Single Deck Blackjack

by Paul Lamford

Single deck blackjack is the simplest form of the game and offers a house edge which is smaller than games with multiple decks. I did not find any single-deck games using the increasingly popular live-dealer method in which the cards are dealt with a shoe and shuffled in full view of the players. This is partly because the cards would have to be shuffled after each hand, or the player woud have a clear advantage, and this takes time. Secondly, it requires a dealer all the time which costs money. Playing more than one deal without a shuffle gives the player a significant advantage.

Choosing an Online Casino

It is very important to play only at reputable licensed casinos.  Taking advantagep of offers to join, and then playing single-deck blackjack correctly gives you every chance to come out ahead. But if there is a danger of not being paid, you want to avoid the site. Often bonuses seem too good to be true, and you should read the terms carefully, but more importantly only play at top rated casinos. Dean Ryan’s superb article on here in June 2024 gives over 100 highly rated casinos. I have checked them all out for single-deck Blackjack games.

If you follow even just one principle that should be to play only games that offer the fairer odds of 3 to 2 for Blackjack. Offering 6 to 5 adds around 1.3% to the house edge.

Terms and Conditions

It is important to read the terms and conditions before signing up for a site which gives a welcome bonus, typically 100% of the amount you deposit. You would normally have to play through the bonus 35 times or more before you can withdraw your winnings. Most sites also assign a percentage contribution to each game, and blackjack is usually 10% or 0%. If the latter, and you don’t want to play slots or scratchcards, then you can look elsewhere. Of course you don’t have to take the bonus, but if you want to play a lot then choose the site with the best bonus terms.

Basic Strategy

The first thing we need to do when examining single deck Blackjack is to present a chart of basic strategy. Many sites have broken down this chart into three separate sections: hard totals, soft totals and pairs. We are grouping those together more simply by the total of the hand and denote whether the player has a soft total or a pair.

Single Deck v More Decks

Single deck blackjack offers the player better chances to win as the house take is low even when the deck is shuffled after each hand. Typically the return to player (RTP) on the best single deck game is 99.8% whereas with 6 or 8 decks the RTP is around 99.5%. This difference might not seem that significant, but if you start with a deposit of £100 you might place 1000 bets of £10 each. At the end of that time you would have, on average, £80 remaining at 99.8% but only £50 remaining if the RTP is 99.5%   Of course with just a smidgeon of good luck you can come out ahead and most of the welcome offers cover the potential loss. Perfect play, particularly with more than one seat at single-deck, is quite complicated, but, if you follow the chart above you will do well. Wizard of Odds claims that Boss Media have a single-deck game with a payout of 100.15% but I did not find it when I went through all the casinos on this site!

