Blackjack is the most popular online casino card game, and many providers took the liberty of experimenting with its rules to make it more entertaining and immersive.
Although standard blackjack rules are pretty much the same in every game, developers added many different side bets.
Therefore, in this article, we’ll review blackjack side bets, which should help you understand them better and get the most out of them.
21 + 3 Side Bet
This is basically a poker bet. When you see your first two cards and the dealer’s face-up card, and the three make up one of the popular poker combinations, you’ll get paid.
For example, if all three are the same suit, you’ll get a flush, which has the payout of 5/1. If all three form a straight, you’ll get paid 10/1.
Three-of-a-kind will give you the payout of 30/1, and a blackjack straight flush comes with 40/1. The highest-paying is suited three-of-a-kind, which pays 100/1.
Perfect Pairs
This side bet lets you bet if you’ll get a pair when the dealer gives you the cards. However, if the pair is two cards of different colors, the payout is 5/1. If the payout is two cards of the same color, you’ll get paid 10/1.
A perfect pair is if you get two identical cards (since blackjack uses several decks). In that case, you’ll receive the payout of 30/1.
Insurance Bet
Perhaps one of the most popular side bets in blackjack is the so-called insurance bet. The idea is that you’ll insure yourself against the dealer by placing the bet, which is only available if the dealer’s face-up card is an ace.
An insurance bet seems like a good idea, but you should be careful, as the odds work against you in the long run.
Should you take any side bets? According to many blackjack specialists, these bets are there only to increase the house edge.
Therefore, players should avoid them and focus on learning blackjack rules instead. Then, they ought to learn some of the best blackjack strategies, which will help them lower the house edge below 1%.
Still, if you’re new and you don’t want to play blackjack in the long run, making side bets could turn out to be quite lucrative if Lady Luck is by your side. But don’t overdo it, as side bets can also result in big losses that you didn’t want in the first place.