Blackjack has been around for hundreds of years. It started in French gaming houses, was popular in parts of America, and became a mainstay of casinos worldwide. Now you can replicate the casino experience by playing live dealer games at home or even on your mobile device.
In new live blackjack, the stream of a dealer at a real blackjack table broadcasts to your online casino site. You get to take a seat and make virtual bets, just as you would in a real casino.
You can also chat to the dealer, hit, stand, double-down – in fact, anything that you could do if the dealer was right there in your living room. It is a truly immersive experience that has taken online blackjack to the next level.
Before we start, you may be asking what the difference is between live blackjack and the classic online blackjack casinos with RNG versions of the game.
Here is a quick comparison to help you to understand.
RNG blackjack is the typical ‘old-fashioned’ version of blackjack you’d see at an online casino. Using computer game-style animations, you will see a 2D or 3D representation of the table and cards. You click the hit or stand button and play to beat the dealer. The cards are virtual, so they need to be shuffled virtually using a random number generator (RNG) to ensure the games are fair. One benefit of the original RNG games is that you can play at much lower stakes.
RNG games are audited and tested by 3rd parties like eCORGA to ensure the computer spits out random cards on every deal. Effectively, in these games the cards are shuffled after every hand.
Live Blackjack is different of course because it involves real people, real cards and the backdrop of a real game studio or casino floor. In this instance you can watch the cards being dealt so you don’t need to worry about the game software being rigged or unfair.
The only disadvantage here is that there may be restrictions on how many players can sit around a table and play at one time, which means you may have to wait your turn. However, new formats like Unlimited Blackjack are overcoming this problem as unlimited player numbers can partake in a game.
The reason live blackjack is so popular is that it’s one of the easiest card games to play. By and large the rules of live Blackjack is no different to those in the RNG Blackjack versions built in HTML5 by companies like Microgaming.
Here is how it works:
Once you have chosen your table (they vary by stakes or game type), you and the other players get two cards each. The dealer also gets two cards, but one is face-down so that you can’t see it.
The idea of the game is to get a higher score than the dealer without going over 21 – or to have any total when the dealer busts.
Twos through tens are their face value, an ace is worth one or 11, and picture cards (jacks, queens, and kings) are also worth ten.
Each player plays out their hand in turn – counting the value of their two starting cards and deciding whether to ‘hit’ and take another card or ‘stand’ and settle for their current total. You can double down, doubling your stake and taking one more card if you are confident, or split if you have a pair and play two hands at once.
Presuming you do not bust by going over 21, it’s then up to the dealer to reveal his second card. He must always take another card until he reaches 17 or above. If you have a higher score, or if the dealer busts over 21, you win, getting even money on your initial stake. If you make a blackjack by being dealt an ace and a ten for 21, you win a 3:2 payout.
There are a few different formats of blackjack, each of which is similar, just with small variations in the gameplay and payouts. These are the most commonly found versions of Blackjack in the live listings at Canadian casinos:
American Blackjack – this is the most popular version of the game, also known as ‘classic blackjack.’ One benefit of this version is that if the dealer has an ace, he will check his second card. If he has a blackjack, that’s the end of the hand – this is helpful because you won’t have gone first and spent extra cash doubling down or splitting. On that note, in this variant, you can double down with any starting total and also double down on a split hand. A choice of six or eight decks of cards is used.
European Blackjack – In this version, the dealer deals only his face-up card, getting his second card after the players have completed their hands. The game uses only two decks of cards, plus you can only double down when your starting total is 9, 10, or 11. Splitting is also slightly different – in European blackjack, you can only split once, but you can split up to three times for a maximum of four playable hands in the American version if you keep making pairs.
Vegas Strip –Vegas Strip blackjack is similar to the others in that your aim is to beat the dealer by getting as close to 21 without going bust. In this variation, the dealer must stand on soft 17 (being dealt an ace and a 6) rather than play the hand as 7 and take another card. The game uses four decks, you can double down on any starting hand, and split up to three times.
You will likely hear people talk about the basic blackjack strategy. That means following a logical way of playing based on what you know about every hand – the cards you are dealt and the one card you see in the dealer’s hand. Because every ten and picture card is valued at ten, it’s always most likely that the next card will be a ten.
Using this knowledge, you can better predict the likely outcome and play your hand accordingly.
WHEN TO TAKE A RISK IN BLACKJACK
If the dealer has an upcard of nine or ten, then it’s likely his total will be 19 or 20. In this case, you need to take more risks to get your total closer to that nominal figure, probably taking an extra card even if you are on 16. But if the dealer’s upcard is a 4, 5, or 6, then it’s likely his total will be 14, 15, or 16, and he will take another card and likely bust. In this case, you can stand on any total from 12 upwards and hope to win.
It might sound like a lot to take in, but the easiest thing to do to become an expert quickly is to download a blackjack hand chart. This will give you the optimum play for every possible starting hand.
There are several key game providers who supply the casinos we recommend in this guide.
Here are two of the best:
EVOLUTION GAMING
Evolution are leaders in this field, providing both classic versions of table games and bespoke versions created just for the online environment. Games like Infinite Blackjack, Speed Blackjack and Ultimate Blackjack are amongst their most popular.
PLAYTECH
Playtech are one of the giants of the online gambling industry. In the Blackjack series, their Quantum Blackjack is another must-play because of its unique multiplayer feature. Limitless players can take part, each using the same two starting cards. If you stand and others continue, you do not see their additional cards. Innovatively, up to three cards are drawn at random from a separate deck, and if one or more of the player’s cards match, they win their stake x the card multipliers (but only if they win the hand). Three multipliers valued ten would be 1,000 x your stake!
