Blackjack Games Variations

There are several versions of blackjack games and discussed below are some of the more popular blackjack game variations.

Blackjack Games

You may think that playing blackjack games is as simple as pie, and the truth is that it really is, but there are tens of different types of blackjack games, and you need to know the difference between them, and know which one you're playing, if you want to get anyway with it. Here's a brief run down of some of the most popular blackjack games you are likely to see in online and offline casinos, that will give you a foundation for understanding all the variations.

European Blackjack

European blackjack is one of the most popular blackjack games in casinos today. It is played with 2 decks, the dealer stands on soft 17, doubling is allowed on 9 to 11 only, no doubling is allowed after splitting, there's no re-splitting, you may draw to split aces, there is neither surrender or hole card, the insurance is only resolved at the end of the hand, and there's only one bet position. The house advantage for European blackjack games is usually around the .39% mark.

Atlantic City Blackjack

Atlantic City Blackjack games along with Vegas Blackjacks are as popular as European Blackjack Games. In Atlantic City Blackjack games, 8 decks are used and again the dealer stands on soft 17. Doubling is okay on any 1st two cards, and post-split doubling is permitted. Re-splitting up to three hands is okay, late surrender is allowed, and the dealer peaks for blackjack. Again there is one bet position. The average house advantage for Atlantic City Blackjack is around .35%.

Vegas Strip Blackjack

Vegas Strip Blackjack games are played with 4 decks of cards, but in every other way is pretty much the same as Atlantic City Blackjack games, and has an average house advantage of .34%.

Vegas Downtown Blackjack

The only real difference between Vegas Downtown Blackjack games and Vegas Strip Blackjack games is that Vegas Downtown Blackjack is played with 2 decks of cards and tends to have a slightly higher house advantage of .38%.

These are the four of the most common types of blackjack games you will find. There are other types and varieties both in land based and online casinos. Online casinos offer different game varieties based on their software provider. For example, one software provider may have developed a variation of European Blackjack but that is played with 5 decks, whilst another software developer may have produced a blackjack game that works on the principles of the Vegas Blackjack games, but is played with 8 decks. Each of these games will be unique to that software provider and so will only be available on casino sites powered by that software provider. A further difference that will become apparent through different blackjack games software providers is the number of bet positions made available, which could be as many as 5. Furthermore, the house advantages can change quite significantly between different blackjack games providers.