bets. To get ahead of ourselves: they’re far from available at every table, so anyone who counts themselves among the audience for these games seeks out a table with the side bets they’re after on purpose.

What a side bet is and how it works

The term side bet (additional bet) describes the idea fairly precisely: in blackjack there’s one main bet¹, which you make in any case, but you can make another one too — one whose win depends on entirely different conditions. Accordingly, a side bet can land even when the main bet is lost, and vice versa. While the main bet is compulsory, the side bet is strictly optional: even sitting at a table that offers side bets, you’re under no obligation to make them.

Side bets are most often placed before the deal begins, because you can win as soon as the first cards are dealt. The payout depends on the table’s terms and on what exactly the bet was about — we’ll get to that below.

The main rule: the house edge is always higher

Some inexperienced players see the chance to make side bets as an extra advantage — as if it’s one more way to win money. In reality that’s a serious misconception. If the main blackjack bet carries a house edge² of around 0.5%³, side bets carry 2–17%, which is a lot in any case.

Important: a beginner sees the huge potential payout but overlooks how hard it is to earn. In theory you could land a big win early in a session and, by stopping immediately, come out ahead. But over the long run, every side bet without exception leads only to your bankroll being lost faster — so they’re best viewed as entertainment and a way to get a thrill, not as a method of improving your own stats.

Payout differences between providers

Every payout quoted in this article should be treated not as gospel but as a guide: each provider and each table is free to set its own schemes. Visionary and LuckyStreak stand out especially for the worse — side bets turn up often at their tables, but pay noticeably more modestly there than at the big names Evolution or Playtech. So a player interested in side bets always sits down at a new table only after getting to know its pay table — that’s the only guarantee against unpleasant surprises.

Perfect Pairs

Among the many side bets, some have become widely recognised — worth looking at in detail so you understand what there is to choose from. In multi-deck blackjack the easiest to grasp is Perfect Pairs: a bet that the player’s first two cards will be identical. By identical we mean matching rank: two sixes, say, or two queens. Suits and colours matter too — whether they match or not affects the payout.

As the table shows, payouts can differ in the same situation — that depends on the policy of the provider and the casino where you play. To avoid running into an unexpectedly low payout, always check the pay table in the table’s description in advance.

21+3

If Perfect Pairs is a bet on the player’s cards, then 21+3 is a bet on a three-card combination: the player’s two cards and the dealer’s upcard. All three matching is unlikely, so the player predicts one of the poker combinations. The payout depends on which one they managed to make.

With 21+3, too, be sure to familiarise yourself in advance with the payout table of the specific table — the actual amount may differ from the one here. For instance, Visionary iGaming and LuckyStreak pay just 9:1 on 21+3 — regardless of which poker combination the player actually made.

Lucky Lucky — the same idea under a different name

In essence, Lucky Lucky is a version of 21+3 with a different name: here too you need to guess a three-card combination (two of your own, the third the dealer’s upcard), but with a different payout table; it’s effectively a trademark with very similar contents. Three suited sevens pay 200:1, and overall this bet is considered the most favourable: the house edge is only around 2.7%, which is excellent against the other side bets.

Lucky Ladies

In spirit, Lucky Ladies resembles Perfect Pairs, but here it doesn’t matter that the cards are the same suit and rank — what matters more is that together they make 20. This bet is framed very differently from table to table: a different set of combinations is taken into account, and they’re paid out differently too. The ideal is considered a pair of queens, but even here there’s no consensus: at some tables of hearts, at others of spades, plus there’s a variant where a pair of queens of spades pays even more if the dealer has a blackjack. Either way, Lucky Ladies is considered the least favourable over the long run: its house edge averages a cosmic 17%.

Buster Blackjack

A bust (bust) by the dealer is good for the player in itself: it usually means you’ve won on the main bet, as long as you didn’t bust yourself. Buster Blackjack is a chance to win even more in that situation: the player bets that the dealer will bust. The main bet can still be lost or won — the side bet works independently. The payout is usually progressive: the more cards in the busted dealer’s hand, the more the player collects.

Insurance and Even Money

Insurance against a dealer blackjack (Insurance) is available even under classic rules; in essence it too fits the side-bet category, since it requires another bet — albeit not before the game, but during it. When the dealer shows an ace as their first card, the player can additionally stake half the main amount; if the dealer turns out to have a natural blackjack, insurance pays 2:1. The main bet is then very likely lost (unless there’s a tie), but insurance covers the loss. Yet experienced players who watch to minimise losses take insurance practically never: its long-run house edge is around 7.4%, since a dealer’s blackjack, even having already shown an ace, comes up only 31% of the time, and 69% is a pointless loss of the insurance bet.

Important: by declining insurance you’re simply playing by basic strategy. Using it constantly gives the house about 1.97% of an edge, whereas playing without insurance keeps the figure at around 0.5%.

Bound up inseparably with insurance is the Even Money option: when the dealer shows an ace and you already definitely hold a blackjack, you can immediately accept a 1:1 payout to avoid the bet being returned on a tie and to lock in at least some win. But Even Money can’t be counted as a side bet: you don’t stake money, you only agree to 1:1 before the dealer’s second card is revealed.

Non-standard formats and rules

Blackjack is a game of variety. In this article we’re covering specifically the side-bet option, where the player risks money beyond the main bet. But besides side bets there are also tables with special rule variants — let’s look at them formally and briefly, since they affect the success of the game too.

• Ties win — a tie rule under which a tie with the bet returned isn’t recorded at this table: where other tables would call a push, here the dealer is declared the winner. For the player it’s a disaster — the house edge becomes enormous; tables with this rule are best avoided, unless they offer some very generous offsets.
• Match Play 21 (also Spanish 21) — a specific variant that many experts don’t consider blackjack at all. Its feature is the complete absence of tens in the decks; because of that a natural blackjack comes up more rarely, there’s less point in doubling where in the classic game it would be logical, and a strong hand is harder to make. But, first, all of this holds for the dealer too; second, such tables often offer compensating rules: doubling after a split, resplitting aces, bonuses for certain 21-point combinations and a surrender option, at least late surrender. In other words, the RTP here can be normal, comparable to classic blackjack — but it’s crucial to study the detailed table rules in advance and not rely on ‘classic’ basic strategy.
• Atlantic City — essentially classic eight-deck blackjack, but with a set of strong rules: the dealer standing on soft 17, doubling after a split, late surrender and Dealer Peek⁴. The same set may go by another name too — ‘Atlantic City’ has simply caught on as a brand.

Are side bets worth playing

First and foremost, the answer depends on your goals. If you understand that side bets will burn your bankroll faster and you’re ready for that in exchange for entertainment — then yes, you can bet on side bets; but a thrifty player definitely doesn’t need them. What’s more, even experienced players, when they want a bit of fun, set aside literally 5–10% of their total bankroll for side bets — meaning it’s just one aspect of a session, no more.

Having decided that you do want side bets after all, be sure to read the table’s payout table before you play: bets with the same name at different tables can pay differently, and it’s better to pick the ones that pay more generously. That’s sensible: even understanding the high house edge, no player sets out to lose all their money as fast as possible — and to avoid that, you need to win more often and more.

Important: when choosing side bets, keeping gaming discipline is critical. Many chase side bets because of the promised big payout, and when it doesn’t come, they’re ready to go beyond a pre-set bankroll just to try landing the jackpot again and again. That’s a direct road to gambling addiction — and to a situation where money that shouldn’t have been risked is lost.