Live Dealer Blackjack

Live Dealer Blackjack is blackjack played at online casinos with real dealers and cards. Live blackjack is the best way to play 21 online, and get the real casino experience.

Benefits when you play live dealer blackjack online:

• HD video is streamed from a live casino studio.
• Professional dealers are trained for this popular card game.
• The games occur in real time on the screen of your device.
• Play from desktop and mobile devices.

Our guide gives players the best online casinos where they can play live dealer blackjack for real money. We also provide tips and strategies to help you make better bets.

Best Live Dealer Blackjack Casinos

How to Play Live Dealer Blackjack Like a Pro

Playing in a live blackjack casino is different than gambling through a software platform. The technology is different, but the method for playing is common between the various providers.

Before you can start to play blackjack with a live dealer, you’ll need to follow several steps. Below, we provide a step-by-step guide to playing live casino blackjack. Many gamblers reading this already have completed certain prerequisites, so skip down the list until you reach the step you haven’t completed.

1. Sign Up at a Live Blackjack Casino and Fund Your Account

   Register an account at one of our recommended online casinos. You can find a selection of casinos offering live dealer blackjack below this section, or check out our online casino reviews for more general information.

   To play live blackjack for real money you first need to fund the account. Use a credit card, debit card, prepaid card, e-wallet, e-vouchers, bank transfer, or bitcoin service to make a casino deposit.

2. Locate the Live Casino Page and Choose Your Table

   Find the live casino page on the sites lobby. Many mobile casinos also have a live option. Click on Live Dealer Blackjack to access the blackjack games.

   Some live casinos use multiple software providers, so the casino may offer two or more versions of live dealer blackjack. Casinos sometimes offer “Elite”, “VIP”, or “Gold Series” live blackjack, which means high roller gambling. The betting limits will be much higher for these tables.

3. Learn the Game Interface and Features

   The HD video stream takes up the majority of the screen. Chip denominations and side bets can be made at the bottom of the screen. While different providers offer different options, “Bet History” and various video/audio options should be available at the bottom of the screen, too.

   Remember to look for the live chat option. With live casino games, you can talk to the dealer and other players. Type in a chat box to converse with the dealer. Use the audio to listen to what the dealer says. Customers can chat with other players at the table. Live studios offer 6 or 7-player tables.

4. Enjoy Playing, and Don’t Forget to Withdraw Your Winnings!

   The cards used are big and they’re shuffled in full view of the camera. Good live blackjack online games have options to Hit, Stand, Double, Split, or (where offered) Surrender. Learn the rules for each before playing.

   Unlike regular online blackjack, time considerations apply when playing with live dealers and other players. The dealer may prompt you if you take too long so remember to play quickly.

Best USA Online Casinos to Play Live Dealer Blackjack

Since blackjack is such a popular game you will find that almost all online casinos offer it or some variation. Now it’s a matter of finding the top casino site that offers the best live blackjack games.

For this OUSC live dealer blackjack guide, we have created a list of the best live blackjack casinos. These sites have all been proven to be trustworthy and offer the best live casino experience. The list below includes sites for the United States gambling market, as well as for international live dealer players.

RANK	LIVE CASINO	BONUS	MIN/MAX BET	START PLAYING
#1	BetOnline	100% up to $3,000	Min/Max Bet: $10 – $5,000	Play Now! BetOnline Review
#2	MyBookie	150% up to $750	Min/Max Bet: $1 – $1,000	Play Now! MyBookie Review
#3	Bovada	100% up to $3,000	Min/Max Bet: $5 – $2,500	Play Now! Bovada Review
#4	Ignition Casino	100% up to $1,000	Min/Max Bet: $5 – $2,500	Play Now! Ignition Review
#5	Wild Casino	$5,000 Welcome Bonus	Min/Max Bet: $10 – $5,000	Play Now! Wild Casino Review

As you have see, some of the live casinos accept USA players, while others cater to international gamblers. Be sure to read the reviews and make sure they offer the live blackjack games you want. Proceed with caution if you decide to play at any of the casinos not reviewed.

Video Tutorial: How Live Dealer Blackjack is Played Online

Wondering how to live blackjack is played online? Check out this short video and experience for yourself. See how hands are dealt by live dealers and how a live balckjack game is played.

Other Live Dealer Blackjack Games

Just like there are many different varieties of casino blackjack, there are also different types of live dealer blackjack games. These will have different rules and ways to bet, so make sure to read each review carefully to see if these games are right for you.

These are some of the other live blackjack games that you can find and enjoy at online casinos:

Mobile Live Dealer Blackjack

Online casinos support mobile live dealer blackjack. Since it is played on an HTML5 platform, the streaming technology was designed to support desktop computers, smartphones, and tablets. To access Live Blackjack using your Android smartphone, iPhone, or iPad, you’ll need to go to the Live Casino section of the online casino.

