Blackjack is one of the most versatile games you can find in a casino with many different variations available according to your tastes as a player. Since it's inception, many game developers have looked for new and unique ways to slightly alter the basic rules to provide a more exciting game. While the biggest selection of blackjack variants is mostly found in cities like Las Vegas and Atlantic City, the rise of online casinos have created an easily accessible platform full of game diversity. On this page we've outlined some of the popular blackjack variants and provided a brief overview of how each game differs.
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Popular Variations of Blackjack
- Spanish 21 - Perhaps the most popular variation of traditional blackjack, Spanish 21 differs in a few ways including no 10's being placed in the deck and instant pay on a total of 21 before the dealer acts. There are also bonus pays for reaching a total of 21 including - 3:2 payout for 5 card 21, 2:1 payout for a 6 card 21 and a 3:1 payout for 7 card+ 21. Any 21 consisting of 6,7,8 or 7,7,7 of mixed suit pays 3:2, same suit pays 2:1 and of spades pays 3:1. Some games also feature an additional super bonus where the player wins between $1,000 and $5,000 when they receive 7,7,7 suited against a dealer 7 up card.
- Progressive Blackjack - The game of progressive blackjack is another hugely popular variant of the game and basically with these games there is a bonus bet that accumulates to award an overall prize, often over $200,000. To win this bet, the player must get 4 suited aces against a dealer ace up card however there are additional smaller prize payouts for 2 aces and 3 aces both suited and un-suited.
- Perfect Pairs Blackjack - In perfect pairs blackjack, the game follows the regular rules of the game except that there is an additional side bet that can be placed by players on perfect pairs. This means you are betting on the chance that your first 2 cards are the same. The payouts for perfect pairs are 30:1 for two of the exact same cards, 10:1 for same coloured pairs and 5:1 for the same cards off suit.
- Blackjack Switch - In blackjack switch, the player must place wagers for 2 hands and play is normal against the dealer however before hitting the player is able to switch their top cards with each hand if they desire. The reason you would do this is to make a more favourable hand against the dealer. One other notable difference in blackjack switch is that a dealer 22 pushes all hands except player blackjack.
- European Blackjack - European blackjack is essentially the same as regular blackjack except for the fact that the dealer only receives and up card and doesn't deal their second card until all players have made their decisions. Some view this is a disadvantage because the player must act first and could have paced splits or doubles on their hand only to find that when the dealer acts they receive a blackjack.
- Lucky Ladies Blackjack - The variant lucky ladies blackjack includes an additional bonus wager that adds some action to the game. In lucky ladies, the payouts include 4:1 for any 20, 9:1 for any suited 20, 19:1 for a matched 20 (ex. 2 Jack of Diamonds), 125:1 for queen of hearts pair and lastly a massive top prize for receiving a queen of hearts pair with dealer blackjack which pays out the player 1000:1.
- Double Exposure Blackjack - In double exposure blackjack you get to see the dealers hand before you play, however there are some rules that keep the house edge up in this game. The two main changes are that blackjacks only pay even money and that any push is a dealer win in that round.
- Blackjack Surrender - In blackjack surrender, as the name suggest players are allowed to surrender their hand if they believe that they will lose against the dealer. What happens is that if you want to surrender your hand you will notify the dealer, however will only receive 1/2 of your wager back.
- Pontoon Blackjack - Pontoon blackjack is quite similar to regular blackjack however in this game one of the players is essentially the dealer playing against the other players. There are some other interesting rules and betting processes with this game that are explained in our pontoon section.