The infamous Free Bet Blackjack Strategy comes from a custom blackjack game that gives you ‘free double down’ and ‘split’ bets.
What is great about this table game is that your free bets pay back real money. Therefore, a free double down will pay back the value of a ‘double down’ bet as if you placed real money on the table. You will also find that there are some surprisingly liberal rules on most ‘Free Bet’ blackjack tables such as splits up to 4 hands and double downs after splits allowed.
In fact, you are likely going to find that the basic strategy of ‘Free Bet Blackjack’ and its flexible rules make the game of blackjack easier to grasp than traditional table variants.
Free Bet Blackjack’s creator is a guy named Geoff Hall who also introduce new table variants such as Blackjack Switch and Power Blackjack designed to bring more twists to the world’s most revered casino table game.
As a bitcoin blackjack player, you should fall in love with this game. You will also find that there are several ‘Free Bet’ blackjack tables out there found in a few land based casinos which are mostly in Las Vegas, and you can also find this blackjack variant online at the best bitcoin casino.
One of the main point to look out for when choosing a ‘Free Bet Blackjack’ table is to find one with favourable rules. Of course, we will cover these rules in this guide!
Here are the topics we will cover in the mBitcasino Free Bet Blackjack Strategy guide:
The Rules of Blackjack Free Bet
Your Blackjack Free Bet strategy generally will not change much form table to table because the rules on most tables are reasonably consistent.
One of the main points to make after reading these rules is that this is a H17 DAS blackjack table game with 4+ decks which is useful to known when it comes to basic strategy on ‘Free Bet Blackjack’ tables.
Click on any of the bullet points in the list for a full explanation of each rule:
Free Splits on Pairs Except 10s
When you split your hand, most ‘Free Bet Blackjack’ tables will not charge you for the split hand. In regular blackjack rules, a split means you have 2 hands, and you will need to place a bet equal to your original bet on the split hand.
This version of blackjack not only gives you a free hand, if you win, the house pays even odds on your original bet. The only hand that does not allow a ‘Free Bet’ split is 10s which is actually doing you a favour because no one should ever split 10s no matter which blackjack variant you play.
- If you bet 1 mBTC and split, your total outlay remains as 1 mBTC
- If you win your ‘free’ split hand, the house pays 1 mBTC
Free Double Downs on 9, 10, 11 Totals
Now this sounds to good to be true and yes there are some restrictions. Your ‘Free Double Down’ is only available on 9, 10, and 11 totals which is fair enough as these bets are free.
The good news is that your free double down still counts your bet as double even though you are not placing more chips on the table to represent your double down.
- You may only ‘Free Bet’ double down on 9, 10, 11 totals
- The strategy is to always ‘double down’ on these totals
- If your bet is 1 mBTC and you double down and win, you win 3 mBTC
Paid Double Downs
This is a welcome addition to the game because blackjack tables that allow double down on any gives you an advantage over the house.
Rather than just restrict double downs altogether, the ‘Free Bet Blackjack’ variant allows you to opt to double down on any total with a paid bet. You can also double down on splits on any total outside of 9, 10, and 11 using real money bets.
- ‘Real Money’ Double down on soft 16 when the dealer has a ‘6’ total
- ‘Real Money’ Paid Double down on soft 17 when the dealer has a ‘5’ or ‘6’ total
- ‘Real Money’ Double down on soft 18 when the dealer has a ‘4’, ‘5’ or ‘6’ total
- ‘Real Money’ Double down on soft 19 when the dealer has a ‘5’ or ‘6’ total
- ‘Real Money’ Double down on soft 20 when the dealer has a ‘6’ total
Blackjack Pays 3-2
This is an important rule to look out for if you want to make the most out of your ‘Free Bet’ blackjack games.
Some developers and casinos that do not want to miss out on the chance to offer ‘Free Bet’ blackjack but do not like the additional edge given away to the play will try to swing the odds back in favour of the house by adding ‘Blackjack Pays 6-5’.
