Blackjack is one of the most popular games in the gambling world and it enjoys a special place in the hearts and minds of players around the globe. This game has been around for quite a long time and it is available at just about every casino, both online and land-based. Blackjack has proven to be an excellent casino game, standing the test of time and providing countless players with fun and excitement over the years. Many different styles of blackjack have emerged over the decades and European Blackjack is one of the most high-profile ones.
Currently, European Blackjack is played by countless gamblers all over the world, making it one of the prefered styles. In this article, we will go over all major features of the game and give you some in-depth information regarding its rules.
How to Play European Blackjack
European Blackjack is quite simple to play and you will likely have a great time doing so. However, if you are not familiar with the game our best advice is for you to read on. Below, you will find detailed explanations to some of the major features of European Blackjack, as well as some advice as to what to do in certain situations.
Moreover, it is recommended that you take some of these rules with a grain of salt. While they may be true for most European Blackjack games, there have been cases in which the online casinos have shifted some rules, while still claiming the game is in the European style. The next points cover basic rules and payout, insurance, splitting, and the double down feature.
Basic Rules and Payouts
European Blackjack is one of the simplest blackjack variants out there and it is relatively easy to understand. The rules are many but you will quickly get the hang of them. European Blackjack is usually played with 6 52-card decks, though there are variants which use anywhere between 2 and 8. The cards are reshuffled after each game and the next one begins with a fresh shoe. The goal of the game is to get a better hand than the dealer without going over 21 points. When you get a hand of identical cards, you are allowed to split the hand, with some exceptions. Unlike some other blackjack variations, European Blackjack does not offer any form of Surrender.
On a winning hand, you will win even money or in other words, you will receive the same amount of money that you wagered. However, you can also hit a blackjack which consists of an Ace and a 10-value card. This hand will earn you a payout of 3:2. Every now and then, you may come across a game that rewards 6:5 for a blackjack, which you ought to avoid in favor of a game with better payouts. Additionally, a hand with a value of 21 is not the same as a blackjack and the payout will be even money. While hitting a blackjack as a result of a split, will also reward a 1:1 payout.
Insurance in European Blackjack
Insurance is one of the staple features of blackjack and it can be seen at European Blackjack. Insurance is a side bet offered whenever the opening hand of the dealer includes an Ace. If you suspect that the other card of the dealer will have a value of 10 and turn the dealer’s hand into a blackjack, then you can opt-in to take the Insurance bet. This bet is worth half of the original bet’s value and also pays 2:1. If the other card of the dealer is actually worth 10 and they hit a blackjack, you will win the bet and thus, recouping original sum of your bet and bringing your net bankroll to what it was before you placed the bet.
Insurance is a common side bet in most types of blackjack, however, statistics indicate that it is not worth taking. Chances are that the dealer will draw a non-10-value card more often than a 10-value, thus making Insurance redundant. This, coupled with the fact that you do not actually make any profit for placing this bet even if you win, means that Insurance is an overall bad deal and you should avoid it in general.
Double Down in European Blackjack
Doubling down is one of the most important features which you have to master if you wish to make a decent profit at blackjack. To double down is to increase the size of your bet two-fold and receive the according payout if you manage to win. When you double down you will be dealt one more card to your hand which will also lock it into whatever state it is in. This means that once you double down, you will not be allowed to split, hit, or take insurance.
Doubling down is important and can give you a massive boost to your bankroll, but it can also cause you to lose a large amount of cash if you do it carelessly. Therefore, we only advise you to double your bet only on hands which have a good chance of winning, such as when you are dealt a 9, 10 or an Ace.
Splitting in European Blackjack
Splitting is one of the major features in European Blackjack and it adds some flavor to the game. Every once in a while, you will be dealt a hand which contains two cards of the same value. When this occurs, you will have the option to split the hand and create an additional one with one of the cards. When you do this, you will place one more bet which has the same value as the initial one. Two more cards will be dealt, one for each hand and both hands will be independent of each other. Moreover, some versions of the game will allow you split hands which you have already split ones, but this is on a case-by-case basis. As we have mentioned, each hand will operate independently, with a different set of cards and their own bets. As such, the results from each hand will not be affected by that of the others.
What you should take into account is that not all identical hands may be available for splitting. For example, some online casinos may prohibit you from splitting a hand of two 10-value cards, where the cards are not of the same kind, for example, a King and a Ten. Not that you would ever want to do that though. There are some hands that we recommend that you never split, for example, two 5s, two 10s, or two 4s, in certain situations. The hands that you do want to split, include 2s, 3s, 6s, 7s, 8s and Aces.
House Edge and RTP in European Blackjack
Blackjack is one of the most favorable games that you can play in terms of pure odds. This genre has some of the highest return-to-player percentages and as a result, the lowest house edge percentages. The RTP percentage is the statistical average of what a casino game will payout from all money that is wagered, whereas the house edge is the statistical advantage that casino has over the players in terms of odds.
European Blackjack has some of the lowest house edge percentages from most casino games. Depending on the specific rules, European Blackjack will have a house edge between 0.5% and 2%. As a result, this will have this will hardly have an effect on your overall gameplay and you will be able to enjoy European Blackjack, knowing that it is one of the fairest casino titles out there.
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