Since mobile gaming is becoming more popular, online casinos make sure that their mobile platforms are user-friendly. Live blackjack online players using Android and iOS smartphones will find that:

• Live casinos have the dealers use large cards to make it easier to see on a smaller screen.
• Video graphics keep track of your hand total and bet size, but otherwise remain unobtrusive.
• Everything appears on your screen in real time, so you can give live feedback to the dealer, hostess, and pit boss.

How Online Live Blackjack Works

Live dealer casinos are often operated by a different provider than the main online casino. When you select these games you will usually be taken to a separate area of the lobby. In this section, you will be able to see all the tables that are open and the betting limits. Some casinos will even show you a picture of the dealers currently live at the blackjack tables.

Live blackjack dealer tables are operated with seven spots, each place is taken by a different player (or 2 spots per player at some casinos). Stakes typically start at $5 per hand, while high-rollers can find live dealer blackjack games with min stakes of $1,000.

Strategy & Reducing the House Edge in Live Blackjack

Basic Strategy is the key to improving at live dealer blackjack. Basic strategy alone will not make you a winning player, but it does make you an optimal player. This means you play longer and save more of your bankroll.

The strategy depends directly on the live dealer blackjack variation being played. Deck size, dealer stand/hit rules, peak rules, and surrender rules have an effect on the strategy employed.

Free printable blackjack strategy charts

Live blackjack players should always have a basic strategy chart. Printable blackjack strategy charts can be found for all blackjack variation, but you must match the chart you use to the rules used in the live casino. Always keep your strategy chart near you while you play live dealer blackjack online. The great thing about playing at home is you can refer to the table while you gamble.

A few basic concepts apply to every version of blackjack, so I’ll discuss those below.

Below you will find 12 blackjack tips and a basic blackjack strategy chart. Please remember that this is not a comprehensive strategy or even the best strategy for any single version of live dealer blackjack. This simple chart is a short version of good, but not the best, player decisions.

The blackjack strategy chart works well with the most popular game variations found in most online casinos. If you only learn one basic strategy chart for high-deck games, memorize the “dealer hits on soft 17” chart. The cost in errors is higher for that strategy than it is for those in which the dealer stands.

Basic Player Decisions Based on Your Hand & Dealer Card
#1	Double down when you have a 10 or 11 and the dealer’s up card is 9 or less.
#2	Double down when you have a 9 and the dealer is showing a 3, 4, 5, or 6.
#3	In the two scenarios above, if you cannot double down, at least hit. With hands of 11 or less, hit.
#4	With hard hands between 17 and 21, always stand.
#5	With hard hands between 12 and 16, stand if the dealer holds a 6 or less. If the dealer holds a 7 or higher, hit.
#6	With soft hands of 19 or higher, always stand.
#7	With soft hands of 15 or lower, always hit.
#8	With a soft hand between 16 and 18, things are more complicated. Hit against a 7 or higher. Double down (and hit) if the dealer shows a 6 or lower.
#9	Always split aces and eights, if allowed.
#10	Never split fours, fives, or tens.
#11	When the dealer is holding a 6 or less, split when receiving other pairs: twos, threes, sixes, sevens, or nines.
#12	Never take insurance. This is a sucker bet for everyone but card counters in rare instances.

Again, a combination of card counting and basic strategy turns live dealer blackjack into a positive expectation game. Even our advice on basic strategy is rudimentary and should be supplemented with further study. Our dedicated blackjack strategy page would be a good place to learn more about this subject.

Of all strategies to win at blackjack, card counting is the most widely known. At a basic level, this means tracking the high and low cards, then increasing your bets when the deck is in your favor. In a live dealer online blackjack game, counting is almost impossible. For a start, there are 6-8 decks in play, which are shuffled and exchanged too frequently to get a true count. In addition, sudden increases in your stakes will be very obvious and team-play easy to track.

Instead of worrying about card counting and similar tricks, you will do far better by finding a casino with a generous welcome bonus and ongoing promotions or rewards. This way every time you place a bet, you will be gaining value towards clearing the bonus funds, and by playing solid blackjack strategy, you are able to reduce the house edge to a minimum.

Many live dealer Blackjack games offer side bets, for example, Perfect Pairs. While these can add some extra interest to the deal, and potentially get you a big payout, you should be aware that the house has a large edge in these side-games.

Deck penetration is why online blackjack ruins card counting because the deck is reshuffled on each new hand. It’s also why live dealer blackjack is a much better experience because it restores many of the advantages that players in brick-and-mortar casinos had for decades. Even better, the dealer and the pit boss don’t know if you’re counting cards or not.

