Blackjack side bets: the worst value on the table.
A side bet rides next to your hand and pays on a few cards: a pair, a poker hand with the dealer’s upcard, a total of 20, a dealer bust. It pays big on rare hands and keeps far more of every bet than the game itself: the main bet at a typical six-deck table gives up 0.67%, the side bets here between 3.24% and 17.64%.
A $5 side bet costs more than a $10 hand of blackjack. At 60 hands an hour the $10 main bet costs $4.02. Beside it, $5 on Perfect Pairs costs $18.33 an hour, and $5 on Lucky Ladies $52.92.
Read the pay table, then see what it keeps.
Pick the bet and the pay table printed on the felt. Our engine works out the exact chance of every paying hand, so the price below is what the bet keeps over time, not an estimate.
- Comes back of every $100
- $93.89
- Pays something
- 1 in 13.5
- An hour at $5 a hand
- $18.33
- A $10 main bet, beside it
- $4.02
| Hand | Pays | Comes | Back per $100 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Perfect pair: the same card twice | 25 to 1 | 1 in 62.2 | $41.80 |
| Coloured pair: same colour, different suits | 12 to 1 | 1 in 51.8 | $25.08 |
| Mixed pair: one red, one black | 6 to 1 | 1 in 25.9 | $27.01 |
| Comes back in all | $93.89 |
Perfect Pairs keeps $6.11 of every $100 bet, nine times what the main game keeps.
It pays something about once in 13.5 hands, and its top prize of 25 to 1 comes once in 62.2. At $5 a hand and 60 hands an hour it costs $18.33 an hour, against $4.02 for a $10 main bet.
How the prices are worked out
Our engine counts every way the cards a bet looks at can be dealt from six or eight full decks, card by card, so every chance above is exact. Each paying hand returns the stake plus the posted pay; every other hand loses the stake. Cards the bet does not look at, such as other players’ hands, change nothing on average.
Buster Blackjack follows every dealer hand card by card, with each card taken out of the shoe as it comes, and the dealer hitting soft 17; a dealer blackjack loses the bet. Insurance is only offered when the dealer shows an ace, one hand in 13, so its cost an hour counts only those hands.
Seven bets, seven ways to pay more.
Six decks unless the line says otherwise, each bet at the pay tables you are most likely to see. The main game keeps 0.67%.
Perfect Pairs
Your first two cards make a pair 6.11% at 25, 12, 6 to 1 · 13.83% at 25, 10, 5 to 1 · pays 1 hand in 13.5A mixed pair pays 6 to 1, a pair of one colour 12 to 1, and the same card twice 25 to 1, which a six-deck shoe deals once in 62.2 hands. Eight decks hold more identical cards, so the same table keeps 4.10% there.
21+3
Your two cards and the dealer’s upcard, as a poker hand 4.62% at 100, 40, 30, 10, 5 to 1 · 3.24% at 9 to 1 on any · 3.70% with eight decksA flush comes most often, once in 17.1 hands, and pays least; a suited three of a kind pays 100 to 1 and comes once in 4,820. The older table, 9 to 1 on any winning hand, is the cheaper of the two.
Match the Dealer
Your first two cards against the dealer’s upcard 4.06% · pays 1 hand in 7 · 2.23% with eight decksEach of your first two cards that matches the upcard’s rank pays 4 to 1, or 11 to 1 if it is the same card, and two matches add up. It pays often, but rarely much.
Buster Blackjack
The dealer busts, paid by the number of cards 5.42% at 250, 50, 15, 4, 2, 2 to 1 · 7.73% at 500, 100, 25, 5, 3, 1 to 1The dealer busts in 28.58% of rounds, and a dealer blackjack loses the bet. It is the one bet a dealer standing on soft 17 makes worse: 7.55% against 5.42%, because a dealer who stands busts less.
Royal Match
Your first two cards in one suit 6.67% · pays 1 hand in 4Any two suited cards pay 5 to 2, a suited king and queen 25 to 1. The odds against two suited cards are 3.04 to 1, so the 5 to 2 is where the house keeps its share.
