Blackjack Rules and the House Edge

If you want to lowe the house edge in blackjack you also have to find games that offer favorable rules to the players. This is because even seemingly harmless rule changes can have a big impact on your profits. Here are the most important rules you need to look for.

The biggest rule that players should look for is 3:2 payouts for natural blackjacks. As long as you find 3:2 payouts, you will be earning $15 profit for every $10 bet when your first two cards add up to 21. On the other hand, you want to avoid 6:5 blackjack payouts like the plague because they add an extra 1.4% to the house edge. This being said, you might wonder why people even play blackjack games with 6:5 payouts. And the answer is that this rule is usually slipped in with single deck blackjack, which still carries a 1.2% house edge with 6:5 payouts included.

The fewer decks you’re playing with in blackjack, the better chance you have to beat the casino. The majority of casinos run either 6 or 8 deck blackjack because it gives them a greater house edge. However, you can also find less decks offered at some casinos, which lowers the house edge quite a bit. Here is a look at the house edge with different deck amounts (assuming other favorable rules are in place):

As mentioned before, you have to be careful when less decks are offered because casinos will try to slip the 6:5 blackjack payouts into the game; when this happens, you are better off sticking to 6 or 8 deck blackjack.

Another rule that benefits the player is when blackjack dealers have to stand on a soft 17 (A and 6) because it prevents them from improving soft hands to 18 or better. All blackjack tables feature a sign that says whether or not dealers hit or stand on soft 17. If the dealer is allowed to hit with a soft 17, it gives them a 0.22% higher edge over players. Much like 6:5 payouts, dealers are often allowed to hit on a soft 17 when fewer decks are used.

While the majority of casinos don’t allow players to double down after splitting a pair, this rule is advantageous when it’s allowed. For example, let’s say that you are dealt a pair of 8’s and split against the dealer’s upcard of 5; if you receive a 3 with the first hand and have a total of 11, you would be making money long-term by doubling down here. Assuming casinos allow you to double down after splitting, the house edge goes down by another 0.13%.

It’s always nice when you can re-split aces because this gives you the option to make more good hands. On the other hand, you can get stuck with some pretty bad cards when casinos don’t allow you to re-split aces. For example, if you split a pair of aces, and were dealt another ace, you would have a 12, which is one of the worst blackjack hands out there. When you’re able to re-split aces, you knock the house edge down by another 0.08%.

Some casinos allow players to do a late surrender, where the dealer checks for a blackjack, and if they don’t have one, players can surrender half of their bet to get out of the hand. For example, if your first two cards totaled 12 against the dealer’s upcard of 10, you could surrender $5 of your original $10 bet and get out of the hand. You can gain a small advantage with this rule, assuming you only surrender in optimal situations.

Looking at things from a broad perspective, it’s to your advantage to search for the aforementioned rules in a blackjack game. Just keep in mind that you won’t find all of them in the same game because this would give players the edge over casinos. But as long as you can play with 3:2 blackjack payouts and the dealer has to stand on a soft 17, you’ll be facing a pretty small house edge.