Types of Blackjack (table)
As we have already mentioned in this expert article, Blackjack is an extremely popular casino game, so it has a lot of different types. Check the table below to be aware of the most widespread 21 blackjack types.
Bonus BJThis is a classic type of blackjack that lets you get special tasty bonuses for having specific hands, presumably with a winning combination.
| Blackjac Type |
Description |
| Classic |
This type is the most popular variant of Blackjack and it’s available in all the online casinos.
Classic blackjack can be played with from one to eight decks. All the players, including the dealer, are dealt two cards. For the dealer, one card is dealt face up, while the other is face down (the hole card).
The overall rules are the same – a winning hand should either equal 21 or be less than 21, yet highest among all the players, including the dealer. There’s a winning combination called a Natural Blackjack. It means that you have an Ace with a face value card, which is eleven and ten, which equals 21. |
| Progressive |
This type of Blackjack is quite similar to the classic version of this game since all the rules are absolutely the same.
Though there might be a few really slight variations when it comes to hitting, standing, splitting or doubling down.
The difference lies in the fact that you may have a chance to win a progressive jackpot providing that every time you play, you make an additional bet that equals $1. |
| European |
This type of BJ is considered among the best since it requires two decks to play with. The main difference from the classic version is the way of dealing cards. Players get both their cards face up, while the dealer has only one card dealt face up. The other card, which is supposed to be dealt face down, can be dealt to the dealer only after the player makes decision whether to hit, split, stand or double down.
There’s also a cool option that lets you double down providing that the total points in your hand equal 9, 10, or 11. |
| Spanish or Spanish 21 |
Spanish 21 is played with 6-8 decks. The main peculiarity of this BJ type is that unlike the classic version, this game is played without all the cards whose value is 10. In such a way, in each deck, there should be 48 cards instead of 52. In such a way, the house edge is increased in this BJ type. As for the other cards, they have exactly the same value as it is in a classic BJ. Mind that in this game, it’s possible to have a tie between the dealer and the player.
That’s why late surrender and insurance are allowed in Spanish 21. In addition, you are allowed to surrender even after you have doubled down. In such a way, a player gets a better chance to win. |
| Vegas Downtown |
This variant of BJ is extremely popular in land based casinos, especially those in Las Vegas. The game is played with two standard decks of cards. No matter how many players participate in the game, your only competitor is the dealer.
All the players are dealt two cards face up. One dealer’s card is face up, the other is face down. As it always works in all types of BJ, your main goal in this game is to have more points that the dealer, but less than 21. The dealer reveals his second card only after the player makes the final decision. There are a few peculiarities when it comes to splitting. In this BJ type, you can split not only identical cards, such as two Queens or two tens etc., but also different cards that have the same value, such as Queen and King, Ten and Jack etc. Mind that the splitting limit is no more than 3 times. Basically, it gives you a chance to play with four separate hands. In case that you split aces, only one card will be dealt to you.
As for double down blackjack, you can do it only with two cards, no matter what’s their value. The only aspect to bear in mind is that you’ll have to place one more bet in this case. This bet needs to equal the first bet. Mind that you’re absolutely allowed to double down after splitting. |
| Vegas Strip |
Vegas Strip is among the most popular no download BJ games. It’s the most popular American version of BJ.
This blackjack card game is played with four decks. What’s really peculiar about this game is that the dealer is allowed to peek into the hole card. You are allowed to double down after you split the aces and the dealer peeks into his card that is placed face down. Just the way it’s in Vegas Downtown BJ, the splitting limit is three times. |
| Atlantic City |
This blackjack card game requires 8 decks to be played with. Dealers cards are dealt in the same manner as in many other BJ types – one card is visible to all the players including the dealer, while the second card is concealed from everyone. Dealer is allowed to know the hole card as well as stand on soft seventeen.
In this game, it’s allowed to have such options as late surrender and insurance. A player can split his hands three times. |
| Double Exposure |
This type is especially beneficial for those who prefer gambling for real money to free blackjack games for fun because in this blackjack version you’re allowed to see both the dealer’s cards, which grants you substantially more winnings chances! |
| Switch |
This game type is really a cool option no matter you play blackjack online for fun or for real money. The main peculiarity of this game is that a player can switch between two different pairs of cards. Technically, a player gets two pairs of cards and can choose between the pairs he or she wants to gamble with.
