Online Blackjack Odds

Online casino games with the best odds give players the highest likelihood of winning each round. While the casino is always more likely to win, some games have a lower “house edge” than others.

Insurance is a sucker bet. You are betting that the dealer has a ten-value downcard to go with her Ace upcard (thus giving her a blackjack). A winning insurance bet pays 2-1 but the odds of winning are worse than 2-1. In that particular situation, even if you have a blackjack, and the dealer offers you even money, decline it. Single-deck Blackjack offers the best odds of any online casino game in the US. The house edge stands at just 0.13%. Using just one deck instead of six or eight makes the biggest difference. Single deck blackjack has the lowest casino edge of 0.16%, which gives the player better odds. Double deck games have a considerably low edge at 0.46%. Most land-based resorts and reputable online casinos use six to eight decks for blackjack.

The house edge is the advantage the house (casino) has over the player. For example, a 2% house edge means that the casino is 2% more likely to win each round.

Another way to look at the house edge is the return to player (RTP) percentage. RTP is the opposite of the house edge in that it’s how much the house pays back (rather than keeps).

For example, if a casino game has a 98% RTP, that means the average player receives 98% back of what they wagered. That game would also have a house edge of 2%.

And while that would be relatively good odds for a casino game, it’s not as good as the online casino games with the lowest house edge.

While a handful of states offer online casinos (Pennsylvania and New Jersey chief among them), Michigan is one of the most recent markets to go live.

Blackjack (~0.5% House Edge)

The best online casinos will offer several different versions of online blackjack, which means it will be up to you to find the ones with the lowest house edge.

But before we go into the best rules, it’s important to note that this house edge only applies if you’re playing straight blackjack using the best strategy. The beauty of playing online is that you can shamelessly have the blackjack strategy chart up while you play – and you can take as long as you need during each hand.

The best blackjack rules (for online and in-person blackjack) include:

• Blackjack pays 3 to 2
• Dealer stands on soft 17
• Double after split allowed
• Double on any first two cards allowed
• Resplit up to four hands

The fewer the decks used, the better the RTP as well. However, single-deck blackjack usually has a high table minimum compared to the other variations ($20 rather than $1).

Resplitting aces and hitting on split aces are also great rules, but both are extremely rare.

Also, side bets are purely for fun. While they can pay out big, the odds are bad, so proceed at your own risk. If you’re looking for the best odds possible, side bets should be avoided.

Video Poker (~0.5% House Edge)

You’ll need to search for the blackjack variation with the lowest house edge, and each online casino will have a different selection. But with video poker, there’s only one version with the lowest house edge, and it’s available at practically every online casino. You can also find it built into the bar tops at bars across Las Vegas and beyond.

Jacks or Better video poker offers a house edge of around 0.5%.

If you play Jacks or Better video poker using best strategy, you have about the same overall odds as online blackjack. But blackjack only pays out 1 to 1 or 3 to 2, while you can hit a big hand in Jacks or Better and walk away with serious winnings a lot sooner than you can playing blackjack.

Jacks or Better is usually found within the options of “Game King,” which has other video poker variations like Joker Poker and Deuces Wild.

Make sure to play Jacks or Better at full pay to unlock the best house edge. That means playing five coins for the biggest potential payouts. If you bet lower than the max, the prizes aren’t as high relative to the wager (i.e., you’re rewarded with better odds for betting more per hand).

French Roulette (~1.35% House Edge)

You can find blackjack with good rules and tons of video poker machines at land-based casinos across the US. But French Roulette is a game you can only find at online casinos.

The roulette bets with the lowest house edge are the outside bets that pay 1 to 1. For example, black or red, odds or evens, and high or low. But if the roulette ball lands in a green zero pocket, no outside bets pay out.

American roulette has two green zero pockets, while French Roulette and European Roulette only have one. So if you have to choose between American or European roulette, go with the European version.

But with French Roulette, 50% of your outside bet is refunded if the ball lands in the single green zero. That brings the house edge for 1 to 1 outside bets in French roulette down to around 1.35%.

European roulette, which is pretty much only available at online casinos as well, has a house edge of around 2.7%, while the house edge for American roulette is 5.26%.

Other Games With House Edge Lower Than 3%

Baccarat

Despite being far less popular than craps in the US, you can find baccarat at most online casinos, which will also often have Live Dealer baccarat. If you bet the banker, the house edge can be as low as 1.06%, and a bet on the player as low as 1.24%.

Craps

For whatever reason, craps can be extremely hard to find at online casinos.

Thankfully, some online casinos do have it, such as Tropicana Casino Online, 888, and Unibet, which also have French roulette. But BetMGM, BetRivers, Golden Nugget, and others do not. Craps is also not available as a Live Dealer game at any online casino in the US.

Whether you play craps at a retail casino or online, the house edge for some bets can be comparable to French roulette. For example, the pass/come bet has a 1.41% house edge, while the don’t pass/don’t come bet has a 1.36% house edge.

Slots

Slots tend to have the worst house edge at the casino. Typically, these games are designed for high win potential but low odds.

