Blackjack is a widely-played casino game that uses a 52-card deck and is hosted by top gambling platforms. This game is designed by leading software developers who anchor the best online blackjack casino sites. It is a game that many punters opt for because it is easy to understand and offers low house edges.
A detail some may be unaware of, however, is that Blackjack is a game with several variations. It varies from American to European to Switch. In this review, we will look into three of the different modern-day versions of this classic game. Here we go.
American Blackjack
The American version, commonly known as Classic blackjack, is the most sought-after form of the game. This variant involves a showdown between the player and the dealer. Here, the game is played using 6 decks of cards and the goal is to beat the dealer’s total hands without surpassing 21. The major difference between this version and other blackjack variations lies in how the cards are dealt.
In the American version, the dealer gets two cards; one face-up and the other face-down(hole card). This might seem like a minor issue but it has a major impact on the game’s house edge. If the dealer is dealt a 10-value card or an ace as the hole card, they can check the second card to know if it makes a 21-point hand. If this happens, the punter loses unless his cards sum up to a natural as well.
This hole card way of playing prevents the player from losing more chips since he has not had to play his hand before the dealer wins. Moreover, if the dealer gets an ace as a face-up card, the player is offered what is called an insurance bet. This gives you the gambler a chance to win a 2:1 payout, although he loses his initial stake. Thus, this and other factors account for the lower house edge that classic blackjack offers. The edge is usually between 0.31-0.35%, thus, giving the player higher chances of winning.
European Blackjack
This is also another variation to the game where the dealer is dealt the first card, known as the open card from 2 decks of cards. However, unlike the American variant, European blackjack does not receive a second card until the gambler has played his first hand. Only then does the dealer get a hole card to hit.
Some rules of this variant are quite similar to those of the classic blackjack but with a few twists. This form of the game places more restrictions on the player than the American variant. One of which is that the house edge increases because the dealer doesn’t take a peek at their card until the player has played his first hand.
Moreover, if the dealer’s open card is an ace or a 10, they may not check their cards for a win. Thus, in the case of the dealer having a blackjack, the punter loses his total bet unless he also has a 21-point hand, in which case it ends in a push.
Additionally, just as in the American version, European blackjack allows the player to take an insurance bet if he feels the dealer has already hit 21. However, if the player’s hand beats the dealer’s, he wins even money. The following are the rules guiding payouts depending on the type of bet:
- Even money pays out at 1:1
- Insurance bet ends in a 2:1 payout
- Blackjack pays at 3:2
Blackjack Switch
This blackjack variant was created by Geoff Hall, a renowned inventor of many casino games. The rules of this version are very different from the others. Blackjack switch is a game where players are dealt two hands separately. Here, the punters place similar bets on both hands with the option of swapping out the cards of each hand with each other.
Additionally, unlike the American and European, Blackjack switch allows the dealer’s total hands to exceed 21 to a total of 22. Hence, a 22-card value is not considered a bust, but rather, a push unless the player hits a blackjack that wasn’t gotten through a split or switch.
These are the details that differentiate this version from others. Once the player decides if he plans to switch or not, the game plays out the same way as other variants.
Conclusion
So many more variations of this game exist but the aforementioned are the most common. Irrespective of the blackjack version, the goal remains the same, which is to beat the dealer’s total number of hands without exceeding 21. Hence, pick a suitable strategy and head to a top online casino to play any version of this game.