Where possible, avoid playing these tables, but if you are left with no choice, then only play on these tables just for the experience of playing ‘Free Bet’ blackjack.
However, when you do play the 6-5 variant, the house edge swings steeply out of your favour by adding huge +1.36% to the house edge!
If you take the current house edge using the rules in this section, which is 1.04% and add this rule, the house edge quickly rises to 2.4% which is an RTP going down from 98.96% to 97.6%.
If then the casino also restricts other rules such as double down after split, re-splits, and adds free bet restrictions listed in the ‘Variations of Free Bet Blackjack Rules’ of this guide, it could defeat the object of playing free bet blackjack altogether.
- Most ‘Free Bet Blackjack’ tables pay 3-2 Blackjack
- Some may offer 6-5 Blackjack which is not ideal
- The house gains a 1.36% advantage using the 6-5 payout
Re-Split Pairs to 4 Hands (4 Hands for the Price of 1)
As the rules of this variant continue to surprise us, the re-split rules are also amazingly liberal. You can split up to 4 times without having to commit any extra chips. This is including re-splitting Aces. In fact, you can split any pair except 10s and split Aces all the way.
- Re-split up to 4 times using the liberal ‘Free Bet’ rule
- You could end up playing 4 hands for the price of 1
4 to 8 Deck Blackjack Rules
Under normal circumstances blackjack games with a lower the number of decks in the shoe improve the odds in favour of the house for the house edge. Interestingly enough, the calculations for ‘Free Bet Blackjack’ show that the more decks there are, the better those edge works in favour of the player.
The figures below use the 1.04% House Edge which applies to a ‘Free Bet Blackjack’ table that uses all the ‘The Rules of Blackjack Free Bet’ in this section played on a 6-deck table.
- Single Deck Free Bet Blackjack: +0.14% house edge
- Double Deck Free Bet Blackjack: +0.06% house edge
However, you will rarely find single deck and double deck tables which makes choosing your ‘Free Bet Basic Strategy’ charts much easier. Once a blackjack table hits 4+ decks, basic strategy does not change and therefore you can use the same charts for any ‘Free Bet Blackjack’ table with 4 decks and above.
- Most ‘Free Bet’ blackjack tables use 6 decks
- You can use the same ‘Free Bet’ Blackjack’ basic strategy charts on 4+ deck variants
Dealer Hits All 17s (H17)
While there are some blackjack tables out there that force the dealer to stand on a soft 17 hand, this will not be available on ‘Free Bet Blackjack’ games. The free bet options, double on any rules, split, re-split, and double down after split rules are already liberal enough.
This makes selecting your basic strategy chart incredible easy because there is no S17 version for this variant of blackjack.
As a result, all ‘Free Bet Blackjack’ tables will allow the dealer to ‘hit’ on soft 17 hands. Soft 17 hands will always include an Ace card and the dealer will count the Ace as a ‘1’ total and not an ‘11’ total. This rule also applies to any combination cards as per the list below.
- Dealer hits A-6
- Dealer hits A-3-3
- Dealer hits A-2-4
- Dealer hits A-2-2-2
Double Down After Split Allowed (DAS)
If you have read any of our blackjack strategy guides, you will already know that we put a lot of emphasis on the ‘DAS’ abbreviations.
This is an important rule to understand when choosing basic strategy charts, but when learning your ‘Free Bet Blackjack Strategy’ you only need to know one thing – and that is all ‘Free Bet’ tables are DAS. This means you can double down after splits.
Now what makes the ‘Free Bet Blackjack’ tables even more special is that you can double down on any total. The only differences between the way you double down is when it comes to ‘Free Bet Double Downs’ or ‘Real Money Double Downs’ after split.
