Blackjack: What's a Side Bet? + A Few Rare Ones

There are only so many ways to play a game like blackjack - or so you'd think. The venerable game of "21" has a list of rules codified decades ago, so even slight tweaks to the gameplay seem like sacrilege. 

Yet, developers continue to make blackjack's rules seem fluid without really touching the table game’s mechanics at all. The latter is embodied by the side bet, a way of making a bet using rules made up by the casino. 

Side Bets

Side bets are more common offline than online, which is perhaps why blackjack lobbies mark them out. Paddy Power’s Premium Blackjack with Side Bets wears its mechanics on its sleeve. It adds two side bets - Perfect Pairs and 21+3 - playable alongside a standard blackjack gambling game. 

Ultimately, online blackjack is defined by the presence or absence of certain rules, like insurance and surrender. We don’t need those two today, but they have their uses (insurance less so). 


Source: Pexels

Side bets are played outside the main game. You don’t need to beat the dealer on the way to 21. They’re generally a wager on what kind of cards the dealer will give the player, giving blackjack an occasional resemblance to poker.

Make a side bet by placing your chips in the designated spot on the table. A physical location lets players know what side bets are available at a glance. Of course, different casinos (and even blackjack lobbies) have minimum and maximum bets, so stay within these. 

A Perfect Pair


"Pairs"-style side bets win if the player receives two cards of the same value but different otherwise (Mixed Pairs) and if two cards of the same value and color are dealt (Colored Pairs). A Perfect Pair wins with two identical cards. These have payouts ranging from 5:1 to 25:1.

The success of the 21+3 bet mentioned earlier is determined by the player's two cards and the dealer's card you can see. This side bet uses terms and card hands familiar to poker players. Find any of the following hands to win: flush, straight, three of a kind, straight flush, or suited three of a kind.


Source: Pexels

It helps to know your hands in home games, but the dealer or the computer will call a winning side bet for you (and any other important events at the table). 

Match the Dealer


Let's talk about some unique side bets. The Washington-born Lucky Ladies includes the unlikely (1,000:1) paired queens with dealer blackjack. This one is based on scores of 20 and above. Its more common forms, Matched, Suited, and Unsuited 20, appear all over the United States.

Match the Dealer is a simple one, requiring the player to match either of their cards with the dealer's first. The Kansas and Dakota-specific bet Dead Man's Hand wins if the player is dealt an ace or an eight at the outset. This can pay up to 100:1.

Side bets add a new dimension to a game that’s sometimes rigid in its gameplay, but be careful, they often have long odds of winning.