You take two cards and you have to try and make twenty one. That is universal basic logic of how to play blackjack, wouldn’t you agree. But on the odd occasion, there is more to it than that. How can that be? Blackjack is one of the simple card games in existence, there surely can’t be too many ways of playing this classic card game. Well whilst everybody who has ever held a deck of card does indeed know the basic rules of blackjack, online blackjack has transformed the simplest card game into something a mite more bizarre, there are after all plenty of blackjack variants online.
Because most of the variants are quite common, and sometimes absolutely identical apart from a few tweaks and changes behind the scenes, it isn’t too hard to describe each of the most common variants in very short detail.
European Blackjack is most common game online; it involves two decks, with the dealer standing on a soft seventeen. The house edge is 0.39%. Atlantic City Blackjack involves eight decks, and the dealer again stands on a soft seventeen. The house edge rises in this variant to 0.49% because surrendering (folding) is not permitted.
Multi-Hand Blackjack contains five decks, and the dealer may play several blackjack hands at once. The dealer yet again stands on a soft seventeen, and the house edge is upped to 0.63%. In Vegas Strip Blackjack however, the house edge returns to lowly 0.38% with the dealer using only four decks of cards, although he must again stand on a soft seventeen.
Double Exposure Blackjack means that both of the dealer’s cards are dealt face up. If there is a tie, the dealer wins except on blackjack itself. The dealer uses eight decks in this card game, stands on a soft seventeen, and the house edge is up to 0.69%.
In Single Deck Blackjack, there is almost no house edge, at a meagre 0.058%. One deck of cards is used in this game, and the dealer checks for blackjack before standing on a soft seventeen.
In Blackjack Switch – which is available in most Playtech online casinos – the dealer again has to stand on a soft seventeen, although the player must make two bets of equal size. The player may switch the second cards dealt in each hand, and the house edge is down to a really low 0.17%.
The best way to understand these subtle changes in the blackjack variants is to play these online casino games free via casino game reviews sites, or online casino demos if you prefer. Only then will a player truly understand exactly how each game works.