What Is the House Edge in Blackjack?

The house edge is the average share of your bet that the casino keeps over many hands, and it is measured against your first bet, even when you double or split. With standard online rules and perfect basic strategy, the blackjack house edge is about 0.62%, and with worse rules, such as a 6:5 blackjack payout, it rises to about 1.98%.

• What House Edge Means
• The House Edge With Basic Strategy and Standard Rules
• House Edge Table for Common Rule Sets
• What Each Rule Adds or Removes
• House Edge on 6:5 Blackjack
• House Edge vs. What Happens in One Session
• How to Lower the House Edge

01What House Edge Means

The house edge is an average. It tells you how much of your bet the casino keeps per hand over a very large number of hands.

Your first bet is the bet you place before the cards are dealt. If you double or split, you add more money, but the house edge is still measured against that first bet.

• You bet 10 on a hand. That 10 is your first bet.
• You double down (add a second bet of the same size and take one more card). The house edge still counts per first bet of 10.
• You split a pair (turn two cards of the same value into two hands). The house edge still counts per first bet of 10.
• With standard rules, the house keeps on average 0.62% of that 10 per hand.

Here you have 11 against a dealer 6, and the chart says double. Doubling averages +0.674 per first bet, while hitting averages +0.337 per bet.

New to the terms? The glossary explains each one.

02The House Edge With Basic Strategy and Standard Rules

Basic strategy is the chart of moves that gives the best average result for every hand against every dealer up card. The up card is the dealer card you can see.

With perfect basic strategy, the house edge is about 0.62% on a table with these rules:

• 6 decks in the shoe (the box the cards are dealt from).
• The dealer hits soft 17 (a 17 that counts an ace as 11).
• You may double after a split.
• No surrender.
• The dealer peeks for blackjack when showing an ace or a ten-value card.
• Blackjack pays 3:2.

Here the dealer has a soft 17. The ace counts as 11 unless that would bust the hand, then as 1.

At a standard table the dealer takes another card on soft 17.

Victoria's tip

The 0.62% figure is only true if you play every hand by the chart. Each mistake makes the house edge higher.

03House Edge Table for Common Rule Sets

Different online tables use different rules. All numbers below assume perfect basic strategy.

A European no-hole-card game is one where the dealer takes a second card only after you finish your hand. See European blackjack for how it works.

04What Each Rule Adds or Removes

Each rule moves the house edge up or down. Here is how much each one changes it compared with the standard table.

Late surrender lets you give up a hand after the dealer checks for blackjack and get half your bet back. Read more on surrender and soft 17.

05House Edge on 6:5 Blackjack

A blackjack is an ace plus a ten-value card as your first two cards.

At 3:2, a 10 bet on a blackjack pays 15. At 6:5 the same blackjack pays 12, and at 1:1 it pays 10.

• 3:2 payout: house edge 0.62%.
• 6:5 payout: house edge 1.98%.
• 1:1 payout: house edge 2.88%.

Victoria's tip

Check the blackjack payout printed on the table before you play. If it says 6:5 or 1:1, the house edge is several times higher.

The full breakdown is on the 6 to 5 blackjack page.

06House Edge vs. What Happens in One Session

The house edge is a long-run average. In one session, your results can be far above or far below it.

• Each hand ends in a win, a loss or a tie (push).
• Doubles and splits make single results bigger in both directions.
• A paid blackjack comes about once every 22 hands, so a short session can have many or none.
• Only over many hands do your average results move close to the house edge.

This table shows the chance of being ahead after a number of hands with standard rules and basic strategy.

At a 10 bet, the average loss is about $6.17 over one hundred hands and about $61.75 over one thousand hands. You can watch this in the blackjack simulator.

Set a budget before you play. The responsible gambling page has more on this.

07How to Lower the House Edge

You control two things: which table you choose and how you play each hand.

1. Pick better rules. Look for 3:2 blackjack, dealer stands on soft 17, double after split and late surrender.
2. Play every hand by the chart. Use the blackjack strategy chart for every decision.
3. Skip insurance. Insurance is a side bet of up to half your original bet that you can place when the dealer shows an ace. It has a house edge of about 7.4%.

Here is one chart row. With hard 16, you stand against 2–6 and hit against 7–A.

Against a dealer 10, hitting 16 averages −0.535 per bet and standing averages −0.540. Both lose on average, but hitting loses less.

Practice these moves in the blackjack trainer, or compare rule sets with the house edge calculator.

Victoria's tip

Basic strategy lowers the house edge. It does not remove it, so the house still keeps a share of every bet on average.

Questions people ask