How To Count Single Deck Blackjack

1. Blackjack Strategy Single Deck
2. Casinos With Single Deck Blackjack
3. Single Deck Blackjack Chart

Table Of Contents

To be sure that they have an advantage, they need to translate the current total into the “true count” first. This involves dividing the count by the number of decks still in play. If the count is +10, with five decks remaining in a six-deck shoe, then the “true count” is 10/5 = 2. This is considered to be a more accurate card counting blackjack technique. We would use a true count when learning how to count cards with multiple decks. A +6 running count in a single-deck game is not the same as in a multi-deck game because it contains more unseen cards. A Single Deck Blackjack game pays 3 to 2 or either 6:5 for blackjack at most casinos. Insurance bets pay 2 to 1, while other winning hands pay 1 to 1. Single Deck Blackjack RTP. Our game in question features a 99.75% RTP. The factors that contributed to its low house edge also gave it a high RTP.

• Online casinos usually use two to eight decks of cards during Blackjack games
• One exception is the Single Deck Blackjack - only one deck of cards is used
• To play Single Deck Blackjack games, register on this page

How Counting Works in Single-Deck Blackjack – Additional Tips Provided that you are not the first person to act, you should count the hit cards of the people who have drawn before you. When another player doubles, they are also required to reveal their starting hand so you should count those two cards as well.

If you want to play only one game at a Casino, you might want to make that game Single Deck Blackjack.

Why? Let’s see:

• it’s one of the the card games with the best odds (the house edge is only 0.3 percent)
• it’s easier to count cards when playing Blackjack with only one deck of cards
• the game is as exciting and fun as any other Blackjack variant

But you won’t find Single Deck Blackjack games that often. Especially if you play at brick-and-mortar Casinos.

Playing Casino games online? Then play Single Deck Blackjack at this online Casino.

Even before you actually find the game, you need to know some things about the game: how to play Single Deck Blackjack, and more importantly, how to get your best odds to win.

How to Play Single Deck Blackjack

If you’ve played any other variant of Blackjack, you won’t have any problems playing Single Deck Blackjack.

The rules are completely the same - only the number of cards differs.

Need a refresher on the Blackjack rules? This part of the article has you covered.

When You Win and When You Lose

When you open a Single Deck Blackjack game, you have only one goal - to get to 21 or gather more points than the dealer without going bust.

To do so, you need:

• to have a hand that’s a natural Blackjack - 21 points in value from the first two cards, e.g. a Jack (10 points) and an Ace (11 points)
• to have a hand that’s higher than the dealer’s and equal/lower to 21, e.g. a 20 (two Jacks) while the dealer has 19 (a Jack and a 9)
• to have a hand that’s lower than the dealer’s while the dealer’s hand in value goes bust (goes over 21)

If you have a hand exceeding 21 points - you go bust (you lose). Then it doesn’t even matter what hand the dealer has.

If you don’t go bust but the dealer has a higher hand, you lose yet again.

The Game Play Explained

How do you get a winning or a losing hand?

First, you make your bets. That’s a sign for the dealer that you want to join the game.

Then, the dealer deals each person at the table (including themselves) two cards each. Your cards are face-up while the dealer has one card face-up and a hole card face-down.

If the dealer’s face-up card is an Ace or a 10-value card, they peak at their second card to see if they have a natural Blackjack. If they do, the game is over right there and then - the dealer wins, the players lose.

Unless you have a natural Blackjack, too. Then the game is a push.

If the dealer doesn’t have an Ace or 10-value card or after checking the hole card the game goes on, it’s your time to make a move.

You can do the following:

• to hit - to ask for one more card
• to stand - to stick with your current hand
• to double down (only if you have a hard¹ 9, 10, or 11) - to double your bet and ask for one more (but the last) card
• to split (only if you have two cards of the same symbol, e.g. two Aces) - to make an extra bet and divide your hand into two hands

If you hit and don’t go bust, you can always hit again.

After you finally stand, the dealer plays out their cards. You see which one of you had the higher hand and wins.

Then the game is over and you can make another wager to play again.

How to Get the Highest Odds to Win at Single Deck Blackjack

While the game of Single Deck Blackjack may seem simple, it does require skills and strategy to maximize your chances of winning.

And there are two ways how you can improve your chances:

• by using Blackjack basic strategy
• by counting cards

Basic Strategy

Single Deck Blackjack basic strategy is the list of mathematically best moves you can make under certain circumstances to have the most chances of winning.

They are based on your hand value and the card that the dealer shows.

It’s important to note that each variant of Blackjack has a different basic strategy.

Therefore, to make sure you’re following the right strategy for Single Deck Blackjack games, only use the strategy table presented below.

When it comes to splitting, NEVER split 10s but ALWAYS split 8s and Aces.

Also split:

• 2s when the dealer shows between 3 and 7
• 6s when the dealer shows 6 or lower card
• 7s when the dealer shows 7 or lower card
• 9s unless the dealer shows a 7, a 10, or an Ace

Card Counting

While the basic strategy gives you the lowest house edge you can get in Single Deck Blackjack, you can improve your chances of winning even more by counting cards.

Card Counting is an advantage play technique that increased in popularity in the middle of the last century.

It involves keeping a track of cards that have been dealt and using that knowledge to hit/stand/split/double down when it makes the most sense.

