Pragmatic Play’s Live Blackjack at Mr Green online casino is one of the fastest variations of blackjack on the market. It is also – probably due to two special features – one of our most popular blackjack games.
The first is called ‘Auto-Stand’, and it’s designed to reduce game time by 25%. It allows players to set a minimum value for a hand for which they select ‘stand’. The second innovative feature, called ‘Deal Now’, speeds up the game by ending the time remaining for bets once 1-2 players have placed their bet.
This version of Live Blackjack is of course optimised to work on all platforms, including PCs, smartphones and tablets. Here, this live dealer game is explained further.
Live Blackjack Rules
The objective in blackjack is to beat the dealer’s hand with a higher-value hand whose value does not exceed 21. If you have this hand, the payback is 1:1. A hand whose value is higher than 21 is called a bust, and this hand loses. The best hand in blackjack is a hand in which only two cards total 21 (a blackjack), and this hand pays 3:2 back for your bet. If a player’s hand is equal to the dealer’s, it is called a ‘push’ and the player gets his bet back.
The value of each card is straightforward, as cards from 2-10 have face value. For the other types of cards, it is as follows; face cards (king, queen and jack) count as 10s. The ace can have a value of 1 or a value of 11.
This live dealer game uses the ‘Vegas’ rules, where both players and dealer are dealt two cards first. The player’s card is face down, while only one of the dealer’s cards is face down (this card is called the ‘hole’). The rules of ‘Vegas’ mean that the dealer always stands at the value of 17.
The ‘Split’ message is allowed if the player’s first two cards have the same face value. However, the call can only be made once per hand. Players can also choose to ‘double down’, but not if a ‘Split’ has been made first.
Also remember that a player who splits two aces can only choose ‘Hit’ (to get cards) once after that. Insurance can be purchased if the dealer’s face up card is an Ace. This is introduced to protect against a dealer’s possible blackjack. In this case, the player will win at 2:1.
Pragmatic Play’s Live Blackjack version uses eight standard decks of cards, and there is room for up to seven players at the table.
Although you may be sitting at a blackjack table with other players, there is no competition between players as you are playing directly against the dealer. So you can congratulate a fellow player if they score a big win. Live Blackjack, with a 99.28% return to player (RTP), has a really low house edge, which you might even be able to reduce further by following an effective strategy.
When you first visit a Live Blackjack table at Mr Green live casino, it may feel a little overwhelming, but you’ll soon discover that’s not the case at all.
Live Blackjack Side Bets
Pragmatic Play’s Live Blackjack offers various side bets with higher payouts.
For example, the Bet Behind notification allows an unlimited number of players to bet on a hand that another player at the same table is sitting with, giving even wins to the main bet. A badge appears next to the name of a player who is in luck. The number in the player’s badge indicates how long the player has been in luck.
Perfect Pairs is a side bet with an RTP of 95.90%, which must be called before the dealer has dealt cards. There are three types:
- Perfect Pair: in this case, the player has two cards of the same type and the payout is 25 to 1.
- Coloured Pair: In this case, the player’s two cards have the same rank and suit, but different suits. The payout is 12 to 1.
- Mixed Pair (Red/Black): In this case, the player has two cards of the same rank but different suit. The payout is 6 to 1.
- Twenty-one plus three (21+3) mixes poker and blackjack – the two exciting card games in the casino – and the payback percentage (RTP) here is 96.30%. The outcome depends on the three-card combination of the player’s first two cards plus the dealer’s exposed cards.
The three cards together can form the following winning hands:
- Suited Trips: Contains three of a kind. The prize is 100 to 1.
- Straight Flush: The three cards of the same suit are consecutive. The payout is 40 to 1.
- Three of a Kind: In three of a kind, the cards have the same rank but different suits. The payout is 30 to 1.
- Straight: The three cards in different suits are not consecutive. The payout is 10 to 1.
- Flush: Here the three cards have different rank in the same suit. The payoff is 5 to 1.