- Free Bet Double Down After Split is allowed on splits that total 9, 10, or 11
- Real Money Doble Down Bets is allowed on splits on any other total
All Bets Push If Dealer Busts With 22 Total
Now so far it is fair to say that the generosity of the house on ‘Free Bet Blackjack’ is nothing short of brilliant so what is the catch?
Well there is not really a catch per say but the house does drag bag a small advantage by adding in a rule that is not too disastrous for the player or house. If the dealer bust on a hand total of 22, then all bets, both paid and free bets, are pushed.
Effectively there is no winner, and it is a fair exchange for the chance to have so many free bets and liberal rules included.
- When the dealer bust with a 22 hand total all bets are pushed
- The house returns the players’ ‘real money’ bets and free bets are redundant
Free Bet Blackjack Basic Strategy
As with all basic strategy charts there are only 3 questions you need to ask to ensure you choose the correct table. With ‘Free Bet Blackjack’, these rules are quite easy to grasp because most casinos use the same variations of the rules.
- 4+ Decks Basic Strategy
- DAS – Double Down Allowed After Splits
- H17 – Dealer Hits Soft 17 or Dealer Hits All 17s
Variations of Free Bet Blackjack Rules
Below we also include rule variations you may come across. These are quite rare but as ‘Free Bet Blackjack’ continues to rise in popularity, we are sure developers and casinos will make slight adjustments to rules.
With below rules, you either add or subtract the totals from the house edge:
Table Rules:
- Add 1.36% when ‘Blackjack Pays 6 to 5’
- Subtract 0.31% when ‘Dealer stands on soft 17’
- Subtract 0.21% when ‘Late surrender’ Allowed
Number of Decks in Play:
- Add 0.14% when a ‘Single Deck’ is in play
- Add 0.06% when ‘2 Decks’ are in play
- Subtract 0.01% when ‘8 Decks’ are in play
Split & Double Rules:
- Add 0.08% when ‘Re-splitting Aces’ Not Allowed
- Add 0.27%. when ‘Free Re-splits’ on 4-4 Not Allowed
- Add 0.32% when ‘No Re-Splitting Allowed’ for 2 to 9 Totals
- Add 0.70% when ‘All Double Downs After Split’ Not Allowed (NDAS)
Side Bets Allowed:
- Any Pair side bets have a house edge of 4.1% or 95.9% RTP
- 21+3 Side bets have a house edge of 3.7% or 96.3% RTP
- Hot 3 Side bets have a house edge 5.4% or 94.6%
- Bust It side bets have a house edge of 5.88% or 94.12%
Note that side bets are independent of the main ‘Free Bet Blackjack’ game. You will find them on some tables such as the live dealer version of this blackjack variant which comes from Evolution.
Practicing Free Bet Blackjack Strategy
Right now, Free Bet Blackjack tables are under the Evolution section in the bitcoin live dealer area of mBitcasino. However, we aslo have tons of other variants of blackjack you can test out. Firstly, if you have a crypto balance then navigate here to play Free Bet Blackjack by Evolution.
We also have numerous variants of blackjack that sway away from traditional rules of the games giving you some exciting options.
Double Exposure: This is a popular variant of Blackjack that allows you to se both the dealer’s cards as soon as you have your cards in front of you.
Pontoon: Is a variant of Blackjack. All you need to do is get a hand as close to 21 without busting out and beat the dealer’s hand in the process.
Blackjack Atlantic City: Play Blackjack the Garden State way as this awesome new Jersey USA variant of poker takes the rules straight out of the Atlantic City casinos and brings them online.
Power Blackjack: Play a variant of Blackjack that uses 8 decks minus all the 9 and 10 cards. This variant is the brainchild of named Geoff Hall who also invested ‘Free Bet Blackjack’.
You can also check out our many blackjack guides by checking out our entire collection of blackjack blogs here. You learn how to play single deck, double deck, 4 deck, 6 deck, and 8 deck blackjack strategy, find new ways to manage your blackjack bankroll, and find guides for both beginner and advanced blackjack players!