Mind that all the player’s cards are dealt face up. Their combinations can be easily improved by switching. Mind that the betting procedure is rather different in this BJ type. Instead of 3:2 as it is in all the other BJ games, here the payout is 1:1. |
| Pontoon |
Pontoon is the best way to play blackjack online for fun owing to its fun twist features compared to a classic BJ version. This blackjack game is played exactly the same way as Spanish 21 since all the 10 valued cards are removed and the deck has 48 cards instead of traditional 52-card-peck. What’s so particular about Pontoon? The key games actions have different names. In such a way, hit = pontoon, stand = twist, blackjack = stick. |
| Live Blackjack |
This version of BJ lets you play blackjack online according to the classic rules, yet in this case you compete with a real live dealer, which is extremely cool! |
| Super Fun 21 |
You can play blackjack Super Fun 21 only with one 52-card deck. This variant of BJ is cool as both free blackjack game and gambling for real money. You’ll definitely get a lot of fun and guaranteed money if you choose to play Super Fun 21. The rules of Super Fun 21 are absolutely identical to the classic ones. There are a few differences in the payout procedure though. In case both a player and the dealer have a natural blackjack, only a player wins.
Unlike the traditional 3:2 payout, a diamond BJ gets a 2:1 payout. A Diamond blackjack is a winning combination that consists of a diamond ace and one of the diamond cards whose value is ten (e.g., 10, Jack, Queen, King). |
History of Blackjack
For you to understand better the essence and peculiarities of BJ, it’s essential to be aware of its origin. That’s what this section basically serves for.
Nowadays, it’s not known what year this game was founded, yet the earliest references of BJ are dated back to 1700. Officially, in 1700, BJ was played in a French casino for the first time. That version of BJ slightly differed from the modern version of this extremely popular casino game. In 1700, BJ was called Vingt-et-Un, which is a French name for Twenty One as they usually call BJ nowadays.
There’s an alternative version of the earliest references of BJ. They say, the first memory of this game was noticed in a gambling novel by a Spanish well-known writer Miguel de Cervantes. His masterpiece “Rinconete y Cortadillo” deals with a pair of cheaters who are really good at cheating in the game veintiuna, which can be translated from Spanish as twenty-one. The cheaters had their own blackjack cheat sheet that helped them to win the game. Check the translated excerpt from this novel below. It deals with the detailed description of the game:
The game of veintiuna — literally twenty-one — consists in making twenty-one points with two or more cards — preferably two. The banker deals out one card to each player who then makes his stake. He then deals a second card. If the banker has made twenty-one points, or more points than any of the rest, he wins. If one of the players has made twenty-one points, the player wins, provided that the banker has not made twenty-one points at the same time. An ace counts as one or as eleven points
(Miguel de Cervantes, “Rinconete y Cortadillo”)
In such a way, we can say that the earliest written references of BJ were in this particular short story by Miguel de Cervantes. “Rinconete y Cortadillo” was written in 1602, which means that this game existed before it was first played in French casinos in 1700. We can’t say for sure whether ventiuna or BJ was invented personally by Miguel de Cervantes or not. Most likely, it was quite popular in Spanish society that’s why he decided to write about it in his short story.
There’s also a supposition that BJ was invented and played by the Romans who used different wooden pieces instead of the playing cards.
There’s evidence that in the North America BJ was brought by French colonists. In 1931, gambling has become officially legalized in North America. At that time, there were founded the first American land based casinos, most of them were launched in Nevada. BJ was one of the most popular casino games in that time.
There was quite a successful way of attracting people to place bets in a BJ casino by offering to gamblers special bets that featured black jacks, aniseed flavoured chews that were really popular at that time. Since many people started associating those black jacks with the game, it shortly was renamed from Twenty-one into BlackJack.
Owing to incredible popularity of BJ, there were different bonus payouts suggested by different land-based casinos that serves to stir the interest and betting enthusiasm of gamblers. For instance, an extremely appealing 10:1 payout was offered for a winning hand with the ace of spades and either the jack of clubs or jack of spades, to put it simpler, the ace of spades and black jack. That’s basically how the name black jack was attributed to the game. By the way, this bonus was cancelled quite soon. What’s particularly interesting, nowadays, blackjack is not just the name of this card game, but it’s also the name of a winning combination with an ace of whichever color plus any card whose value equals ten.