Insurance
A ten under the dealer’s ace 7.40% · 7.47% with eight decksThe side bet the dealer offers: 2 to 1 that the hole card is a ten. Tens are 30.9% of the cards you cannot see, and it takes a third to break even. The insurance guide covers the rare times it pays.
Lucky Ladies
Your first two cards make 20 17.64% · pays 1 hand in 9.4Any 20 pays 4 to 1 and comes once in 12.5 hands; suited and matched 20s pay more, two queens of hearts 200 to 1, and 1,000 to 1 if the dealer has blackjack too, once in 68,666 hands. The everyday 20s pay far under their odds.
Big numbers, paid at a fraction of their odds.
The odds against a hand are what it would have to pay for the bet to break even on that hand alone. Every headline prize falls well short.
| Hand | Bet | Comes | Odds against | Pays |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dealer busts with 8 or more cards | Buster Blackjack | 1 in 83,715 | 83,714 to 1 | 250 to 1 |
| Two queens of hearts, dealer blackjack | Lucky Ladies | 1 in 68,666 | 68,665 to 1 | 1,000 to 1 |
| Suited three of a kind | 21+3 | 1 in 4,820 | 4,819 to 1 | 100 to 1 |
| Straight flush | 21+3 | 1 in 484 | 483 to 1 | 40 to 1 |
| Royal match: suited king and queen | Royal Match | 1 in 337 | 336 to 1 | 25 to 1 |
| Perfect pair: the same card twice | Perfect Pairs | 1 in 62.2 | 61.2 to 1 | 25 to 1 |
Six decks, the pay tables in the calculator above. The rare hand sells the bet; the common hands, also paid short of their odds, carry most of the money.
Questions about side bets.
Which blackjack side bet has the best odds?
Of the common ones, 21+3 paying 9 to 1 on any winning hand: 3.24% with six decks. The newer table that pays up to 100 to 1 keeps 4.62% with six decks and 3.70% with eight. Every side bet here costs several times the main game’s 0.67%.
Is Perfect Pairs worth it?
Only as entertainment you are happy to pay for. At 25, 12 and 6 to 1 it keeps 6.11% with six decks and 4.10% with eight; at 25, 10 and 5 to 1, 13.83% and 11.81%. At $5 a hand for an hour at the six-deck table it costs $18.33.
What is the worst side bet?
Of the bets here, Lucky Ladies: it keeps 17.64% of every bet, $52.92 an hour at $5 a hand. The 1,000 to 1 headline needs two queens of hearts and a dealer blackjack, once in 68,666 hands.
Is insurance a side bet?
Yes. It is a separate bet of up to half your stake that the dealer’s hole card is a ten, paid 2 to 1, and it keeps 7.40% with six decks. The insurance guide explains when the odds turn.
Do side bets change how I should play my hand?
No. Most are settled on your first two cards and the dealer’s upcard before you act, and Buster Blackjack on the dealer’s hand, which your play does not change. Play the main hand by basic strategy as usual.
Why does the number of decks change the odds?
Hands that need the same card twice, such as a perfect pair or a suited three of a kind, come more often as decks are added: a six-deck shoe deals a perfect pair once in 62.2 hands, an eight-deck shoe once in 59.3. That is why Perfect Pairs keeps 6.11% with six decks and 4.10% with eight.
Small stake, big price.
Three things to remember about every side bet.
It costs more than the hand
At $5 a hand and 60 hands an hour, Perfect Pairs costs $18.33 and Lucky Ladies $52.92, against $4.02 for the $10 main bet.
The big prize is the advert
A perfect pair pays 25 to 1 on odds of 61.2 to 1. Two queens of hearts with a dealer blackjack pays 1,000 to 1 on odds of 68,665 to 1.
The pay table sets the price
The same Perfect Pairs bet keeps 6.11% at 25, 12 and 6 to 1, and 13.83% at 25, 10 and 5 to 1. Read the felt before you bet.