However, at online casinos, you can often find RTP percentages as high as 97% or more. Sometimes labeled “payback,” a slot’s RTP is usually found in the information section of the slot. Click the “i” icon, and the percentages should pop up.

Hi guys. This is Mike.

The topic of this Wizard of Odds Academy video will be on the importance of a blackjack paying 3 to 2 odds in blackjack as opposed to 6 to 5, which is a very common rule variation right now.

Here in Las Vegas

You see a lot of players playing 6 to 5 blackjack even at high amounts. Frankly, I have no idea why other than out of a ignorance of math.

I hate to have to insult your intelligence by even pointing this out, but 3 / 2 = 1.5, 6 / 5 is 1.2. The player will get 30% of a bet more with every winning blackjack if he's playing 3 to 2 blackjack as opposed to 6 to 5.

How important is that rule mathematically?

Let's see:

Let's assume six decks of cards, which is the norm, and that the player has no knowledge of any other cards in the deck. The probability that the first card the player gets is worth 10 points, is 96 / 312 because there are 96 10-point cards, 16 x 6 is 96, and 312 total cards in the shoe. 52 x 6 is 312. Assuming the player's first card is a 10-point card.

He at least has hope of a blackjack. He will need an ace or that second card. There are 24 aces in the shoe, and 311 cards left.

However...

...the player might get the ace first. It's just as likely to get the ace first in a blackjack as a blackjack, starting with a 10-point card. We multiply this by two. The probability the player gets a blackjack is equal to 4.75%. However, in order for this pay to make any difference, it must be a winning blackjack. If the dealer gets a blackjack too, then it doesn't make any difference.

Once the player has a blackjack, what is the probability that dealer will get one? Well, again, the dealer could get the ace and the 10 in either order thus the two. There will be 95 10-point cards left in the shoe out of 310 cards. After you take out the two player cards, there will be 23 aces left by the time it's the dealer's second card.

Best Online Blackjack Odds

Assuming the player has a blackjack, the probability that the dealer gets one as well is 4.56%. It goes down because the player already has an ace and a 10 out of the shoe. The odds are a little bit down due to the effect of removal. The probability that the player has a winning blackjack equals 4.75% x (1 - 4.56%).

In other words, the probability of a player blackjack and times the probability that the dealer does not have a blackjack, so the probability that the player has a winning blackjack is equal to 4.53%.

The math of this is really quite easy

The probability the player has a winning blackjack is 4.53%, which is conveniently one in 21, and the game is called 21. That's easy to remember. Every time the player gets a winning blackjack, if he's playing 3 to 2 blackjack as opposed to 6 to 5, he will win 0.3 times his bet more because (3 / 2) - (6 / 5) = 0.3, as we showed before. 4.53% x 0.3 = 1.36%.

That means...

...f the player plays 6 to 5 blackjack as opposed to 3 to 2, he's giving the casino an extra 1.36% of his bet, probably for nothing. This assumes all other rules being equal.

Okay, I hope that I have convinced you guys not to play 6 to 5 blackjack when given the choice. However, if you're still on the fence, let me throw some more numbers at you.

These are all based on what are normally, otherwise, fairly standard Las Vegas Strip rules. You can find these at most of the MGM / Mirage properties. Dealer hits a soft 17, double after split allowed, player make double on any two cards, surrender is allowed, and resplitting aces is allowed. With correct basic strategy, and a blackjack paying 3 to 2, the house advantage under those rules is a nice low 0.46%.

That is giving the casino less than one in 200 hands.

It's a pretty cheap way to gamble. However, if we just change that blackjack pay from 3 to 2 to 6 to 5, then, as I just showed you, the house advantage goes up by 1.36% to 1.82%, so 0.46% to 1.82%, that is almost four times as high. That's paying four times as much for the same service and product.

Let me tell you what that looks like in terms of your expected losses per hour:

If you are a $5 player, an hour worth of play on average will cost you $1.66 at a 3 to 2 table, and $6.55 at a 6 to 5 table. A $10 player can expect to lose $3.31 per hour at a 3 to 2 table, and $13.10 at a 6 to 5 table. A $25 player can expect to lose $8.28 at a 3 to 2 table, and $32.76 at a 6 to 5 table.

Finally, a $50 player can expect to lose $16.56 at a 3 to 2 table, and $65.52 per hour at a 6 to 5 table.

I hope I've convinced you to stay away from 6 to 5 blackjack wherever you can. Now, I'm sure a lot of you are saying, 'Mike, I'm a low roller. I'm uncomfortable with the limits at the at the 3 to 2 tables.' If that's true, okay, I get it.

You may not really have the choice in that situation, and you may be stuck with 6 to 5, if you must play. Sometimes there's just nothing you can do about it and the situation is only getting worse.

Online Blackjack Odds

The casinos here in Las Vegas as well as I think everywhere in the United States, are trying to phase out 3 to 2 blackjack slowly but surely as it's really not very profitable for them.

I don't think I have anything much more to say on this topic. Thanks for watching and I'll see you in my next Wizard of Odds Academy video. Thank you. Bye, guys.

Best Online Blackjack Odds

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