Double Deck: The Game Worth Crossing a Casino For
Updated
Two decks is the sweet spot that survives on real casino floors: better than six or eight, without the 6:5 payout that ruins almost every single-deck game. Even with the dealer hitting soft 17, a double-deck game at 0.42% beats a six-deck S17 table.
- Two decks against six is worth about 0.235% to you.
- Double deck with H17 (0.42%) still beats six decks with S17 (0.46%).
- It usually escapes the 6:5 payout that single-deck games carry.
- For counters, the true count moves faster — but penetration still decides.
What two decks buys you
Computed for identical rules otherwise: double on anything, double after split, no surrender, 3:2.
The useful comparison is the second and third bars. Casinos offering double-deck games usually attach the dealer hitting soft 17 as compensation — and it is not enough compensation. Two decks with H17 is still the better game.
What they take back
Double-deck games are dealt face down from the hand, and they come with restrictions: doubling often limited to 9, 10 and 11, no resplitting, sometimes no double after split. Each of those is worth around a tenth of a percent and together they can erase the deck advantage.
The one that cannot be compensated for is the payout. A double-deck game at 6:5 is worse than an eight-deck game at 3:2, by a wide margin.
For counters
Fewer decks means the true count swings faster and reaches usable levels sooner, which is genuinely useful. But double-deck games are also dealt shallow — a cut card placed with a deck to go is only 50% penetration, and that is the variable that decides everything.
They are also watched more closely, because a counter at a double-deck table with a wide spread is very visible.
Keep reading
By Martin Kosek · every number on this site is computed by us, not copied.
← Back to guides