Blackjack side bets
Basic strategy loses about half a percent of what you bet. The side bets keep far more: insurance loses 7.47% with 8 decks, and Perfect Pairs and 21+3 from a few to over ten percent, depending on the pay table.
Every bet
| Bet | Pays / decks | House edge |
|---|---|---|
| Insurance, 1 decks | 2 : 1 | 5.88% |
| Insurance, 2 decks | 2 : 1 | 6.8% |
| Insurance, 6 decks | 2 : 1 | 7.4% |
| Insurance, 8 decks | 2 : 1 | 7.47% |
| Perfect Pairs, table A (25/12/6/-1) | 6 / 8 decks | 6.11% / 4.1% |
| Perfect Pairs, table B (30/10/5/-1) | 6 / 8 decks | 5.79% / 3.37% |
| Perfect Pairs, table C (25/12/5/-1) | 6 / 8 decks | 9.97% / 7.95% |
| Perfect Pairs, table D (25/15/5/-1) | 6 / 8 decks | 4.18% / 2.17% |
| 21+3, version 1 (9/9/9/9/9/-1) | 6 / 8 decks | 3.24% / 2.74% |
| 21+3, version 3 (100/35/33/10/5/-1) | 6 / 8 decks | 4.14% / 3.18% |
| 21+3, version 4 (20/30/20/10/5/-1) | 6 / 8 decks | 13.39% / 12.89% |
| 21+3, version 5 (100/40/25/10/5/-1) | 6 / 8 decks | 7.14% / 6.29% |
| 21+3, version 7 (100/40/30/10/5/-1) | 6 / 8 decks | 4.62% / 3.7% |
Insurance pays 2 to 1 if the dealer has blackjack. The numbers in brackets are what each combination pays, from the best to the lowest.
"House edge": the share of each bet the house keeps on average. No betting system changes it.
How it is worked out
Every chance is counted over every possible combination of cards from the shoe, for each number of decks.
The results are compared with the published tables of the Wizard of Odds, to the digits they print, and the dice games with a second, independent count of every roll. If a single figure differs, the page is not published.