by Matthew Gover | Date of Publishing: 26 October 2022
Blackjack is a traditional casino game that continues to provide entertainment for people across the globe. Due to its popularity, we at JeffBet.com along with any other reputable land-based and online casino need to make sure that we provide players with a quality gambling experience while playing blackjack.
This classic casino game features some very unique game rules where the main objective is to beat the dealer. Players in this game look to hit a total of as close to 21 points as possible but they must not exceed this target. If players go over this number they go bust and automatically concede the hand to the dealer. There are several online blackjack variants that you will be able to play at our casino, but all of them come with nearly identical rules.
Playing blackjack intrigues experienced players as they can use their sharp skills to get an advantage by lowering the house edge. In this article, we will reveal everything that you need to know about the odds in blackjack, including the RTP rate, blackjack odds tables, the house edge, and the winning probability of blackjack.
Table of Contents
All casino games have a certain house edge percentage that can be a major factor in determining whether a player will choose to wager on a particular game.
Every blackjack game variant comes with a different house edge that usually varies because of its rules and the number of decks used in the game. The house edge shows the advantage a casino has in a casino game. The lower the house edge the better it is for the player.
In a game of blackjack, the dealer has the opportunity to be the last one to make a decision. Therefore, they can decide based on what all the other blackjack players are on. This is what gives them a slight advantage.
The blackjack house edge will be higher if someone is a complete newcomer and chooses not to employ a blackjack strategy. An exaggerated example of this would be someone deciding to hit every card. If a player did this the house edge would be 100%. This example is an extreme one but nicely illustrates the importance of employing some form of strategy. Every player that is playing blackjack with a basic strategy can reduce the house edge to 0.5%.
Blackjack has one of the lowest house edge percentages when compared to all other casino games. Even without the basic strategy, the winning odds for blackjack are still lower than most casino games.
Even though no one can fully beat the house edge in a game of blackjack, there are a few tools that can greatly increase the winning odds of blackjack.
That can be done, as we mentioned in the previous section, with the use of a blackjack basic strategy or the advanced blackjack strategy, which will allow the players to take advantage of the game.
Understanding blackjack basic strategy odds will in theory make your chances of winning greater. This strategy provides some very useful information about when to stand and when to hit. It is crucial for the players that use this strategy not to let their emotions take over.
As for advanced strategies, this would involve card counting, which can get the blackjack casino odds very close to zero.
However, this strategy only works on single-deck blackjack variants, which are hard to come by at land-based casinos. Also, the land-based casinos that do feature a blackjack variant with fewer decks can easily catch players that count cards while the online blackjack games use RNGs to determine a result.
So it is best to use the basic strategy when playing blackjack and make sure to use a blackjack strategy calculator when playing with real money or when practising.
It is important to note that even if a player increases the odds of winning blackjack by mastering the game and following all instructions provided by the basic strategy, there will still be a house edge.
Although the player can use the basic strategy to lower the house edge and gain more favourable blackjack odds, land-based and online casinos have a way of reducing the players winning odds.
That can be done by adding an extra deck in the shoe, adding certain restrictive game rules such as no doubling after a split, or even lowering the payouts. All of this can drastically lower the blackjack table odds.
For that purpose, players need to understand blackjack probability and how it affects the winning odds in the game. Knowing the probability in blackjack will show the players their advantage in the game, which is crucial for reducing the risk of losing a lot of money and maximising their profit.
To help our readers get a better understanding of the game, we will reveal the probability that is attached to choosing to hit after getting your first two cards from the dealer. The blackjack odds table with the probability examples is shown below.
| Hand Value | Probability of Going Bust |
| 11 or lower hand value | 0% |
| 12 | 31% |
| 13 | 39% |
| 14 | 56% |
| 15 | 58% |
| 16 | 62% |
| 17 | 69% |
| 18 | 77% |
| 19 | 85% |
| 20 | 92% |
| 21 | 100% |
To help our readers get a better understanding of the game, we will reveal the probability that is attached to choosing to hit after getting your first two cards from the dealer. The blackjack odds table with the probability examples is shown below.
| Hand Value | Probability of Going Bust |
| 11 or lower hand value | 0% |
| 12 | 31% |
| 13 | 39% |
| 14 | 56% |
| 15 | 58% |
| 16 | 62% |
| 17 | 69% |
| 18 | 77% |
| 19 | 85% |
| 20 | 92% |
| 21 | 100% |
The blackjack winning odds are better for the dealer than they are for the players. That is possible thanks to the dealer’s ability to act last, which is much easier as they make a decision based on their position. For example, if there is only one player at the table and they know the player has a score of twenty, they can try to beat this score without fear of going bust.
However, the dealer’s blackjack odds of winning can change depending on the game’s house rules. For instance, if the dealer must stand on a hand that features a soft 17 then this would influence quite a few hands of blackjack.
As a follow-up to the things we’ve laid out in the previous section, we will provide a blackjack probability table that features the probability of the dealer going bust and how that can change depending on the game’s house rules. The featured blackjack statistics table is shown below.
| Dealer’s Face-Up Card | Probability When Standing on 17 |
| Ace | 17% |
| 2 | 35% |
| 3 | 37% |
| 4 | 40% |
| 5 | 42% |
| 6 | 42% |
| 7 | 26% |
| 8 | 25% |
| 9 | 23% |
| 10 | 23% |
As we mentioned before in this article, the best way to maintain a winning blackjack run is by lowering the house edge with the use of the blackjack basic strategy.
The basic strategy isn’t tough to learn as it only involves finding a blackjack odds chart online and learning the rules and moves or simply using it simultaneously while playing online blackjack.
Blackjack charts will show you what moves you should make depending on the dealer’s face-up card and your total hand value. You can also make use of the blackjack strategy calculator for a faster approach. In the blackjack hand calculator, you can type in the cards and you will get an instant result.
For instance, if you are using the basic strategy and you get a hand value of 17 while the dealer’s face-up card is 6, the chart will show that standing is the optimal move in the current situation.
Find an online blackjack variant that allows the players to double after splitting, as not all game variants allow this move. This move will provide additional funds into the game when you are already in an excellent position.
With the doubling down after a split you can lower the house edge by around 0.15%, which is a pretty good percentage for the already low house edge in blackjack.
Usually, the live casino game variants don’t allow the players to double down after a split, so make sure to double-check them before wagering with real money.
Card counting is a very difficult skill to master. In the most basic form, you will have to assign a value of +1 to all cards that rank between 2 and 6 and a -1 value to all cards between 10 and Ace.
When one of these cards is revealed from the shoe you will add the values together. If the total value is positive then it means that there are more high-valued cards in the shoe which is a good sign, as you will have a better chance of scoring a blackjack while the dealer has a better chance of going bust.
But, it is worth noting that the card counting skills are useless in a typical online blackjack game, as the RNGs are reshuffling the deck after every round. It is only possible to use the skills on a live dealer blackjack that uses a single deck.
Hand interaction is a technique in blackjack that allows the players to take over the edge of a hand. This skill is only available at land-based casinos as it involves betting on another player’s hand and having another player wager on your hand.
For instance, if the player next to you gets a hand value of 11, but doesn’t want to double down, you can give them the doubling-down chips in exchange for the winning chips.
Splitting a hand of Aces in blackjack will reduce the house edge by around 0.14%. In most online casinos, you are given the chance to play with two hands if your first two cards are aces. Then you will receive one card for each hand.
Author: Matthew Gover.
After graduating, Matthew began working as an English teacher abroad, initially in Spain and then Vietnam before finally coming back to the UK to settle. Matthew has always had a love for writing and an even bigger love for the igaming industry... Read More
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