Fresh Deck Blackjack

Fresh Deck’s classic table

Fresh Deck Studios supplies live blackjack to Wild Casino and BetOnline. In Wild Casino’s live lobby its tables appear as Exclusive Classic followed by a table number; the numbers mark separate tables of the same game.

The rules

Eight decks. The dealer stands on all 17s and checks for blackjack before anyone acts, so a dealer blackjack never takes your doubled or split money. You can double on any two cards but not after a split, split once per hand, and each split Ace gets one card. Blackjack pays 3:2 and there is no surrender. The studio puts the main game’s return at 99.39%.

Playing it well

The chart above is computed for these exact rules. Standing on soft 17 is the friendliest rule at the table, worth about 0.2% against a dealer who hits it, while the lost double after split and the single split give a little over 0.1% back. Two side bets sit beside the main game: 21+3 pays 9 to 1 on any flush, straight, three of a kind or straight flush made from your first two cards and the dealer’s up card, and Perfect Pairs pays 25 to 1 when your first two cards match in rank and suit. 21+3 returns 97.26%, an edge more than four times the main game’s, so the cheapest way to play is to leave both alone.