House Advantage Single Deck Blackjack

A single-deck Vegas Strip game (blackjack pays 3:2, double down on any two cards, and dealer stands on soft 17), is pretty close to being a break even proposition for a basic strategy player. With four or more decks in play, and the same set of rules, the house has about a ½ percent edge.

It seems like single deck blackjack games are becoming more common once again, but the trend in some casinos is to make the payoffs for blackjack 6:5 instead of the customary 3:2. Keep reading to see how this affects the overall dealer advantage.

We advice players to play single deck blackjack games because if you play using perfect basic strategy on a single deck game the house edge shrinks to a meager 0.15%. Most casinos used to have single deck 3:2 games. But today, they are rarities, replaced by the single deck game which is 10 times worse than it was a decade ago. The ruse going on now is that some casinos are advertising the return of Single-Deck Blackjack, but only offering 6:5 for a blackjack. In this new single-deck version, a player’s blackjack gets paid only 6:5 rather than the usual 3:2. That means that if you bet $5 and get a blackjack, you get only $6 instead of the $7.50 you once received. The house will keep your buck and a half with a nice smile.

Consequently, where the house edge against the perfect basic strategy player was once a measly 0.15%, the house edge on this game has spiraled to 1.45%.

Because the starting house advantage is so much higher in single deck 6:5, it’s tough to spread enough to overcome the house edge. It takes a true count of around +5 just to break even. You’ll spend most of your time minimum-betting as a result, and those bets get expensive when blackjack pays only 6:5. A single-deck Vegas Strip game (blackjack pays 3:2, double down on any two cards, and dealer stands on soft 17), is pretty close to being a break even proposition for a basic strategy player. With four or more decks in play, and the same set of rules, the house. Just like that the player no longer has an advantage in single deck blackjack when playing perfect basic strategy. The casino does not like losing and will not lose for long. Other rule changes that have affected the house edge.

Given a choice between a six-deck game and 6:5 single-deck blackjack, avoid the latter. A six-deck shoe game is three times more advantageous than 6:5 single-deck blackjack.

Single Deck Blackjack Chart

House Edge Single Deck Blackjack

Bottom line, Casinos that advertise Single-Deck Blackjack, or any blackjack game that pays only 6 for 5 for a blackjack are simply trading a marketing gimmick for your dough-for which you had spent hours of hard work.