What are Side Bets in Blackjack?

You can find one or two optional side bets in certain online blackjack variants. As a general rule, it’s best to avoid placing these side bets unless you’re feeling extremely lucky or have bags of spare cash to try your luck at winning a side bet.

Revealed on this page are some of the most common side bets you are likely to come across when playing today’s most popular online blackjack games from various market-leading online casino game development studios and software providers.

What are the Most Common Side Bets in Blackjack?

In most online blackjack variants with optional side bets, there are usually just a handful to choose from. Most side bets must be placed before the start of a new round. The most common blackjack side bets you can often place a wager on are the following:

● Insurance

● Perfect Pairs

● 21+3

Some of these side bets involve only your hand, and other, more risky side bets, also involve the dealer’s hands. They are relatively straightforward, and once you have learned what they are, you may want to take a random punt once in a while. The payouts in some successful side bets can be huge.

Which Online Casinos have the Best Blackjack Games?

Before we take a look at each of these side bets, let’s start by taking a quick look at some of today’s best online casinos, where you can enjoy playing 50 or more different blackjack variants from today’s market-leading online casino game development studios and software providers either on desktop or mobile.

If you go to the official AskGamblers website, you can find over 1,000 of the latest honest reviews for today’s highest-rated online casinos, all of which are free to sign up to. If you want to play online blackjack casinos with real money, remember to check out the latest reviews for the following trusted sites:

● Unibet Casino

● Trada Casino

● Energy Casino

● Leo Vegas Casino

● Mr Green Casino

● Bet365 Casino

● PlayFrank Casino

● 777 Casino

● HeySpin Casino

● Mr Play Casino

● TonyBet Casino

● 32 Red Casino

● Plaza Royal Casino

● Spinzwin Casino

● Rizk Casino

● Spinland Casino

Other top sites you can also find reviews for on the reputable AskGamblers site are Conquer Casino, Pledoo Casino, Ice Casino, Playfina Casino, Tsars Casino, Rabona Casino, ZenCasino, 20Bet Casino, Qbet Casino, and 20Bet Casino, to name just a few top sites. These licensed online casinos accept a wide range of digital wallets, credit & debit cards, bank transfers, and prepaid cards, and you must be at least 18 years old to register an account with them.

Insurance Side Bet

Let’s start by taking a quick look at the insurance side bet. This optional side bet is designed to protect you should the dealer end up with a blackjack hand (21 points) and you end up with a losing hand.  The insurance side bet will only become available if the dealer’s face-up card happens to be an Ace. If you place an insurance side bet, you just have to hope that the dealer’s other card is a 10, Jack, Queen, or King.

The aim of this side bet is to get a small amount of money back even when you are not holding a winning hand. It usually pays 2:1. If you have a hunch that the dealer will get blackjack and is showing an Ace, you may want to place the insurance bet. The maximum wager allowed when placing an insurance bet is generally half of your initial stake.

Perfect Pairs

The Perfect Pairs optional side bet is a wager that the first two cards you are dealt make any pair. Depending on the pair will determine your payout. It can be a mixed pair (e.g., the same face card value or the same number, but different colour or different suit), a coloured pair (e.g., the same face card value or the same number, but SAME colour or different suit), or a perfect pair (e.g., the same face card value or the same number, and the SAME colour or SAME suit). A perfect pair often pays 30:1. A coloured pair pays 10:1, and a mixed pair pays 5:1.

21+3 Side Bet

This side bet involves the player’s hand (both cards) and the dealer’s hand (the initial face-up card). The aim of this side bet is to try and form a winning poker hand using these three cards. The higher ranking of the hand, the bigger your payout will be.

The payouts in this side bet are likely to be as follows: obtaining a three-card flush in those first three cards when placing a 21+3 side bet would pay 5:1. A straight would pay 10:1. Three of a kind would pay 30:1. A straight flush would pay 40:1, and suited trips would pay 100:1.

Final Note

Don’t forget that the golden rule is to usually not take insurance or place these side bets, even though the payouts can seem too tempting. Perhaps only place side bets if you’re feeling super lucky. You never know; you might end up landing a win every now and then.