Blackjack House Edge Calculator
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Blackjack House Edge Explained. Blackjack is known for having one of the most favourable house edges of all casino table games. Understanding how the blackjack house edge works, which techniques and strategies help to reduce it and your odds of winning is essential for blackjack success.
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- BLACKJACK STRATEGY CALCULATOR. This calculator generates a blackjack strategy table based on the programmed set of rules. Select the Switch to Advanced Calc button to add support for less common rule selections including 5-card 21 bonuses, charlie bonuses, 777 bonuses; split restrictions; and peek on 10. See the blackjack page for more information about the rule options.
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- The house edge is half of one percent so if we take $100 million and multiply it by.005 we get $500,000 which is how much the casino expects to make off of you in the long run if you continue to bet $100 a hand. So essentially each bet you make is worth about 50 cents to the casino. Obviously you don’t just hand over 50 cents every round.
When it comes to gambling, savvy blackjack players know to calculate their probabilities of winning, against the percentage of games likely to be won by the house. This is known as blackjack’s house edge. (Click here to use our blackjack house edge calculator.)
Besides the excitement of its fast pace, blackjack's popularity stems from the small house edge, which can range from as little as .18 percent to .5 percent – depending on the game and provided the player puts in the effort to learn proper blackjack strategy. If a player is too lazy to learn basic strategy, the house edge zooms to a 2 percent advantage – meaning a player loses four times as much as he or she would with just a little mental work!
Surprisingly, only a small percentage of regular blackjack players will commit themselves to spending the few hours it takes to learn basic blackjack strategy. Without it, players are simply throwing away their money.
Blackjack's goal often gets misstated as 'getting as close to 21 as possible without going bust.' This is a common misconception. The real goal is to beat the dealer's hand. That's why expert blackjack players know that they can beat the dealers hand with a total of 12 points, because the dealer could bust on the next turn of a card. Always remember this number-one rule of blackjack strategy: your objective is to beat the dealer.
Basic strategy for blackjack sums up the best way to play your hand in every possible situation. While memorizing a table such as the one below is best, casinos permit players to use notes when playing. You can even show your strategy table to the dealer or the pit boss; all they care about is whether you're trying to palm cards. The small chart below lists a basic strategy for about 80 percent of blackjack games. There are many other strategy charts that can change the house edge to a player's favor, so it's a good idea to consult other versions, depending on which type of blackjack you prefer to play.
If Dealer's Up Card is... | ...then Hit until you have at least: | If you have... | ...Double downwhen dealer shows: | Always Split if you have |
2-3 | 13 | 11 | 2-10 (not Ace) | A-A |
4-6 | 12 | 10 | 2-9 (not Ace or 10) | 8-8 |
7-A | 17 | 9 | 3-6 (not 7 or higher) |
In addition to using blackjack strategy charts, you can use our house edge calculator to determine the house edge according to the blackjack rules where you play.
Blackjack House Edge Calculator
So how does the house have an edge at all when players can see the dealer's face-up card to decide whether to hit or stand, since dealers typically must hit on 16 and lower or stand on 17? The answer is that the player has to act first, before the dealer does. This means that the player could bust first and lose his or her money, even if the dealer busts later.
The house's edge is offset a bit by other rules, such as being able to stand with a hard total, being allowed to split pairs and double down, and so on. When a player uses solid basic strategy, he or she reduces the house edge in blackjack to that magic .5 percent, which is probably the lowest house edge in casino games.
One way that casinos try to up the house edge is by offering side bets known as 'insurance' and 'even money.' Here's how these work:
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Suppose a dealer turns an ace as the face-up card. He or she will then ask if players want Insurance. This side bet wagers on whether the dealer has a 10 as the hole card (known as a 'natural'). Insurance results in a very high house edge, sometimes as high as 6 percent. Never take Insurance.
The Even Money side bet is very similar. The difference is this: the dealer offers Even Money when a player has a natural as his or her face-up card, and the dealer has an ace face-up. Suppose you wager $10. If you take 'Even Money,' the dealer gives you $10 and the hand is over, no matter what the dealer has. But think for a moment: If you decline Even Money, you'll get the 3:2 payout of $15 if the dealer doesn't have a natural, the odds of which can sometimes run as high as 69 percent depending on the cards already dealt and the number of decks. In most cases, Even Money is simply another way of betting Insurance. Always refuse an Even Money bet, unless you like losing money.
