Every Table Rule, and What It Is Worth
Updated
Table rules are not equally important, and the gap between them is enormous. One rule — the blackjack payout — matters more than all the others put together. Here is every common variation with what it does to the house edge, computed rather than copied.
- Baseline: six decks, S17, double on anything, DAS, no surrender, 3:2 — house keeps 0.46%.
- 6:5 payout costs 1.36%. Nothing else is close.
- H17 costs 0.213%. Deck count is worth less than people think.
- If a table pays 6:5, no other rule can rescue it. Walk.
The full table
All figures are the change to the house edge against the baseline above, for a player using correct basic strategy. Positive means worse for you.
| Rule | Effect on the house edge | Good or bad for you |
|---|---|---|
| Blackjack pays 6:5 instead of 3:2 | +1.360% | worse |
| Dealer hits soft 17 (H17) | +0.213% | worse |
| Double only on 10 and 11 | +0.173% | worse |
| No double after split | +0.120% | worse |
| Double only on 9, 10 and 11 | +0.090% | worse |
| Eight decks instead of six | +0.029% | worse |
| Late surrender offered | -0.071% | better |
| Two decks instead of six | -0.235% | better |
| Single deck instead of six | -0.612% | better |
| Early surrender offered | -0.624% | better |
What to check before you sit down
In order of how much it matters:
1. The payout. It is printed on the felt. “Blackjack pays 3 to 2” is what you want. “Blackjack pays 6 to 5” costs you 1.36% and no other rule on the table can make up for it.
2. Soft 17. Also on the felt: “dealer must draw to 16 and stand on all 17s” is the good version.
3. Doubling and splitting restrictions. Not usually printed. Ask, or watch a few hands.
4. Deck count. Last, not first. Going from eight decks to six is worth 0.029% — less than a twentieth of what the payout is worth.
How these were computed, and one we left out
Each row is a full recalculation of the game with that one rule changed: every possible pair of player cards against every dealer upcard, with the player choosing the best available action each time. The baseline reproduces published figures for the same rule set.
One rule is deliberately missing: no hole card (ENHC). On those tables a dealer blackjack also takes the money you added by doubling or splitting, and our model does not yet track that extra exposure — it produced a number we could tell was wrong. Rather than print it, we have left it out. The published figure is around 0.11%.
Keep reading
By Martin Kosek · every number on this site is computed by us, not copied.
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