Blackjack beats all other house-banked card games in terms of popularity by a large margin, mainly because of its simple rules, straightforward strategy, and low house edge. In addition to these merits, there is a proliferation of side bets that players can make to add more excitement to their blackjack sessions.
Some of these wagers have the potential to return substantial payouts for relatively small stakes, which further increases their appeal. However, the extra excitement comes at a cost, since side bets have significantly higher house edges than those in the main game.
Casino operators constantly invent new side wagers in an effort to attract more action to their blackjack tables, but most of these additional betting options are of little to no value to players. Our objective in this article is to sift out the blackjack side bets with the highest theoretical return and explain how they work.
We wrote this article on the premise that readers understand the basic objective and
rules of the game. We recommend rookies take a step back and
explore our detailed guide to blackjack before they start experimenting with any side wagers.
Blackjack Side Bets Basics
Side bets are additional betting options available in some blackjack games. They are optional, and players can make them in addition to their bets in the main game. Most side wagers require only a small stake and offer considerably larger returns than the standard blackjack payouts.
They typically involve guessing what combination of cards will be dealt to the player or the dealer, or sometimes both. The chips for side bets are placed in designated betting boxes on the table layout, located next to the betting spots reserved for the main wagers. Side bets must be placed at the very beginning of a round before any cards are dealt at the table.
In the majority of cases, players must place a wager in the main blackjack game before they become eligible to make side bets. Separate minimums and maximums apply to side bets. The limits are normally posted on special plaques or printed directly on the table layout.
Side bets are settled immediately after the initial deal, before patrons make any playing decisions. Their outcomes are irrelevant to the main game and the round proceeds as usual, with players hitting, standing, splitting, or doubling down on their hands.
You can win the side bet but lose your main wager, and vice versa.
Blackjack Players Love Side Bets: Here’s Why
Side bets are quite inexpensive to make, although the limits generally vary based on the game you play. Side betting in most blackjack variants released by Felt Gaming starts at $0.10, while the maximum reaches $250. By comparison, All Bets Blackjack by Playtech has a less flexible betting range with a $100 ceiling on side wagers.
Despite their low minimums, side bets can quickly drain your bankroll if you place them consistently. We recommend that you experiment with them in moderation because of their lower win rates and higher house edges.
High payouts are the main attraction when it comes to side bets. The most you can win in the main game is a payout of 3 to 2 when you are dealt a blackjack, although a few variants pay better at odds of 2 to 1. All other winning hands in the main game return even-money payouts.
By contrast, side bets offer significantly higher rewards, giving you the chance to win as much as 1,000 times your bet in some cases. On the downside, the casino advantage increases significantly with side bets and rarely drops below 4%. Some of these additional betting options carry house edges as high as 11%.
Finally, the vast majority of side bets require little to no involvement on the part of players. No skill is required for the most part because winning or losing comes down to sheer chance. All players must do is decide how much money they want to put at stake and then place the corresponding amount in chips on the layout.
Some side bets, like Lucky Ladies and Kings Bounty, can be beaten and may become advantageous, but only if you implement advantage-play techniques like card counting.
The Most Player-Friendly Side Bets in Blackjack
Blackjack has cemented its status as a player favorite thanks to its very low house edge compared with most other games on the casino floor. Players who have mastered basic strategy can face house edges of under 0.50% in blackjack variants with favorable rules.
Even if you play poorly and rely solely on hunches, you are still up against a relatively manageable house edge of about 2% without basic strategy. This is not the case with side bets, where you play at a huge disadvantage in the hope of pocketing a big payout.
If you want to chase larger returns, we recommend doing so with the side bets that have the lowest house edges. The list below highlights the blackjack side wagers that place players at the smallest disadvantage. Many other options exist, but their house edges are so high that we advise against playing them.
Suit ‘Em Up Side Bets
Perfect Pairs Side Bets
Buster Side Bets
Royal Match Side Bets
Lucky Lucky Side Bets
Suit ‘Em Up Side Bets
Blackjack variants that include this set of optional wagers allow players to win bonus payouts of up to fifty or sixty times their side bet. As the name implies, the goal is to receive two cards of the same suit after the initial deal.
The exact payouts depend on the cards’ ranks and the likelihood of each combination occurring. Two payout structures exist, with the second being more common.
| Two-Card Combination |
Paytable #1 |
Paytable #2 |
| Suited aces |
60 to 1 |
50 to 1 |
| Suited blackjacks |
10 to 1 |
10 to 1 |
| Suited pairs |
5 to 1 |
5 to 1 |
| Suited 11 |
3 to 1 |
3 to 1 |
| Any other suited two-card combination |
2 to 1 |
2 to 1 |
You will encounter the full Suit ‘Em Up portfolio in Felt Gaming’s online blackjack release of the same name. This version uses six full decks and pays according to the second paytable. With six decks, side bettors face a house advantage of 3.41% under the first payout schedule and 4.65% under the second.
Interesting Fact! The more decks are implemented in a given blackjack variation, the lower the house edge on side bets becomes. The opposite is true in the main game, where the house edge increases with each additional deck that comes into play. Consequently, the house edge of two-deck versions of Suit ‘Em Up Blackjack is more than twice as high at 9.41% (Paytable #1) or 10.16% (Paytable #2).