For that reason, many live casinos either have large deck sizes in their games or they reshuffle the deck often. Alternately, they have rules advantageous to the casino which balance out the perks players receive when they play live dealer blackjack. It is important to learn the rules of the game you play. It’s also important to find the live casinos with the best policies, which is why we discuss the various providers so much at the bottom of this page.

Live Dealer Blackjack Software Providers

Below youw will find a complete list of the top live casino software providers. These companies have developed the live dealer blacjack games you can find at the best online casinos.

Playtech has become a major player within the online casino software industry, and for good reason. In 2003, the company changed the world of online casino gaming by introducing the world’s first Live Dealer platform.

Today, Playtech hosts Live Dealer streaming sessions from a studio in Riga, Latvia, which opened in 2009, along with their original Manila, the Philippines which debuted in 2003. The Latvian-based studio caters to European facing customers while the Manila-based studio serves Asian players.

The standard blackjack game operated by Playtech allows for seven players at the main table, and includes the following base rules, house edge, and other specifications:

Among the Live Dealer blackjack games which you can expect to find on Playtech’s menu:

Billing itself as the “leading provider of Live Casino solutions,” Evolution Gaming was launched in 2006. Over the years, Evolution Gaming has developed a sterling reputation within the industry, due in large part to the company’s technological prowess.

Live dealer blackjack players can enjoy a genuine casino style studio ambiance, television quality video streaming, browser-based games, and full disclosure of house rules and return to player percentages. Even better, Live Dealer games powered by Evolution gaming offer dedicated live studio support.

The standard blackjack game operated by Evolution Gaming allows for seven players at the main table, and includes the following base rules, house edge, and other specifications:

Evolution Gaming offers just the standard live blackjack game but mixes things up through the inclusion of several optional wagers and other features. In addition, you’ll find VIP tables for higher limits, and Diamond VIP tables for the highest limits. A list of in-game features available on Evolution Gaming’s blackjack tables has been compiled below:

The Swedish company known as Net Entertainment, or NetEnt, was founded in 1996. The company’s Live Dealer platform was launched in early 2013, and over the next few years, NetEnt has made inroads into the online casino industry’s fastest growing niche.

What makes NetEnt’s Live Dealer blackjack offering unique is the use of a shuffling machine. Other software providers have their dealers manually shuffle the cards, which can slow the game down somewhat. Players prefer the hand shuffle, however, as it adds to the game’s transparency and offers a more realistic experience.

The standard blackjack game operated by NetEnt allows for seven players at the main table, and includes the following base rules, house edge, and other specifications:

When playing Live Dealer blackjack on a NetEnt powered online casino, you’ll only have two game options available: Blackjack, and Common Deal Blackjack. The first game is standard issue blackjack using the rules described above while the second simply adds the unlimited bet behind option to allow for multiple players using the same deal.

Founded in the British territory of the Isle of Man in 1994, Microgaming is perhaps the world’s most well-known online casino software provider. The company powers more than 800 unique casino games today, including a Live Dealer component which debuted in 2006.

Microgaming’s Live Dealer blackjack tables were the first to associate themselves with a premier brand, and the Playboy Live Dealer games feature dealers dressed in the signature Playboy bunny garb.

The standard blackjack game operated by Microgaming allows for seven players at the main table, and includes the following base rules, house edge, and other specifications:

You’ll find two versions of the game on Microgaming sites, but both Blackjack and Playboy Blackjack use the same rules as described above. The only difference between the two games is that Playboy Blackjack uses the Playboy bunny dealers. In both games, players can bet behind, but no side bets are offered.

Blackjack 101

Now that you know how to play live dealer blackjack, let’s quickly discuss the basic concepts of the game. In blackjack, the player receives two cards dealt face-down, so none of the other players at the table can see them. The dealer is dealt one card face-up (the face card) and one card face-down (the hole card). Players must make a decision before the dealer, which provides the casino a house edge. Players might bust out before the casino ever makes a decision.

Blackjack strategy comes in with the decisions of whether to hit, stand, double, or split the two cards dealt. Luckily, gamblers have decades of research on the best plays for each card combination, according to each set of rules. The research has been done by running computer simulations of millions upon millions of hands, to see which decisions are best for each card combination.

This research is printed out on easy-to-read basic strategy charts for each blackjack variant. A good blackjack player is going to memorize a basic strategy chart for Classic Blackjack. In almost any case, basic strategy does not beat the house edge, but it lowers the house edge using optimal play.

Readers might be wondering what the house edge is. The Wizard of Odds defines the house edge as “the ratio of the average loss to the initial bet“. It is not the amount of money lost compared to total wagers. It is not the amount of money lost to the ending wager. Here’s why.

After the initial bet, players might make wagers when the odds dictate they do so. These additional wagers are variable for each new hand. The house edge is meant to determine how much a player will lose, so it is more accurate to base this calculation off the original bet.