Single Deck Blackjack Strategy Chart All Rules

DEALER
Hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	T	A
2-2	SPL*	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL*	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
5	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
6	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
3-3	SPL*	SPL*	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL*	HIT	HIT	HIT
7	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
8	HIT	HIT	HIT	DBL*	DBL*	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
4-4	HIT	HIT	SPL*	SPL*	SPL*	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
9	DBL*	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	HIT*	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
10	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	HIT	HIT
5-5	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	HIT	HIT
11	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL*	DBL*
12	HIT	HIT	HIT	STD	STD	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
6-6	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	HIT*	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
A-A	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL*
13	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
A-2	HIT	HIT	DBL*	DBL*	DBL*	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
14	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
7-7	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	HIT	HIT	HIT
A-3	HIT	HIT	DBL*	DBL*	DBL*	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
15	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT*	HIT*
A-4	HIT	HIT	DBL*	DBL*	DBL*	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT*	HIT*
16	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT*	HIT*
8-8	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL*	SPL*
A-5	HIT	DBL*	DBL*	DBL*	DBL*	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
17	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD*
A-6	DBL*	DBL*	DBL*	DBL*	DBL*	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT*	HIT*
18	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD
9-9	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	STD	SPL	SPL	STD	STD
A-7	STD	DBL*	DBL*	DBL*	DBL*	STD	STD	HIT	HIT	STD*
19	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD
A-8	STD	STD	STD	STD	DBL*	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD
10-10	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD
A-9	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD
BJ	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD
	Hit
	Stand
	Split
	Split only if double after split is allowed
	Double
	Double if allowed, otherwise hit
	Double if allowed, otherwise stand
Exceptions (indicated above by an asterisk). Three- or four-card hands may vary slightly.
2-2 v 2 is only a split if you can double after a split.
2-2 v 7 is close. If you can see a 9 and an 8 on the table you should just hit, not split.
3-3 v 2, 3 or 8 is only a split if you can then double.
3-3 v 8 is very close. If you see a 7 or 8 with another player, you should hit, not split
5-3 is a double against a 5 or 6, while 6-2 is not, which shows how sensitive single deck is.
9 v 2 is a marginal double (0.11 against 0.09) but if there are many tens and aces, then hit
9 v 7 is only a hit  (0.20 against 0.18) but if there are more small cards you should double
6-6 v 7 is close. (-0.26 against -0.27). However, if you can see a nine and an eight you should split.
11 v ace or ten is not a double if the dealer does not peek for Blackjack. If he does then it is.
A-A is almost always a split, but not if the dealer does not peek with an ace when it is only a hit.
A-2 is a double if allowed against a 4, 5 or 6. If you can see a 7 or an 8, then just hit against a 4.
A-3 is a double if allowed against a 4, 5 o4 6. If you can see a 6 or 7, then just hit against a 4.
15 v ace is close. 8-7 should hit, but 9-6 should surrender if it is available
A-4 is a double if available against a 4, 5 or 6.
A-5 is a double if available against a 3, 4, 5 or 6
16 v ace or 10 is a surrender if available. Otherwise hit.
With 8-8 against an ace or ten, split if the dealer peeks. Else surrender if available or hit if not.
17 v ace is a correct surrender if allowed. Otherwise you stand.
A-7 v ace is close. Stand is narrowly right, but if there are few 2s, 3s or 4s you should hit.
A-7 v 3, 4, 5 or 6 is a double if permitted, otherwise stand. A-8 v a 6 is  a double if allowed. Otherwise stand

Counting

Every online single-deck game I have seen – and I have looked at all 142 casinos who have welcome offers on here, most for slots – shuffle  after every hand. If you think you can count, then there are many iive-dealer games with six or more decks dealt from a shoe, which give the counter an edge, and that would be the subject of another article. In Las Vegas, however, the couple of remaining single-deck games I have seen shuffle after about half a deck, and counting is relevant to the second and subsequent hands. The casino may well ask customers to leave, however, if they increase their bet dramatically when the count is high. But this is true of all blackjack games.

Insurance

Deciding whether to take insurance involves counting. It pays 2-1, and there are 41 cards remaining if you play five seats. If more than 13 of them are tens, then you should take the insurance bet. So, if you have seen only one or two tens, then it is right to take insurance. The maximum number of tens on the table for it to be correct to take insurance depends on the number of seats playing according to the following table:

Seats	Tens
1	–
2	0
3	0
4	1
5	2

If you are playing 2 or 3 seats, if you can see no ten on the table then you should take insurance.

Where to Play Online

Readers of gambling.com will want to take advantage of the phenomenal research on welcome bonuses by Dean Ryan recently. I shall only look at the sites which he checked out. Pride of place must go to MrVegas.com which was number one on his list. It took me 43 seconds to open an account and no time at all to find the single-deck Blackjack games on there. Both were by Microgaming. The five-seat game offers a slightly higher return:

One game had a single seat and another allowed play on up to five seats. They claimed a return to player of 99.7%, with perfect play. This tallies with Michael Shackleford of Wizard of Odds who claims 99.79%, and simulations on my software Diable which gives 99.81%. Both games have the same rules: Dealer peeks on tens or aces, no double after split, doubles only on 9, 10 and 11 and dealer must hit soft 17. This appears to be common for Microgaming.

