Category · 0.5% at the best line

BLACKJACK: HALF A POINT, AND EVERY WAY TO LOSE IT

Basic strategy against a dealer standing on soft 17 costs half a point. Nearly everything printed on the felt moves that number, and one rule change triples it.

8 lines priced/ 80 decisions an hour/ bench stake C$10

0.5%best line on the ladder

C$4.00an hour at C$10

C$59.20an hour on the worst line

7 hmedian cashout, live floors

Blackjack has no single return figure and pages that quote one are quoting the best case and hoping nobody checks. The number depends on the deck count, whether the dealer hits soft 17, whether doubling after a split is allowed, and above all what a natural pays.

Six to five is the rule that matters. A blackjack returning C$12 on a C$10 bet instead of C$15 takes the cheapest game in the building and prices it like a bad slot. It is written on the felt, it is easy to see, and it is the only rule worth walking away over.

The rest of this page is the ladder: every common line, priced per hundred dollars wagered, plus the chart that turns the top line from theory into something you can play.

Every line, priced

Bet or rule	Edge	Per hour	What it is
Basic strategy, 3:2 blackjack, dealer stands on soft 17PLAY THIS ONE	0.5%	C$4.00	Four to eight decks, double after split allowed. The reference case for every other line here.
Same table, dealer hits soft 17	0.72%	C$5.76	One rule change, and it is printed on the felt before you sit down.
Single deck, blackjack pays 6:5	1.45%	C$11.60	Fewer decks helps. It does not buy back what the short payout took.
Same table, blackjack pays 6:5	1.9%	C$15.20	The most expensive rule in the building. A natural returns C$12 on a C$10 bet instead of C$15.
Playing by feel instead of the chart	2.5%	C$20.00	The gap between this line and the top one is what the chart below is worth.
21+3 side bet	3.2%	C$25.60	Your two cards and the dealer upcard read as a three card poker hand. Paytables vary; this is the common one.
Perfect Pairs side bet	4.1%	C$32.80	Pays when your first two cards match. Priced like a slot, sitting next to a game with a half point edge.
Insurance	7.4%	C$59.20	Offered whenever the dealer shows an ace. It is a separate bet on the hole card and it loses more than any other decision at the table.

Per hour is the edge multiplied by 80 decisions and a C$10 stake. It is a long-run rate rather than a prediction about an evening. Every figure above is a property of the rules and applies at any table running them.

The chart

Four to eight decks, dealer stands on soft 17, double after split allowed, surrender not offered. H hit · S stand · D double else hit · Ds double else stand · P split.

Hard totals

Hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
8 or less	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
9	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H
12	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
13	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
14	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
17 or more	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Soft totals

Hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A,2 or A,3	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,4 or A,5	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,6	H	D	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,7	S	Ds	Ds	Ds	Ds	S	S	H	H	H
A,8 or A,9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Pairs

Hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A,A	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
10,10	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
9,9	P	P	P	P	P	S	P	P	S	S
8,8	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
7,7	P	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
6,6	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H	H
5,5	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
4,4	H	H	H	P	P	H	H	H	H	H
3,3 or 2,2	P	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H

Dealer upcard runs across the top. Find the hand on the left and read across. The chart is computed once from the rules and does not change between sessions, sites or stakes.

Cashiers running a live floor

# Casino Median Live tables Door

BitStarz 10 min 180 tables C$20 GO

7Bit Casino 15 min 90 tables C$15 GO

PlayAmo 20 min 120 tables C$10 GO

SlotWolf 20 min 140 tables C$10 GO

King Billy Casino 25 min 150 tables C$20 GO

Betano 30 min 120 tables C$5 GO

Bizzo Casino 30 min 110 tables C$20 GO

BetRivers Casino 3 h 35 tables C$10 GO

Jackpot City Casino 4 h 40 tables C$1 GO

PowerPlay 4 h 100 tables C$10 GO

Casino Time 6 h 100 tables C$10 GO

bet365 Casino 8 h 215 tables C$10 GO

ToonieBet 9 h 460 tables C$10 GO

Bet99 Casino 12 h 600 tables C$20 GO

Stardust Casino 14 h 80 tables C$10 GO

Lucky Hills Casino 18 h 200 tables C$20 GO

SpinAway 18 h 95 tables C$10 GO

Sports Interaction 18 h 50 tables C$10 GO

JustCasino 20 h 300 tables C$30 GO

TonyBet 24 h 110 tables C$20 GO

Vegasino 24 h 70 tables C$5 GO

Wildz Casino 24 h 150 tables C$10 GO

22 of the 23 cashiers inside the 24 hour rule run a live floor, 3,515 tables between them. 20 casinos sit past the rule and carry no link anywhere on this site. GO pays a commission when an account opens through it.

Reading the ladder above

Each edge is a percentage of the amount put at risk on that decision. At C$10 a hand and eighty hands an hour, half a point is four dollars an hour. Two and a half points, which is roughly what playing by instinct costs, is twenty.

That gap is the value of the chart below, expressed in the only unit that matters. Sixteen dollars an hour, for reading a grid.

Side bets are priced separately because they are separate bets. Placing one alongside a half point hand does not average out to a good game; it runs two games at once and one of them is expensive.

Live dealer against software

The maths is identical where the rules are identical. What differs is pace. A software table resolves a hand in seconds and a live table takes closer to a minute, which means a live table costs less per hour and takes longer to clear a playthrough.

For a player working through a bonus, that is worth knowing in advance. Most cashiers count table games at a fraction of the stake toward playthrough anyway, and some exclude blackjack entirely.

Rule variations are usually clearer at a live table because the felt is photographed rather than described. Read it before you sit.

The chart is not counting

Basic strategy is the mathematically correct play for every hand against every dealer upcard, computed once and true forever. It requires no memory of previous cards and no skill beyond reading a grid.

Counting is a different activity, it does not work against a continuous shuffle, and it does not work online at all against a shoe reshuffled every hand. Anybody selling a counting system for an online table is selling something that cannot function.

Learn the grid. That is the whole edge available to a player here, and it is worth about sixteen dollars an hour at a ten dollar table.

Asked about blackjack tables

What is the house edge in blackjack?

Half a percent with basic strategy against a dealer standing on soft 17, doubling allowed after splits. Every rule change on the ladder above moves it, and 6:5 payouts move it most.

Is there a free way to practise blackjack?

Demo tables run the same rules and the same maths as the real ones. They are the correct place to learn the chart, because a mistake costs nothing while it is being learned.

Should I ever take insurance?

No. It is a separate bet on the dealer's hole card priced at over seven percent, which makes it the most expensive decision available at the table.