While other live casino games are flashy and full of suspense, blackjack stands out as being almost completely skill based. Don’t get us wrong, there’s always an element of luck involved. But if you master even basic Blackjack strategies, you’ll be right as rain!
Live Blackjack Variants You Can Play Online
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But playing the same round of blackjack does get exhausting after a while. If you eat your favourite food all the time, it’ll eventually lose its charm. For food, we add spices or try new recipes to make it taste better. And for blackjack, we look to its many variants!
Double Exposure Blackjack
If you’ve heard of even one blackjack variant, it was probably this one. The idea behind the game remains the same, but there’s a huge twist involved. Unlike basic blackjack, here gamblers can see both dealer cards. This gives you additional information, which makes it easier to decide when you should hit or stand.
Of course, the casino doesn’t give you this information out of the goodness of their hearts. Double Exposure Blackjack adjusts several rules to ensure the house edge isn’t completely lost. Not that we can fault them for it, as blackjack already has one of the lowest house edges of all popular gambling games.
The most notable adjustment is that all ties are now dealer wins, except in the case of a natural blackjack. Additional rules may depend on the game you’re playing and which software provider has created it. Dealers may hit or stand on a soft 17. Tied blackjacks can push, or be given to the player. Doubling after splitting may or may not be allowed.
European Blackjack
American blackjack tends to be the default option for a lot of games and players. An interesting reversal of roles compared to roulette! The reason for this is quite simple once you take a look at the European blackjack. In many ways, it’s more restrictive than its American cousin. But all those disadvantages come with a big boon since the European blackjack is usually played with two hands.
So what restrictions do we have to deal with? Well, the most obvious one is the existence of the hole card. In European blackjack, the dealer is dealt one card, face-up, and only receives his second card after players complete their turns. You gain the knowledge of a dealer’s hand but lose the ability to immediately end the round if the dealer has a blackjack.
European blackjack is also more restrictive on when you can split and double down. Doubling down is only available if your hands have the value of 9, 10 or 11. You’re also not allowed to double down after splitting, which you’re allowed to do in the American version.
As for splitting, you can only do it once. Even then, you can only split 10s, Jacks, Kings, and Queens. It makes you choose carefully where and when you split. It’s a major difference compared to the American version, where you can split up to three times to make four hands.
Common Draw Blackjack
This is a rare treat to find in live casinos, but one that’s really fun to experience. You have an unlimited number of players on each table, and everyone receives identical cards. Of course, just because you get the same cards, doesn’t mean you have to play the same way. It can often be fun seeing how different gamblers play with the same combinations!
For us, the main appeal of Common Draw Blackjack is the fact it usually goes much faster than a regular round. Getting blackjack in this game pays 3:2, and you can double on any two cards, including splits. Dealers must stand on 17.
Live Sports Blackjack
This variant isn’t on this list because it radically alters how you play blackjack. But if you’re a fan of betting on sports, or just want to watch matches as you play, it’s a fantastic product! As you play, you’ll be able to catch live streams of matches from the Premier and Champion Leagues.
Sadly, no way to directly make sports bets from the game itself. So you’ll have to tab between your poker game and a sportsbook to keep track of wagers. Still, we feel this is a must-play variant for any sports fan!
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