Blackjack Variants

Online blackjack games are played by millions of players around the world. It is an entertaining game with a good payout rate if you stick to the right strategies.

The game is more or less straightforward to play, but there are various variations that you need to be aware of when playing at different casinos. Below is a list of 12 different types of games and their rules. See also our other articles on strategies and rules.

Classic Blackjack

In the classic rules of blackjack, each player plays with the dealer. You get two cards to begin with and you can either report “stick” or “hit” (one more card) to get your hand as close to 21 as possible without going over (“bust”). The purpose is to win over the dealer, who is forced to take a card (“hit”) if his / her hand is lower than 17 and who must report “stick” (hand) if the hand is 17 or higher.

European Blackjack

In European Blackjack two games are played. You can only report “double down” if you have a hand of either 9, 10 or 11. You cannot report “double down” after “split” and you cannot “resplit” (divide again) or report “surrender” (surrender). The dealer must take one more card at “soft” 17 (the hand contains an Ace).

Vegas Strip Blackjack – Vegas Strip Blackjack also uses two game cards. You can report “double down” on any first hand and you are allowed to report “double down” after “split”. You can also “resplit” (split again) into three hands, which means that if you receive another card with the same value as with your first split, you can split again.

Multi-Hand Blackjack (Multi-Hand)

In this variation, the game is played with five cards and the dealer holds “soft” 17 (the hand contains an Ace). You can only report “double down” on a hand with the value 9 to 11 and you cannot report “double down” after “split” or “resplit” (split again). Players also do not have the option of reporting “surrender” (surrender).

Blackjack Switch (With Swap)

In the Blackjack Switch, players must make two bets of the same size and cards are dealt face up. Players can swap their second dealt cards for each hand. You can report “double down” on all hands and after “split”, but you can split only once. A blackjack is paid out at 1: 1 odds and a dealer hand of 22 will win over all hands except a blackjack.

Single Deck Blackjack (Single Play Card)

The “house advantage” for this variation is much lower than for the other types of games, since you can count cards fairly easily. Only one card is played and the dealer must hit “hit” (take a short more) at “soft” 17 (hand containing an Ace). You can double on all hands as well as after splitting, but you can split only once.

Progressive Blackjack

In this online blackjack game variation, there is a jackpot bet to be played for each hand. The total jackpot continues to grow over a full day. If you get a 7, you win $ 5. If you get two 7s in a row, it will give you $ 25. If they are the same color, you win $ 50. Three 7s give you $ 250 and if they are the same color you win $ 1000. If you get three panes 7 in a row you win the jackpot, which can easily be thousands of dollars!

Pontoon

Pontoon is a blackjack variation where you can split all combinations of two cards with a playing value of ten, even though they are not of the same value (ie not a pair). If you divide aces, you can only ask for one more card for each ace. The dealer wins by tie (player and dealer have the same hand) and all combinations of five cards that together give less than 21 give a 2: 1 odds payout. It is only allowed to report “surrender” (surrender) if the dealer showed a card is an ace or picture card, and the dealer must report “hit” (take more cards) by “soft” 17 (hand containing an ace).

No matter which of the variants you choose, plaese be sure to check if the games is regulary tested by agencies like eCogra and iTechLab, If you first and foremost make all types of blackjack games a part of your life, you will always have fun and never get bored.