Single Deck Blackjack: Your Best Bet at Online Casinos

July 11, 2019

• Online casinos usually use two to eight decks of cards during Blackjack games
• One exception is the Single Deck Blackjack - only one deck of cards is used
• To play Single Deck Blackjack games, register on this page

If you want to play only one game at a Casino, you might want to make that game Single Deck Blackjack.

Why? Let’s see:

• it’s one of the the card games with the best odds (the house edge is only 0.3 percent)
• it’s easier to count cards when playing Blackjack with only one deck of cards
• the game is as exciting and fun as any other Blackjack variant

But you won’t find Single Deck Blackjack games that often. Especially if you play at brick-and-mortar Casinos.

Even before you actually find the game, you need to know some things about the game: how to play Single Deck Blackjack, and more importantly, how to get your best odds to win.

How to Play Single Deck Blackjack

If you’ve played any other variant of Blackjack, you won’t have any problems playing Single Deck Blackjack.

The rules are completely the same - only the number of cards differs.

Need a refresher on the Blackjack rules? This part of the article has you covered.

When You Win and When You Lose

Play Game

When you open a Single Deck Blackjack game, you have only one goal - to get to 21 or gather more points than the dealer without going bust.

To do so, you need:

• to have a hand that’s a natural Blackjack - 21 points in value from the first two cards, e.g. a Jack (10 points) and an Ace (11 points)
• to have a hand that’s higher than the dealer’s and equal/lower to 21, e.g. a 20 (two Jacks) while the dealer has 19 (a Jack and a 9)
• to have a hand that’s lower than the dealer’s while the dealer’s hand in value goes bust (goes over 21)

If you have a hand exceeding 21 points - you go bust (you lose). Then it doesn’t even matter what hand the dealer has.

If you don’t go bust but the dealer has a higher hand, you lose yet again.

The Game Play Explained

How do you get a winning or a losing hand?

First, you make your bets. That’s a sign for the dealer that you want to join the game.

Then, the dealer deals each person at the table (including themselves) two cards each. Your cards are face-up while the dealer has one card face-up and a hole card face-down.

Play Game

If the dealer’s face-up card is an Ace or a 10-value card, they peak at their second card to see if they have a natural Blackjack. If they do, the game is over right there and then - the dealer wins, the players lose.

Unless you have a natural Blackjack, too. Then the game is a push.

If the dealer doesn’t have an Ace or 10-value card or after checking the hole card the game goes on, it’s your time to make a move.

You can do the following:

• to hit - to ask for one more card
• to stand - to stick with your current hand
• to double down (only if you have a hard¹ 9, 10, or 11) - to double your bet and ask for one more (but the last) card
• to split (only if you have two cards of the same symbol, e.g. two Aces) - to make an extra bet and divide your hand into two hands

If you hit and don’t go bust, you can always hit again.

After you finally stand, the dealer plays out their cards. You see which one of you had the higher hand and wins.

Play Game

Then the game is over and you can make another wager to play again.

How to Get the Highest Odds to Win at Single Deck Blackjack

While the game of Single Deck Blackjack may seem simple, it does require skills and strategy to maximize your chances of winning.

And there are two ways how you can improve your chances:

• by using Blackjack basic strategy
• by counting cards

Basic Strategy

They are based on your hand value and the card that the dealer shows.

It’s important to note that each variant of Blackjack has a different basic strategy.

Therefore, to make sure you’re following the right strategy for Single Deck Blackjack games, only use the strategy table presented below.

When it comes to splitting, NEVER split 10s but ALWAYS split 8s and Aces.

Also split:

• 2s when the dealer shows between 3 and 7
• 6s when the dealer shows 6 or lower card
• 7s when the dealer shows 7 or lower card
• 9s unless the dealer shows a 7, a 10, or an Ace

Card Counting

While the basic strategy gives you the lowest house edge you can get in Single Deck Blackjack, you can improve your chances of winning even more by counting cards.

_____
¹ You have a hard hand if you don't have an Ace or the Ace in your hand can only have a value of 1.
² You have a soft hand if you have an Ace that can still be counted as both 1 and 11.