Look around and you’ll see that there is no shortage of Blackjack tables anywhere. One could say that the casinos are just absolutely littered with ‘em, so if that’s what you’re looking for, good for you! One of the companies that are making these tables for your perusement is Microgaming.
In this article we are talking about Microgaming strictly as an example.
Microgaming has nothing to do with your wins or losses. They just make the games and then license them out to various casinos. They don’t care how many people play a game, they’ve probably already made their money by the time you get to it.
The reason we’re choosing to “pick on them” is because it is quite often on the tables made by Microgaming the players will have the option of placing a range of different bonuses and side bets, and sadly even though the actual bonus payouts that can be awarded to players when a certain hand combo or series of winning hands are dealt to the player may seem high in value, delving into the house edges attached to these bets is often quite revealing.
Below you will find a range of Blackjack games offered at sites on which you will have the option of placing a side bet or a bonus bet, however, once you discover the actual house edges, and therefore the value of these wagering options, you will never wish to play one of them again!
Just plain old Blackjack being played live over at BetOnline.
Perfect Pairs Blackjack
The Perfect Pairs Blackjack game, which you will find at many sites, has a European Blackjack game as the base game for this variant. As such, when you stick to playing the base game alone you will find the house edge to be a low to mid-ranged one when compared to other variants and the long term expected house edge on that base game works out at 0.42%.
However, if you were to choose to place the optional side bet on this game a range of winning payouts are awarded for certain hand combinations dealt out to you on the initial two cards. These payouts include a 30x stake payout for a suited pair, a 12x stake payout for a colored pair along with both for a 7x payout for any mixed pair you have been dealt.
The house edge on this side bet is an astounding 7.77% which is eighteen and a half times higher than the base house edge. Obviously, any sane Blackjack player should be staying far away from this one!
High Streaks Blackjack
Another variant you’re likely to find all over the place is High Streaks Blackjack. High Streaks is another that uses the European 0.42% house edge as its base game and once you place your initial wager you can place another side bet with it.
If one was to go for that side bet, the object is to get a paid bonus payout once two or more winning hands are dealt consecutively. They would then benefit from a payout based on the bonus bet side amount of 1x, 2x, 5x, and 10x when you get two, three, four, and five winning hands dealt out to you, one right after another.
This side bet comes with a hefty price however, and that is that the house edge you are up against now jumps up to a large 4.55%. That’s almost 11 times higher than the base games edge! So, this is clearly another one to stay far, far away from.
If you’re done just reading about Blackjack and you just want to go play, check out the selection over at BetOnline, just one of our more trusted sites!
Bonus Blackjack
Bonus Blackjack is one that actually does not pop up to often, and given what we’re talking about, that may be a good thing. This is one that plays to the same rules as their Vegas Downtown Blackjack and that means if you play this game without placing the side bet bonus you are playing a variant on which the house edge of a somewhat manageable 0.39%.
By placing the side bet of this game then you are going to be paid one of three different bonus payouts when you are dealt out, on your first two initial cards of any hand, an Ace and a Jack in the suit of Spades, any other suited Ace and Jack, or any other two suited cards. The payouts for these combinations are based on your stake amount and are 50x, 25x and 2.5x, respectively.
These payouts may be attractive at first glance, but the actual house edge on this bonus side bet option comes out to 6.46%!
Hi Low Blackjack
The Hi Low 13 Blackjack game is another one of those wacky European variation base games, and as mentioned above, the house edge on this is 0.42%.
However, a player is given three different kinds of side bet options and these bonus bets allow the player to try to predict whether the first two cards are going to be lower than 13 in value, higher than 13, or exactly 13. If guessed correctly, the winning bonus bet payouts for these three options are even money on both the high and lower than 13 options and 10 to 1 on the exactly 13 options.
However, there’s a knot tied in the tail in regards to the house edge of these bets, and that is that the bets make the house edge an extremely high 6.65% which is almost 16 times higher than the games base house edge!
Triple 7’s Blackjack
The Triple 7’s Blackjack game is a progressive game and when playing it, you are required to place an obligatory wager of $1 alongside your base game bet and in exchange for that side bet wager a range of payouts could be awarded to the player whenever certain hand combos containing certain different types of 7 cards are dealt out.
As the highest valued payout on the game can rise to some very high amounts due to the progressive nature of that top prize working out the house edge on the game is a little difficult. However, this is a game you should avoid playing for the average spread of the house edge on the mandatory side wager is going to be in the double digits which makes it yet another poor valued bonus bet that no slick Blackjack player is ever going to want to be forced to place!
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