Blackjack is a popular casino game with long history, known for its simple rules that haven’t changed much over time. But there is an absence of rules regarding how many decks of cards one can use in a game of blackjack. You can play it the old-fashion way at home with friends using one or two decks and have a good time. Step into any casino whether land-based or online and you will find at least five to eight decks in use. Why is this so, you may wonder? Let’s try and find out.
Why Casinos Change How Many Decks They Use in Blackjack?
Historically, single deck blackjack was in standard use by most casinos. But with the invention of card counting many players found out they can significantly reduce house edge at single-deck blackjack. In order to counter this, casinos decided to introduce multiple decks. Because the more decks of cards in use, the more the house edge rises. But does this mean your chances are lower playing multiple decks of cards? You can find out if you check our previous post.
How Many Decks in Online Blackjack?
Most online blackjack casinos will use from five up to eight decks of cards. Those that have single deck of cards will use an automatic shuffle of the deck with every dealt hand. This is what makes card counting almost impossible in online blackjack. That shouldn’t discourage you, because these games still use RNGs, and chances of winning are still possible although not guaranteed.
What About Live Dealer Tables Online?
So, does the same apply to live-dealer online blackjack games? Live dealer games will also mostly use six or eight decks of cards, the difference being that the cards are not shuffled after each round.
What’s different is that the deck penetration (the number of cards dealt before they are reshuffled) is considerably lower. It’s usually 50% and more lower, which means that in a 6-deck game the cards get reshuffled after 3 rounds.
So, while the basic rules of the game remain largely the same, the decks of cards in use are what will largely determine the strategy the players decide to act upon.
Play Blackjack at Casino Extreme
While we’re at strategy, depending on it you should choose the version more to your liking. And playing blackjack online gives you the chance to pick any of the several 21 variants. Many of these have player-friendly rules in place. And based on these rules, you can hand pick games with either lower house edges such as single deck or with better payouts such as multiple deck blackjack. If you’re a beginner, the best way to improve is to learn different techniques until you find the right variation for you. Crypto friendly Casino Extreme has all of them in stock, and you can check both the standard and live dealer online blackjack games by simply following the next link or logging in to our lobby.