Perfect Pairs Side Bets
This side wager pays whenever the player’s first two cards form a pair and loses with any other combination. Players can earn payouts for the following three types of pairs:
The lower the probability of receiving a given pair, the higher the payout. Payouts for the same pair can vary depending on the game variation. The house edge for this side bet depends on the paytable and the number of decks in use.
| Type of Pair |
Paytable #1 |
Paytable #2 |
Paytable #3 |
| Mixed Pairs |
6 to 1 |
5 to 1 |
5 to 1 |
| Colored Pairs |
12 to 1 |
10 to 1 |
15 to 1 |
| Perfect Pairs |
25 to 1 |
30 to 1 |
25 to 1 |
| House Advantage |
4.10% |
3.40% |
2.20% |
*The house advantage figures above correspond to blackjack games that use eight decks.
The Royal Match side bet is susceptible to advantage play, but you must master card counting to beat it. Further information on this topic is available in specialized literature such as James Grosjean’s book Beyond Counting.
Buster Side Bets
This group of side bets gives players another reason to celebrate when the dealer breaks a hand. As the name indicates, these wagers win when the dealer busts by exceeding 21. The following scenarios can occur while buster bets are active:
- The side bet loses automatically if the dealer has blackjack.
- The player receives blackjack and wins the main wager, provided the dealer does not have blackjack as well. The buster bet remains active until the dealer completes their hand.
- The player busts and loses the main bet. The side wager stays in action as long as the dealer does not have blackjack.
The dealer must always finish their hand whenever buster wagers are active. Otherwise, determining the outcome of the optional bets would be impossible. This rule applies even if all seated players have busted or have blackjack.
The payout size depends on the number of cards in the dealer’s busted hand. The more cards in the losing hand, the higher the payout for winning side wagers. Although these bets have relatively moderate house edges, the exact percentage varies according to the paytable, deck number, and the dealer’s standing rules.
| Number of Cards in the Dealer’s Busted Hand |
Most Common Paytable |
| 8 or more cards |
250 to 1 |
| 7 cards |
50 to 1 |
| 6 cards |
12 to 1 |
| 5 cards |
4 to 1 |
| 4 cards |
2 to 1 |
| 3 cards |
2 to 1 |
| Overall House Edge for Buster Side Bets |
6.21% |
*The specified house advantage applies to six-deck games where the dealer must hit soft 17. The percentage rises to 8.25% in six-deck variants that require the dealer to stand on soft 17.
Royal Match Side Bets
The Royal Match side wager pays when the player’s first two cards are of the same suit. The following two matches award bonus payouts, although some variations also pay for suited blackjacks.
The dealer must always complete their hand whenever Royal Match wagers are active. Otherwise, it would be impossible to determine the outcome of the optional bets, even if all players at the table have busted or have blackjack.
The potential payout depends on the specific match achieved, with different paytables available across casinos. While the house edge for Royal Match is fairly reasonable, it varies with the paytable, deck number, and the dealer’s standing rules.
| Type of Match |
Paytable #1 |
Paytable #2 |
Paytable #3 |
| Royal Match |
25 to 1 |
3 to 1 |
25 to 1 |
| Easy Match |
5 to 2 |
10 to 1 |
5 to 2 |
| Blackjack with Suited Cards |
N/A |
N/A |
5 to 1 |
| House Advantage |
6.70% |
3.80% |
3.70% |
*The house edge figures in the table are accurate for blackjack variants that use six decks.
Lucky Lucky Side Bets
Unlike most bets discussed so far, this side wager considers both the player’s starting two cards and the dealer’s upcard. It wins when these three cards form suited or offsuit 7/7/7 or 6/7/8 combinations, or when they total 21, 20, or 19.
Payouts vary between casinos, but the paytable below is generally regarded as standard for this bet. As you can see, the bonus payouts decrease in proportion to the number of possible combinations for each winning outcome.
| Winning Side Bet |
Number of Possible Combinations |
Standard Paytable |
| Suited 7/7/7 |
80 |
200 to 1 |
| Suited 6/7/8 |
864 |
100 to 1 |
| Offsuit 7/7/7 |
1,944 |
50 to 1 |
| Offsuit 6/7/8 |
12,96 |
30 to 1 |
| Suited 21 |
26,568 |
15 to 1 |
| Offsuit 21 |
406,296 |
3 to 1 |
| Any 20 |
377,568 |
2 to 1 |
| Any 19 |
634,32 |
2 to 1 |
*The percentages are valid for Lucky Lucky variations that use six decks.
Software supplier Felt Gaming offers a six-deck Lucky Lucky variant with an almost identical pay structure, the only change is the reduced payout for offsuit 6/7/8 combinations, which pays 25 to 1 instead of 30 to 1. The lower odds increase the house edge to 3.95%.
This side bet is typically offered with multiple decks, most often six or eight. A six-deck Lucky Lucky game that follows the paytable above gives the house a 2.66% advantage, which is quite reasonable for a side wager. The house edge drops slightly to 2.62% when eight decks are in play.
| Number of DecksHouse Advantage |
| Two Decks* |
2.82% |
| Three Decks |
2.77% |
| Four Decks |
2.72% |
| Five Decks |
2.68% |
| Six Decks |
2.66% |
| Seven Decks |
2.63% |
| Eight Decks |
2.62% |
*Note that single-deck and double-deck versions of Lucky Lucky, if available at all, have a slightly different paytable because the payout for suited 7/7/7 is omitted. The combination is impossible in such variations due to the limited number of decks.