MrVegas had some blackjack games I had never seen. Which is not surprising as they have 15 different game providers, so you will be spoilt for choice.  And their bonus terms were better than fair. You have to stake the bonus 35 times, and no games are exempt.

There are quite a few other sites providing single-deck blackjack. Duelz.com has different rules within its own site. Most games are provided by Microgaming: Vegas Single Deck Blackjack and Multi Hand Single Deck Vegas Blackjack. 

HippodromeOnline.com offers a 100% up to £50 welcome bonus provided you deposit £20. This bonus has to be turned over 50 times, and Blackjack counts as 8% for the wagering contribution. So, if you deposit £20, you would have to stake £12,500 to keep the bonus. Better than some offers and the single deck Blackjack that they provide has a RTP of 99.7%.

32Red.com has the same single-deck Blackjack and a generous bonus, but on Blackjack it has to be played through a total of 1500 times as the bonus as Blackjack only counts as 2% for the wagering requirement. If you play other table games then many of them count 50% with only a 30 times playthrough which is better than most. They do have other promotions and free games.

MrQ.com is a nice casino. If you deposit £20, which cannot be used on table games, you get 75 free spins without any wagering requirement, so that is a good promotion. They also have two single-deck Blackjack games as well. Both multi-hand. The RTP is stated to be 99.9%.

PinkCasino.com  and 21Casino.com both have the same single deck game, with an RTP of 99.7%. They offer a 100% matched deposit (21offers 121%) which has to be staked 35 times, but bets on Blackjack only count 10% for wagering requirements. So, if you deposit £100 say, you get a £100 bonus but you would need to stake £35,000 if you only played Blackjack.

Peachygames.com has a 100% bonus and a 40x wagering requirement. It CAN be used on Blackjack so this is quite attractive as the game of Single Deck Vegas Blackjack has an RTP of 99.8%. Dazzletag Entertainment run this and other sites, which all look good.

DoubleBubbleBingo.com is a nice site. It offers two single deck Blackjack games, both with returns of around 99.8% with perfect play, and almost identical rules. One has a maximum bet of £5000 so is ideal for high rollers. The welcome offer is nice. Deposit and stake £10, and get either 50 Bingo Tickets or 30 Free Spins. There are also quite a few free games and continuous special offers.  Sadly, they can only accept UK players and I hope they can go further afield.

VirginGames.com appears to be a sister site to DoubleBubbleBingo as it has the same welcome offer, and also only admits UK players. Their single-deck games have an RTP of about 99.8% They also have a new single deck game with a side bet on the first three cards forming a straight flush, trips, straight of flush at 10-1. This is a bet to be avoided though as the RTP is only 95.48%.  

RainbowRiches.com is another excellent site which has both versions of the single deck Blackjack and also gives the welcome bonus as free bingo tickets or free spins without any wagering requirement.

Jackpot Joy.com is part of the same group, I think, and has two single deck games: one with the same 10-1 bet on the first three cards. It has a similar welcome bonus with free spins and free bingo tickets.

QuinnCasino.com is a good site and has a single deck game with an RTP of 99.8%. The bonus has to be turned over 30 times and Blackjack counts as 10%

KwiffCasino.com gives its welcome bonus in spins, but does have a good blackjack game from Microgaming, single deck with three seats and a return of around 99.8%.

Casushi.com is a good site, with two single deck games, both with a RTP of 99.8%. One has no hole card and dealer hits on soft 17. The other does have a hole card and dealer stands on soft 17. The wagering requirements for the bonus are 40 times, and Blackjack counts 10%.

Fafabet.com is another nice site. One has to wager 35 times the bonus and Blackjack counts as only 10% but it does have a 3 seat single-deck game with an RTP of about 99.8%.

Fitzdares.com is another site that has a single-deck multi-hand game, but it only counts Blackjack as 10% for the wagering requirement, so effectively one has to stake the bonus and deposit 400 times.

