Blackjack is one of the most popular games at both land-based casinos and live dealer online casinos. Part of the reason is that it is one of the easiest games to learn.
For those who don’t know, the aim of blackjack is as simple as trying to get to the value of 21 with your cards. You are initially dealt two cards but can ask for more if you wish. If you exceed 21, you go bust and lose. But the main thing you’re looking for is to beat the dealer’s hand, whether that by having a higher value than theirs, or by the dealer going bust.
The typical returns in blackjack are evens for a standard win or odds of 3/2 for getting a blackjack with your first two cards. Therefore, some people believe you can’t win big playing these popular live dealer games because the return odds are smaller than other games, but there are also a number of side bets you can place at many casinos such as Perfect Pairs, which offer additional chances of winning big in the game.
Here are just a few occasions when players have won big playing online live blackjack.
Codeman Rips Nines
Even though the main aim of the game is to beat the dealer, as mentioned there are side bets to be played as well. So even when you lose, you can still win. And that’s just what Codeman did on the Xposed Twitch Channel when he placed a $56,500 stake across the main game and the Perfect Pairs side game.
The idea of Perfect Pairs is that you get paid out when the dealer hands you a pair with your first two cards. These include pairs of different colors, pairs of the same color, and the perfect pair, two cards of identical suit and value. The odds for this side game increase with the smaller the chance of receiving that type of pair.
Many people just play the side games without really focusing on it, but Codeman didn’t miss a trick here when the dealer gave him two Nine of Clubs. He could’ve then split those cards further, but decided to stick on 18. Unfortunately, the dealer beat him with a 19, but that didn’t matter. Because those two nines returned a whopping $181,500.
$20,000 Double Down
Once again we’re back with Codeman, this time with a clip from the Xposed YouTube channel when he was streaming live dealer blackjack. He had a few good wins during this stream, but none was more impressive than when he put $10,000 down on the main game, with an additional $1,500 on side bets. Sadly, none of the side bets came in, but he was dealt an excellent hand with a three and an eight, giving him a total of 11 he chose to double down with $20,000 on in the hope of pulling out a ten, Jack, Queen or King.
Sadly, he didn’t pull out the card he wanted and was dealt an Ace giving him a total of 12. The dealer only had a three on show, revealing their second card to be a five. With the dealer on less than 17, they were forced to draw another card which revealed a Queen, taking the dealer’s total up to 15 and forcing another card to be drawn. With anything between a two and a six giving the dealer the win, Codeman was praying to the betting gods for a high-value card.
And that is just what he got when the dealer pulled out a Jack and busted the hand with 25. Giving Codeman a whopping $40,000.
An Insane $600k Run
It’s not all about big one-off wins, sometimes it’s about playing the long game. And that’s just what Moo23 did when he started off streaming blackjack with $20,000. He won a fair few hands, cashing out occasionally and also swapping to play slot games to give him some time away from the table to collect his thoughts. In total, he won about 75% of the hands he was dealt, giving him over half a million dollars. Check out the full session in the video below:
Many Hands Make Light Work
You’ve all heard the saying that “many hands make light work” and many hands is a great way to maximize payouts playing live dealer blackjack. The thing with live dealer games is someone can come up to the table and cost you by making poor decisions to hit or stick which can ruin your hand or hand an advantage to the dealer.
One way to prevent that from happening is to use a strategy of playing multiple hands of blackjack to not allow anyone else on the table. That’s what Adin Ross on the SoMuchPlug YouTube Channel did in this next clip, playing seven hands in the hope it paid off. In total, his stake came to $80,500 including side bets, he bust himself on a couple of hands, but with the dealer going bust with 22, it handed him a huge $126,000 win to take his balance up to around $150,000 for the night.
Split Decisions
We started with him, so we’ll finish with him, another clip from Codeman. This time, starting with an $11,500 stake on the main game and side bets, he not only gets a Perfect Pair on two threes, he decides to split them as well.
Following the split, he only manages to get a 15 and 13, but with the dealer on a three initially, it was all to play for. Flipping his second card, the dealer revealed a Jack, forcing them to pull one more card. Which they do, and it’s another high-value card in a Queen, that busts the dealer and hands $81,500 to Codeman for putting his faith in the cards.