Casino House Edge

It should be noted that the house edge is assumed in most casino games. Players should view gambling as a form of entertainment and the house edge as the price of admission for that entertainment. The house edge doesn’t mean you’ll lose, but it does mean you’re likelier to lose than you are to win.

Because of the house edge, the longer the game continues, the more likely the casino is to win. The house edge is based on probability, but it is reliable enough that land-based casino companies invest billions into building new casinos with fancy hotels and showy attractions.

Of all casino games, though, blackjack has the lowest house edge. This low house edge has one major caveat: you have to learn strategy and make good decisions to maintain those nice odds. Also, the rules matter in blackjack, none more so than the deck size.

Many blackjack rules affect the house edge of a game. Of all factors, the deck size affects the odds most. This is true for card counters, but also other blackjack players. Blackjack Hall of Fame inductee Arnold Snyder wrote,

“The more decks being used, the less profitable the game becomes, not only for card counters, but for basic strategy players as well.”

Snyder’s statement was made in a discussion of the effect “deck penetration” has on blackjack odds. Deck penetration refers to the percentage of the cards used before a reshuffle occurs. If half the cards are used, then the deck penetration would be 50%. This is why single-deck blackjack is best, all other rules being equal. The cards already played have a greater effect on future hands, but players can predict that effect better with a smaller deck.

Readers must be wondering at the effect deck size has on the house edge. The table below shows why players are so interested in playing single deck blackjack. The gulf between single-deck blackjack and double-deck blackjack is immense. The drop-down from double-deck to 3-deck blackjack is also significant. Once you get to four decks or more, the effect is negligible, though they’re all bad.

Do not make a single-minded search for single-deck blackjack. In brick-and-mortar casinos, casino management often pairs single-deck 21 with a bunch of rules which punish the player. The cumulative effect is the single-deck table is a worse game than other blackjack tables in the gaming space. Remember to look at all the rules being used in the game.

What you should take from this section is the number of card decks used are important and should always be considered before selecting a game, whether in an offline, online, mobile, or live casino. You can also use a house edge calculator if you want to be more prepared when playing live blackjack online.

When casinos began to appear on the Internet in the 1990s, blackjack’s popularity continued online. Software providers designed an array of games found in land-based casinos, including the popular forms:

Lesser known versions like Double Exposure and Switch appeared online, while new types of blackjack were introduced.

Online blackjack lacked certain charms of the live dealer experience because they required a random number generator (RNG) and virtual simulations of the real-life game. The RNG allowed the deck to be shuffled in real time between every single hand, eliminating any advantage card counting provided. Despite the low house edge, online blackjack decidedly tilted the game in the casino’s favor.

Live Blackjack Rule Variations

Below is a list of some of the different rules you might run into. This is by no means a full list of alternate blackjack rules. Players should note some of these variations and avoid them, anytime possible. Losing on ties or pushing on a dealer bust is not fun for the player, but these rules can also increase the house edge by 4% to 8%.

Most of the rules above have an effect of less than 1%, but this translates to a lot of money when you’re gambling at high volume. Beware of games which pay less for a blackjack. The 6:5 blackjack and 7:5 blackjack tables are avoided by smart players in the brick-and-mortar casinos.

Books on Basic Strategy to Improve at Live Dealer Blackjack

Readers who want to study basic strategy in greater detail should be one or more of the books below, other books about blackjack. I have tried to avoid books on card counting, though some of the titles below provide intermediate advice on the subject after they present basic strategy.

Many of these books provide overlapping information. Each has a solid introduction to basic strategy, which is most important for new readers. Each book also has additional how-to information, including chapters on card counting. All books are available for purchase at Amazon.com. I have included the direct purchase link to each of the books.

• Blackjack Secrets by Stanford Wong
• Big Book of Blackjack by Arnold Snyder
• Playing Blackjack as a Business by Lawrence Revere
• Winning at Blackjack by Bryan Evans
• Winning Blackjack for the Serious Player by Edwin Silberstang
• Winning Casino Blackjack for the Non-Counter by Avery Cardoza
• The World’s Greatest Blackjack Book by Lance Humble and Carl Cooper

Lawrence Revere’s book is a little dated, but it still presents the clearest description of basic strategy in print. In all of these books, beginning players should avoid the chapters for card counters.

Counting cards is an advanced level of gaming beyond our discussion here. While anyone with math skills can count cards, it is likely to be a level of dedication and immersion which some gamblers won’t find enjoyable.

Live Blackjack is a Great Casino Game to Play

Live blackjack is a great game to play for anyone that enjoys this classic casino game. It doesn’t get any better than having the real casino experience straight from your phone or computer. Remember that you can always use this guide when you playing live dealer blackjack at any US online casinos.

Live Dealer Blackjack Players Also Asked