Blackjack side bets explained

What blackjack side bets are and how they work

A side bet sits next to your main blackjack stake and is settled on its own. It usually pays on something about your first two cards, the dealer's up card or the dealer's final hand. You can win the side bet and lose the hand, or the other way round. Most side bets are settled straight after the deal; dealer-bust bets wait until the dealer finishes.

Side bets are popular because they add bigger possible payouts to a game where the main bet mostly pays even money. The trade-off is cost. The main game, played with basic strategy, has edges such as 0.45% for Evolution's Infinite Blackjack or 0.62% for a six-deck European no-peek game. Side bets typically cost several times that, because decisions play no part: once the bet is placed, the outcome is fixed by the cards.

There are three broad types:

• Card-pattern bets on your first two cards, such as Perfect Pairs and Lucky Ladies.
• Poker-hand bets that combine your cards with the dealer's up card, such as 21+3.
• Dealer-outcome bets that pay on how the dealer's hand ends, such as Bust It and Push 22.

Blackjack side bets house edge compared

The table below gathers published house edges from Wizard of Odds for the side bets you are most likely to meet. Each figure belongs to a specific paytable and deck count, so treat it as a guide to the range, not a promise about any particular table.

The spread is wide. The cheapest bet listed costs about 2p per £1 staked on average; the dearest costs nearly 25p. Comparing that with the main game puts it in perspective: a 0.62% edge costs about 0.6p per £1.

What a blackjack side bet really costs in pounds

Expected loss is stake multiplied by house edge, as our expected value guide explains. The worked example below compares a player betting £10 on the main hand with the same player adding a £5 side bet each hand, over 100 hands.

Even the cheaper side bets roughly triple or quadruple the cost of the session. Put another way, a £5 Perfect Pairs bet on that paytable costs about 20.5p a hand, while the £10 main bet costs about 6.2p. These are long-run averages; side bets are high-variance, so a session can swing a long way either side.

Pair side bets: Perfect Pairs and Any Pair

Perfect Pairs pays when your first two cards are a pair. A perfect pair (same rank and suit) pays most, a coloured pair (same colour, different suit) pays less, and a mixed pair (one red, one black) pays least. Common paytables are 25/12/6, 30/10/5, 25/12/5 and 25/15/5.

Deck count matters a lot here. On the 25/12/6 paytable, the edge is 4.10% with eight decks but 6.11% with six. On 25/12/5 it is 7.95% with eight decks and 9.97% with six. Evolution's Free Bet Blackjack page lists a Perfect Pair side bet, while its Infinite range lists a bet called Any Pair; the names and paytables are not interchangeable, so read the help screen for the one in front of you.

Poker-hand side bets: 21+3

21+3 treats your two cards plus the dealer's up card as a three-card poker hand. A flush, straight, three of a kind, straight flush or suited three of a kind wins. The original version paid 9 to 1 on any winning hand, for an edge of 3.24% with six decks or 2.74% with eight.

Evolution's live tables use tiered paytables. Wizard of Odds' 21+3 analysis (opens in a new tab) lists one version paying 100/40/30/10/5 with a 3.70% edge and a 6.39% edge with four decks, and another paying 25 for three of a kind with edges from 6.29% (seven or eight decks) to 8.78% (four decks). Paying 30 rather than 25 for three of a kind is worth roughly 2.4% to 2.6% to the player, depending on the deck count.

Dealer-bust side bets: Bust It and Buster Blackjack

Bust bets pay if the dealer busts, with bigger payouts the more cards the dealer needed. If the dealer does not bust, the bet loses. The Evolution version used on its Infinite family, called Bust It, pays 250 to 1 for eight or more cards down to 1 to 1 for three cards.

Wizard of Odds computes the 6.18% figure for the Evolution paytable with eight decks and the dealer standing on soft 17. Some secondary listings quote a different return for the same paytable, so if a game's help screen gives its own RTP, use that figure.

Lucky Ladies, Hot 3 and other twenty-total bets

Lucky Ladies pays when your first two cards total 20, with the biggest awards for a pair of queens of hearts, up to 1000 to 1 on some paytables when the dealer also has blackjack. Those top prizes are rare, and the bet is expensive: six-deck edges run from 5.87% to 24.71% depending on the paytable.