Let's say this again. Don't take an Insurance bet. Don't take Even Money. Both of these side bets increase the house edge enormously.
House Edge in Variations of Blackjack
What about variations of standard blackjack, such as the 6:5 tables that are now the most common games in Las Vegas? Once again, it's a case of doing the math. Some people think a 6:5 bet is better than a 3:2, but in reality it makes the odd four times worse for players. Not only will you lose your money faster; participation at 6:5 tables encourages casinos to keep them in play and eliminate the 3:2 blackjack games that are more lucrative for players. In fact, some experts predict that standard 3:2 blackjack is dying out in Las Vegas casinos and other gambling meccas for just this reason. These days, players have to find a six-deck shoe game in order to play for standard 3:2 odds.
In addition to the odds, most casinos have rule variations aimed to increasing the house edge. The most transparent of these variations is the number of decks involved in a blackjack game. Depending on the casino, and the table stakes, the number of decks could be 1, 2, 6, or 8. In addition, some games don't allow players to split pairs, or to double down after splitting pairs. Always check the rule variations of any blackjack table against your basic strategy.
As if rule and game changes weren't enough, VegasClick.com reports that there were 78 fewer blackjack tables on the Las Vegas Strip in 2007 than in 2000. This resulted because knowledgeable players stopped playing when casinos tightened the rules, just as they did after Ed Thorp brought out his classic card-counting book, 'Beat the Dealer,' in 1963. Unfortunately, the loss of expert players was not only offset by unsuspecting tourists who continued to play despite the new rules, the volume of these unskilled players earned Las Vegas casinos 39 percentmore revenue from blackjack players in 2007 than in 2000. The Las Vegas Sun reported that all Nevada casinos took in 21% morerevenue from blackjack players than in 2000, even though there were 546 fewer tables to play.
That's what happens when players fail to calculate the house's edge accurately and employ good basic blackjack strategy. If your goal is to beat the deal, always calculate the house edge and your probability of loss per playing session. Even when you lose, you'd like to feel you got some good gaming entertainment for your money.
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The Blackjack house edge calculator will help you see your and the casino odds in the specific game you are playing.
- 1. Select the Rules of the game
- 2. Press 'Calculate' button
In the first table you can see your odds according to dealer up card. The second table demonstrates the dealer probability of having a different outcome depending on the first card.
You may also try our other blackjack tools created for counting odds, generating strategies and training players.
| Dealer upcard | Player Odds |
|---|---|
| 2 | 9.027 % |
| 3 | 12.215 % |
| 4 | 15.682 % |
| 5 | 19.393 % |
| 6 | 22.713 % |
| 7 | 14.318 % |
| 8 | 5.741 % |
| 9 | -4.118 % |
| 10 | -17.331 % |
| A | -37.161 % |
| Total | -0.886 % |
Probability of outcome of dealer's hand
| Dealer upcard | Probability of outcome of dealer's hand | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bust | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | Blackjack | |
| 2 | 35.4 % | 13.1 % | 13.7 % | 13.2 % | 12.6 % | 12 % | 0 % |
| 3 | 37.5 % | 12.6 % | 13.3 % | 12.7 % | 12.3 % | 11.7 % | 0 % |
| 4 | 39.6 % | 12.3 % | 12.6 % | 12.3 % | 11.8 % | 11.3 % | 0 % |
| 5 | 41.7 % | 11.9 % | 12.4 % | 11.9 % | 11.3 % | 10.9 % | 0 % |
| 6 | 43.7 % | 11.5 % | 11.5 % | 11.5 % | 11.1 % | 10.6 % | 0 % |
| 7 | 26.2 % | 36.6 % | 13.9 % | 7.9 % | 7.9 % | 7.4 % | 0 % |
| 8 | 24.4 % | 13 % | 35.7 % | 13 % | 7 % | 7 % | 0 % |
| 9 | 22.9 % | 12.1 % | 11.9 % | 34.9 % | 12.1 % | 6.1 % | 0 % |
| 10 | 21.2 % | 11.3 % | 11.2 % | 11.3 % | 33.8 % | 3.5 % | 7.7 % |
| A | 13.9 % | 5.7 % | 14.4 % | 14.4 % | 14.4 % | 6.7 % | 30.5 % |
| Total | 28.5 % | 13.4 % | 14.2 % | 13.6 % | 18 % | 7.5 % | 4.7 % |