Multi-Hand Blackjack

Multi hand blackjack is not uncommon and is usually offered in both online and land-based casinos. On top of the added excitement of having more hands in play, there are actually a couple of reasons why you should pursue the multi-hand blackjack strategy. 

Blackjack is many casino gamblers favorite game (we at CasinoTalk included) and if you’ve ever been to one of the casinos in Atlantic City, Las Vegas or any other land-based casino you probably understand why.

Every casino game has a negative edge for the casino player and if you want your bankroll to last longer and extend your time spend at the blackjack tables, multi hand blackjack is a good alternative. 

Let’s take a look at an example: 

• You have a bankroll of $600
• The casino has over time an average around 1% edge on every hand that is played.
• You bet single hand bet with an average of $60 per hand
• Around 100 hands per hour are being played.

Fun fact
– At a full table around 60 hands per hour are played. 
– At a table with 3 people around 80 hands per hour
– Single-player is around 120 hands per hour. 

This means you are wagering $6000/hour with a loss margin of 1% and should statistically lose $60/hour ($6.000*1%). Obviously, there is huge volatility in those numbers but if you play perfect blackjack and enough hands that’s where you should end up. 

Adding multi-hand blackjack into the mix has the following impact. Instead of one single bet, you now bet 3 hands á $20 each. With more cards to deal and additional payouts, the number of hands dealt per hour will now be fewer, let’s say 70 instead of 100, and your total wagered amount will be lower, $4200 ($20*3*70) instead of $6000 when playing single hand blackjack. Your expected hourly loss is down $42 and 

With a single hand blackjack approach, your bankroll should last 10 hours ($600/$60) while a multi-hand blackjack strategy will boost this number to over 14 hours ($600/$42) or 14 hours and 17 minutes to be exact. 

Important notice: This strategy only works as long as you divide the original single bet amount with the number of multi hand blackjack bets you want to make. If you would keep the bet amount and just add multi hand into the mix you would increase your risk and statistically lose your money faster. 

The most important reason why you want to play multi-hand blackjack is to find a way to get an advantage over the house. When playing multi-hand blackjack the house does not necessarily always have to win. The best way to get an advantage is to count cards and the more cards that are being put on the table the more statistical information is given to you.

Instead of having a negative margin as in the previous example, the edge could now be on your side and with more cards facing up the more data you can collect. Single deck blackjack is obviously the best for counting cards as each card represents close to 2% of the full deck (52 cards in a deck). At a fully seated table with 6 players, 13 cards (including one of the dealer’s cards) are facing up and providing you with valuable information. 

Worth mentioning is that card counting in an online casino is almost impossible and nothing for a beginner or intermediary gambler.