Hot 3 appears among the optional side bets on Evolution's Infinite, Free Bet and Power Blackjack. Its paytable and RTP are not listed on the developer's public game pages, and we have not found a verified house edge, so read how it pays and its stated RTP in the game's help screen before staking on it.

Insurance, Push 22 and Super Match

Insurance is the side bet most players forget is a side bet. Offered when the dealer shows an ace, it pays 2 to 1 if the hole card is worth 10. With an infinite deck that happens 4 times in 13, so the bet returns (2 × 4 − 9) ÷ 13 = −1/13, an edge of about 7.69%. From a full eight-deck shoe it is about 7.47%.

Push 22, offered in Free Bet Blackjack, pays 11 to 1 if the dealer finishes on 22, the total that pushes your main bet in that game. With six decks and the dealer hitting soft 17, the chance is 0.073536, giving an 11.76% edge. Super Match, from Blackjack Switch, pays on pairs, trips, two pair or four of a kind among your four cards, and at 2.55% it is one of the cheaper side bets.

Why paytables and deck counts change blackjack side bet odds

Two things decide a side bet's cost: what it pays and how likely each outcome is. Deck count changes the likelihood. For pair bets, more decks mean more identical cards left after your first card, so perfect pairs become more frequent. With eight decks, 7 of the remaining 415 cards complete a perfect pair; with six decks, 5 of 311 do. That is why Perfect Pairs is cheaper with eight decks.

Paytables change the payout side. On an eight-deck Perfect Pairs game, cutting the mixed pair from 6 to 5 while keeping 25 and 12 raises the edge from 4.10% to 7.95%. A one-unit change on a frequent outcome moves the cost far more than a change to a rare top prize. Our guide to true odds against payouts explains the general idea, and the worst bets in the casino puts side bets in context.

How to check a blackjack side bet before you place it

1. Open the game's help or paytable screen and find the side bet's rules.
2. Note the payout for each outcome and the number of decks in the shoe.
3. Look for a stated RTP; the house edge is 100% minus the RTP.
4. Compare the figure with the main game's edge; if it is several times higher, decide whether the entertainment is worth the extra cost.
5. Set a side-bet stake well below your main stake and a fixed number of hands to play it.
6. Leave the side bet off entirely if you are trying to keep your session cost low.

Our house edge calculator turns any edge and stake into a cost per session, which makes comparisons quick.

Side bets on live and online blackjack in the UK

Side bets are a standard part of live blackjack. Evolution's game pages list Any Pair, 21+3, Hot 3 and Bust It as the four optional side bets on Infinite Blackjack and Power Blackjack, while its Free Bet Blackjack page (opens in a new tab) lists Perfect Pair and 21+3 alongside Bet Behind. RNG tables from other studios may offer different side bets or none.

UK rules apply to the whole game, side bets included. Since 17 January 2025, non-slot casino games must allow at least 5 seconds per game cycle, autoplay is banned for all online casino games, and net spend and time played must be shown in real time. The slot stake limits do not apply to blackjack. See our page on live blackjack in the UK for more, and are casino side bets worth it for a short answer.

Where to play blackjack with side bets, and our offers

Our partner offers are slot-focused and should not be thought of as side bet money. Casumo gives a 50% bonus up to £100 on a first deposit of £20 or more (opt-in), which must be wagered 10x within 7 days with a £5 maximum bet, and game, play and payment restrictions apply. 10bet gives new UK customers a 100% match up to £25 when they choose the casino welcome bonus and deposit within 7 days, wagered 10x on slots within 3 days, with maximum bonus winnings of £1,000; Skrill and Neteller deposits are excluded.

Coral's offer for new players, running 1 October 2026 to 1 February 2027, is bet £10 or more on slots and get 100 free spins at 10p each on selected games, accepted within 48 hours and valid for 7 days, with no wagering on winnings; Neteller, PayPal, Paysafe, Skrill, prepaid cards and certain debit cards don't qualify. 18+ and terms apply to every offer. Table and live games are often excluded or count for less, so check the terms and each casino's live lobby; our blackjack bonus page explains why.

18+. Every casino game has a built-in house edge, so over time you should expect to lose what you stake. Set a budget before you play and stop when it’s gone: safer gambling tools and support. Free, confidential help: National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133.