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¹You have a hard hand if you don't have an Ace or the Ace in your hand can only have a value of 1.
²You have a soft hand if you have an Ace that can still be counted as both 1 and 11.

In the early days of casinos and till the 70s, Single Deck Blackjack was one of the most popular games. The smart gambler knew that this was the best game being offered and took advantage of its very low house edge.

While other games in casino had a house advantage as high as 15% or more, single deck blackjack offered the player an unheard of 99.85% payout. The house still has an edge, but it was by far the lowest of any game you could find.

To make it even better, savvy players learned that counting cards made the advantage tilt towards the players. There is no game in a casino where you can make this happen so easily as in Single Deck.

Content

1. Free Games
2. Rules
3. Game Comparison
4. Rule changes in land based casinos

However, the casinos caught on to this and quickly adjusted Blackjack rules to increase the house edge. This is why these days, most blackjack games are played with 4 decks or more. In most cases, 6 to 8. Simply adding a few decks brought the house edge up to 0.50% or more, depending on the various rule changes. And it also made it much harder for card counters.

Even though single deck Blackjack has become scarce, some land based casinos are starting to bring the game back to life. But beware, the game isn’t what it used to be. It may look the same at first glance; but when you take a deeper look, you will see just how different single deck Blackjack has become over the years.

However not all news are bad. Online blackjack players can still enjoy few Single Deck Blackjack games with favorable rules and 99.83% payout. There few variations available online and you can try them out for free. There are even two Single Deck Blackjack games for USA players, one developed by Bovada casino, the best payout casino online, and the second by BetSoft.

Free Single Deck Blackjack

Online Single Deck Blackjack Rules

The payouts rules of all Single deck games are quite similar, however the rules vary a lot from one version to another. Here you can find the basic set of rules, and below we will compare the differences between the games.

Dealer:

• Dealer hits soft 17.
• Dealer doesn’t check for blackjack (similar to European Blackjack).
• When the dealers face card is Ace, you are offered insurance.

Players:

• Double on 9, 10, 11.
• One card after doubling.
• You can split similar value cards.
• No Re-splitting.
• You can hit or double down after splitting, but split Aces receive only one card.

Payouts:

• Natural pays 3:2.
• Insurance pays 2:1.
• Hands of equal value are a push.
• If you have a blackjack and the dealer face-up card you are offered even money.

Game Comparison

Here you can find the unique rules each game has. For your convenience we’ve also added some valuable points, such as the stake limits, the number of hands you can play and US friendliness.

USA (Bovada, Ignition):

• Dealer checks for blackjack on 10 value cards.
• Double on any two cards and after splitting.
• 1 split.
• High minimum bet of $25.
• USA Friendly.
• Single hand.
• Odds: 99.92%
• Where to play: Ignition Casino

Amaya:

• Dealer stands on soft 17.
• No doubling down on split hands.
• Multi-hand: up to 3 hands per round.
• Wide betting limits: $1 – $500
• No USA players
• Odds: 99.76%
  
• Where to play: Guts Casino

BetSoft:

• Doubling down only on 10, 11 value hands.
• A and 10 after splitting counts as 21 and not natural.
• USA Friendly ( ($1 -$100 bets)
• Multi-hand: up to 3 hands per round.
• Odds: 99.54%
  
• Where to play: Bovada Casino

Gold (Microgaming):

• Dealer peaks for Blackjack on 10 value cards.
• No double down after splitting.
• Ace and 10 after splitting count as 21 and not natural.
• No USA players
• Odds: 99.67%
  
• Where to play: JackpotCity Casino

Low Limit (NetEnt):

Blackjack Strategy Single Deck

• Dealer checks for Blackjack on 10 value cards.
• Double down only on 10, 11 value hands.
• One card after doubling.
• No double down on split hands.
• Ace and 10 after splitting count as 21.
• Lowest minimum stakes of 10 cents/pennies.
• No USA players
• Odds: 99.53%
• Where to play: Guts Casino

WGS Vegas Single Deck:

• Dealer checks for Blackjack on 10 value cards.
• One card after doubling.
• Ace and 10 after splitting count as 21.
• USA Friendly ($1 -$100 bets)
• Odds: 99.80%
• Where to play: Red Stag Casino

Casinos With Single Deck Blackjack

Play’n Go:

• Blackjack pays 6/5 – Highly not recommended.
• Dealer stands on all 17s.
• Double on any two cards.
• Late surrender available.
• Ace and 10 after splitting count as 21.
• No USA players
• Odds: 98.76%

Single Deck Blackjack Chart

How Single Deck is Played in Land Basic Casinos

The first major change was allowing the dealer to hit on a soft 17. This is a total 17 containing an Ace. This alone brought the house advantage up an extra 0.20%

The other change was how Blackjacks are paid out. This is where the game took a wrong turn for the worse. At least for the players.

In most Blackjack games, a Blackjack pays out 3:2. However most land based casinos changed the blackjack payout at their single deck tables to 6:5. This may not look like a big deal, but it actually raises the house edge by 1.5%. That’s a lot!

What once was a game with the best odds, has now become the worse form of Blackjack to play. It’s considered a sucker bet, or a ploy to attract unsuspecting players into its trap. If you can find a brick and mortar casino that offers single deck game that pays the traditional 3:2 on Blackjacks, you should play it. Otherwise steer clear or just play blackjack online, where you can still enjoy favorable rules and odds.