Spinyoo.com has two single deck games, both from Microgaming, one with three seats and an RTP of around 99.8%. A 100% bonus has to be turned over 35 times (350 times if you only play Blackjack)

MonsterCasino.com is very attractive. The bonuses are fine, although they require substantial play in line with other operators, but the Midweek Cashback gives 10% back on losses on casino games. So, if you lose £50 you get £5 back, but if you win £50 you keep it all. As the RTP is 99.8%, you will, on average, make a small profit, but only if you play perfectly!

Slotboss.com is pretty good. It has one single-deck blackjack game, and blackjack counts 10% towards the staking requirements of the bonus..

FruitKings.com has a single deck game with a wagering requirement of 40 times the 100% matched bonus. However blackjack counts only as 10%, so this is effectively 400 times.

Playgrand.com has a single-deck game and allows blackjack to count as 10% for the wagering requirement with a standard 100% deposit bonus and a 35 times play through requirement.

Betway.com is one of the best known names in the casino industry and has a simple offer with no wagering requirements. Deposit £10 and get 125 free spins, worth £12.50. And you can bet the £10 on any casino game. They have a single-deck blackjack game with a return of 99.7% and a maximum bet of £1000. Highly recommended – especially as they sponsor Arsenal!

Ninewin.com has a very nice game from ISoft which has a RTP of 99.86% and three seats. My program Diable makes it 99.88% with perfect play. They offer a 100% bonus which has to be played through 35 times in 7 days. Blackjack only counts 10% however.

Live Play in Vegas

Only two casinos were offering a single-deck game in Las Vegas, in October when I went for  G2E, the International Casino Exhibition, in October. One was El Cortez in Downtown Vegas, at 600 E Fremont Street.  Their website now says that they only offer double-deck however. Silverton Casino Lodge, 3333 Blue Diamond Road, has single-deck blackjack and both El Cortez and Silverton pay 3 to 2 for Blackjack. This is the first question to ask as paying 6 to 5 is very hard to beat. Someone on a forum claimed that Silverton had gone to 6 to 5, but I cannot verify that.

There is certainly a single-deck game in the casinos of West Wendover, Nevada, and, like a remote beach, this city has not been discovered by that many players yet! Single-deck games are also offered at casinos on some Indian reservations. It should be noted, however, that these are not as well regulated and are not usually covered by state or federal law, which has plusses and minuses. Atlantic City does not have a single-deck game of which I am aware.

I am a member of many casinos in the UK (apart from one that excluded me!) and am not aware of any single-deck games. Two-deck games are common in European casinos, but again I do not know of any single-deck games.

Paul Lamford is the author of The Amazing Book of Casino Games (Quadrillion), Gambling (Harper Collins), The Lottery (Harper Collins) and a number of books on backgammon and bridge.. Any questions on this article can be sent to him at paullamford@gmail.com

Cheat Sheet for Microgaming Single-Deck Game (Hole Card, Dealer Peeks, Dealer Hits Soft17, Double Hard 9-11 Only, No Double after Split, One Card to Split Aces)

DEALER
Hand	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	T	A
2-2	HIT	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
5	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
6	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
3-3	HIT	HIT	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
7	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
8	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
4-4	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
9	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
10	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	HIT	HIT
5-5	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	HIT	HIT
11	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL	DBL
12	HIT	HIT	HIT	STD	STD	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
6-6	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
A-A	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL
13	STD*	STD	STD	STD	STD	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
A-2	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
14	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
7-7	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	HIT	HIT	HIT
A-3	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
15	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT*	HIT*
A-4	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT*	HIT*
16	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT*	HIT*
8-8	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL
A-5	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
17	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD
A-6	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT	HIT
18	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD
9-9	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	SPL	STD	SPL	SPL	STD	STD
A-7	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	HIT	HIT	STD
19	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD
A-8	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD
10-10	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD
A-9	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD
BJ	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD	STD
	Hit
	Stand
	Split
	Double

*13 v 2 is a stand, whatever the composition, although Wizard thinks 10-3 v a 2 is a hit. Some three or four-card totals can be slightly different, but the error would be tiny,