In 1956, there was the first attempt to mathematically come up with an optimal blackjack strategy. In such a way, in 1956, in the Journal of the American Statistical Association, there was published an article with the title The Optimum Strategy in Blackjack written by Baldwin, Cantey, Maisel, and McDermott. Their paper is now regarded as the foundation of blackjack basic strategy and blackjack calculator.
Baldwin calculations were used by Ed Thorp who managed to verify the basic strategy of blackjack while playing it himself. Based on the above mentioned article as well as his own findings, in 1963, Ed Thorp published Beat the Dealer, which is an extremely popular book in the professional gambling world.
No matter when and where the game emerged in fact, what we can say for sure is that BJ has become quite a popular gambling option globally. Nowadays, its rules have been improved in order to meet the gambling expectations of many people worldwide.
Canadian Blackjack
There is a statistical evidence that blackjack is the second most popular casino game after video slots. In Canada, it’s absolutely the same. Owing to such an incredible popularity of BJ in Canada, there’s definitely a need to clarify what are the peculiarities of Canadian BJ, if there are any, of course.
Since gambling is legal in Canada, you can enjoy BJ in literally any Canadian land-based casino. If you prefer online gambling, there’s some really good news for you, too. All the Canadian based online casinos as well as offshore casinos available for Canadian gamblers offer a truly wide range of different cool BJ options, so you’ll definitely be able to enjoy BJ gambling in Canada.
Based on our statistical research, we have revealed that Canadians prefer less classic versions of BJ, such as Atlantic City, Multi Hand, European Blackjack, Vegas Strip, Live blackjack, and Spanish 21. You must be really blessed to hear that all these and many more other really cool BJ versions are easily available in any Canadian casino, be it land-based or online.
Don’t you want to know the peculiarities of Canadian BJ in case you decide to play it in a land-based casino? While Canadians prefer to stick to the classic rules, there are still a few peculiarities:
- First of all, Canadian BJ requires six decks to play with;
- Secondly, the dealer doesn’t have a hole card. Instead, all the cards are placed face up;
- Thirdly, the only chance for the dealer to hit is while being on a soft seventeen;
- Fourthly, any two cards of your choice can be doubled;
- Fifthly, late surrenders are allowed;
- Sixthly, your hand can be resplited to four hands. Each of the hands may have an ace, yet there can’t be two aces in the same hand;
- Finally, if the dealer has a blackjack, you will lose only your original bet, while the rest of the money is yours.
Interesting Facts
- A BJ card deck has 52 cards. There are 4 suits each of which has 13 cards.
- In the deck, there are 16 cards whose value equals 10 – four tens, four jacks, four queens, and four kings.
- Aces can equal either one or eleven.
- 7.7% is Blackjack odds of hitting a particular card rather than the one whose value is 10.
- 31% is BJ odds for hitting a ten value card.
- 1/21 is the probability of hitting a BJ for players.
- If the dealer has an ace on the face up card, there’s a high chance that he or she has a BJ, which means that the hole card’s value is 10.
- 48% is the percentage of your winnings combinations during the game. If you use a blackjack basic strategy chart, your winning chances grow much higher though.
- 43% of your hands will be of hard value, from 12 to 17. These are losing combinations. Use a blackjack strategy chart in order to increase your winning chances.
- Providing that you’re dealt with three consecutive hands, a chance that all of them will be lost is only 14%.
- 28% of all BJ gambling is busting. When the blackjack strategy card is applied, the percentage of busting decreases to 16%.
- 1% edge or even less is what BJ sharks can have over the house.
Summary
To sum up, blackjack is the second most popular casino game in the world. While there are uncertainties concerning its first written references as well as the way this game was invented, there’s certainly no doubt that there’s definitely something about it. Only the existence of so many types of BJ serve to demonstrate that this seemingly simple game can be so diverse and exciting to play!
Freeblackjack might seem quite an easy game at first glance, yet it’s not that easy to win if you play for real money. That’s why we advice to familiarize yourself with the basic strategy as well as a blackjack table and implement the gained knowledge while gambling, especially when you play not a blackjack free, but the real money version. Try playing in a blackjack simulator or a demo version of free blackjack before commencing into the real casino gambling.
We are absolutely sure that providing that you follow our advice and gamble reasonably, your casino BJ experience will definitely be enjoyable and fun! Besides, there’s a really high chance that not only will you avoid heavy money losses, but also you’ll be able to win a lot!
