Rule variations explained

The house edge is the share of each bet the casino expects to keep over the long run when you play perfect basic strategy. Every figure on this page is measured against the Salon's default table — six decks, dealer stands on soft 17, blackjack pays 3:2, double on any two cards, double after split, re-split aces, late surrender — which has an estimated edge of 0.25%. The figures are close approximations built from published per-rule effects, not exact calculations for every combination.

House-edge calculator

Set the rules of a table you've found and see where it lands.

Blackjack payout: 3:2 vs 6:5

6:5 instead of 3:2

This is the rule that matters most. At 3 to 2, a $10 blackjack pays $15; at 6 to 5 it pays $12. You get a blackjack about once every 21 hands, so the missing $3 adds up quickly — roughly 1.4% on the house edge, several times the damage of any other common rule.

Tables advertising "blackjack pays 6 to 5" are often the ones with lower minimum bets and single-deck games, which can look attractive. They aren't: a single-deck 6:5 game is far worse than a six-deck 3:2 game. Rarer payouts exist too — 7:5 sits between the two, while 1:1 ("even money" blackjack) is worse still.

7:5

Dealer hits or stands on soft 17

Dealer hits soft 17 (H17)

A soft 17 is a 17 that includes an ace counted as 11, like ace-6. If the dealer stands on it (S17), they're stuck with a hand that loses to 18 or better. If they hit (H17), they'll often improve to 18–21. The felt always tells you which rule is in force: "Dealer must stand on all 17s" is the one you want.

H17 also changes basic strategy slightly — you double and surrender a little more often. The strategy charts switch between the two.

Number of decks

Fewer decks help the player. With a single deck, every card dealt shifts the odds more, blackjacks are slightly more common, and doubling down pays off more often. The effect flattens out quickly — the difference between six and eight decks is tiny. Because single-deck games are so good for players, casinos often pair them with worse rules (like 6:5 payouts) that more than cancel the benefit.

Hole card, peeking and European rules

No hole card, lose doubles and splits to a dealer blackjack

In most American games the dealer takes a face-down hole card and, when showing an ace or ten, peeks at it before anyone plays. If it's a blackjack, the round ends immediately and you only lose your original bet.

Many European and Australian tables deal no hole card (ENHC): the dealer's second card comes after the players have acted. If it then makes blackjack, you can lose everything you've put out — doubles and splits included. Some of those tables use an original bets only (OBO) rule that returns the extra wagers, which makes the game almost identical to a peek game.

No hole card with original bets only

Doubling restrictions

Double on 9–11 only

Double on 10–11 only

Doubling is how you make money when the dealer is weak, so every limit on it costs you. Restricting doubles to totals of 9–11 or 10–11 takes away soft doubles such as ace-7 against a 6, which basic strategy relies on.

Double after split (DAS)

No double after split

With DAS, if you split 2s and draw a 9 to the first one, you can double that 11. Without it, splitting small pairs becomes less valuable and basic strategy splits them less often.

Splitting rules

Only one split (two hands)

Most tables let you re-split up to three times, making four hands. A one-split limit hurts most when you hold 8s or aces and get dealt another.

Re-splitting aces

No re-splitting of aces

Split aces normally receive only one card each. If that card is another ace, RSA lets you split again instead of being stuck with a soft 12.

Hitting split aces

Hit split aces allowed

A rare and valuable rule: instead of one card per ace, you play each split ace as a normal hand.

Splitting unlike tens

Some tables let you split any two ten-value cards (king-jack), others only identical ranks. It makes no difference to the house edge, because basic strategy never splits tens anyway.

Surrender

No surrender

Late surrender lets you give up a hand for half your bet after the dealer has checked for blackjack. Used correctly — mainly hard 16 against a 9, 10 or ace and hard 15 against a 10 — it saves a little on the game's worst hands.

Early surrender instead of late

Early surrender is offered before the dealer checks for blackjack, so you can escape a hand that's about to lose to a dealer natural. It's very rare today, and worth a lot when you find it.

Insurance and even money

Offering insurance doesn't change the house edge of the main game, because you're free to decline — and you should. It's a side bet that pays 2 to 1 when the dealer has blackjack, which happens less than a third of the time under an ace. Even money on your own blackjack is the same bet in disguise. See the numbers behind it.

Card Charlie

Five-card Charlie

With a Charlie rule, a hand that reaches a set number of cards without busting wins automatically. Five-card Charlie is a huge advantage — enough to tip the game in the player's favour — which is why it's mostly found in home games and online variants. Six- and seven-card Charlies are worth much less, because those hands are rare.

Six-card Charlie

Shuffling machines and penetration

Penetration is how far into the shoe the dealer goes before reshuffling, set by where the cut card is placed. A continuous shuffling machine (CSM) puts used cards straight back in after every round. Neither changes the house edge for a basic-strategy player, but both matter to card counters: deep penetration lets the count become meaningful, while a CSM makes counting useless. CSM games also deal more hands per hour, so you lose your expected percentage more often.

Table limits

The table minimum and maximum don't change the odds, but they shape your session. A minimum that's large relative to your bankroll means a short run of bad luck can end your night; a low maximum caps how much you can press a winning streak. At the Salon you can set a minimum from $1 and a maximum of up to $1,000,000 per seat.

Common rule sets

These are the presets available in the game's settings. Choose Play to open the table with those rules.