Rules & Payouts
Live online Blackjack by Evolution Gaming plays an exact same game that you may be familiar with if you've ever played a session of Blackjack in a land based casino.
The aim of the game is of course to achieve a hand as close to the number 21 as possible without going over. Depending on the dealers up card you will strategically decide whether to hit or stand as you will also win should the dealer bust regardless of your score. The dealer must stand on all 17's and hit on 16 or less.
This version of Blackjack plays with 8 decks of cards per shoe which are replaced with a freshly shuffled shoe once the cutting card is reached. The penetrated shoe will be placed on a small table and shuffled in front of you.
Game Play Options:
Here is a quick run down of the following options which are presented to you when playing Live Blackjack.
Stand: You are happy with your score and wish to take no further cards from the shoe.
Hit: You wish to take another card from the shoe to try and improve your score.
Double: Particularly if you are dealt a score of 10 or 11, you may wish to double your bet and recieve one further card only.
Split: If your first two cards are of the same value you will be offered the option of splitting. Your bet will be matched and your two matching cards will be used to create two hands which you can play as normal. An exception to this is when you split Aces, only one card will be dealt to each hand to ideally make a Blackjack.
Insurance: Considered a bad bet by most ... Should the dealer show his or hers up card as an ace, you will be offered insurance. The insurance bet is half the initial stake. If the dealers face down card reveals a Blackjack this bet will pay 2 to 1. If the dealer does not have a Blackjack the bet is lost and the hands play as normal.
Side Bets:
When playing live Blackjack by Evolution Gaming you also have the opportunity to wager on two extra unique side bets along with the usual standard game. These side bets are known as Perfect Pairs and 21+3, both of which add an extra element of excitement to the game and increased winning potential.
Perfect Pairs:
The Perfect Pairs wager gives you the chance to win if your first two cards dealt represent any pair. For example: Two Fives, Two Jacks or Two Kings.
There are three different types of pair which can be achieved:
Mixed Pair (Mixed colour and suit) = Pays 6:1
Coloured Pair (Mixed suit, same colour) = Pays 12:1
Perfect Pair (Same suit and colour) = Pays 25:1
The long term percentage when playing this Perfect Pairs bet is around 95%.
21+3:
The 21+3 bet uses your first two cards dealt and the dealers up card to achieve hands similar to those found when playing poker. The following payouts will be awarded for the following hands when playing this optional wager:
Flush (Mixed values of the same suit) = Pays 5:1
Straight (Running values of different suits, 10, J, Q off suit for example) = Pays 10:1
Three Of A kind (All three cards of the same value, JJJ for example) = Pays 30:1
Straight Flush (Running values all of the same suit) = Pays 40:1
Suited Trips (All three cards of the same value with matching suits) = Pays 100:1
The long term return to player percentage when playing this 21+3 bet is around 96%.
As you can see from the above payouts, these extra wagers can certainly increase your winning potential compared to just playing the standard game of Blackjack. All of the side bets information above can be found on each playing table by hovering over the betting limits next to the dealers card shoe.