21+3 was first introduced in Las Vegas in 2001 and has grown to become one of the
world’s most popular 🫰 side bets in the past 20 years.
If you’ve ever wondered how to
play or what to look for in a 🫰 good 21+3 game, we’ve got you covered.
What Is The 21+3
Side Bet?
The dealer will deal you your first two cards 🫰 and then turn over their
upcard.
If your first two cards and the dealer’s top card make a straight, a flush, 🫰 or
a three of a kind, you’ve won!
One of the reasons for its popularity is that it’s so
easy to 🫰 play.
The bet is placed in a small circle off to the side of the main wager,
which is why it’s 🫰 called a side bet.
Either online or in a land-based casino, you
should be able to find the bet for as 🫰 low asR$1, although in some places like Las
Vegas, you may only see it forR$5 and up.
21+3 Payouts
In the original 🫰 game – now owned
by Galaxy Gaming and found on land-based blackjack tables worldwide – a straight,
flush, or three 🫰 of a kind was paid a simple 9 to 1.
But as online casinos flourished
and other companies saw the potential, 🫰 the pay tables evolved.
Some games now pay a
progressive jackpot on things like three aces suited, or perhaps 270 to 🫰 1 for a three
of a kind suited.
The critical thing to remember is that they all play basically the
same. 🫰 Your first two cards and the dealer’s top card need to combine to make a winning
hand.
Several of the online 🫰 providers offer different payouts depending on the hand
dealt.
The most common of these is this payout table from IGT, which 🫰 has a 4.14 percent
house edge with a six-deck shoe.
Suited Three of a Kind 100 to 1 Straight Flush 35 🫰 to 1
Three of a Kind 33 to 1 Straight 10 to 1 Flush 5 to 1
Or the very similar 🫰 payout from
Evolution Gaming which has a 3.62 percent house edge with a six-deck shoe.
Suited Three
of a Kind 100 🫰 to 1 Straight Flush 40 to 1 Three of a Kind 30 to 1 Straight 10 to 1
Flush 5 🫰 to 1
The very popular top three side bet often accompanies the 21+3 side bet
since they are both owned by 🫰 Galaxy and marketed together to casinos.
It requires that
you bet both the 21+3 bet and the top three bet. Then 🫰 if your two cards and the
dealer’s up card are a three of a kind, you’re paid 90 to 1.
A 🫰 straight flush gets you
a 180 to 1, and three of a kind suited gets you 270 to 1. You 🫰 also get your 9 to 1
payout on your regular 21+3 bet.
The house advantage on just the top three bet 🫰 is
approximately 9 percent.
The More Decks, The Merrier
The number of decks in play can
influence the house advantage by a 🫰 few tenths of a point on your blackjack hand.
But
the house advantage on your 21+3 bet can change by several 🫰 whole percentage points
depending on the number of decks in play.
The original 21+3 offered up by Shufflemaster
at casinos across 🫰 Europe, America and Asia is a prime example.
Here’s the paytable from
1-8 decks:
8 decks 2.74 percent 6 decks 3.24 percent 🫰 4 decks 4.24 percent 2 decks 7.26
percent 1 deck 13.3 percent
The casino’s advantage is more than twice as much 🫰 if you
play the 21+3 side bet on the double-deck game vs. an eight-deck shoe.
Even on the IGT
and Evolution 🫰 payout tables discussed above, the difference between a six-deck shoe and
an eight-deck shoe is almost a whole percentage point.
So 🫰 this game is best played with
every payout paying 9 to 1 and on an eight-deck shoe.
Failing that, look for 🫰 as many
decks as possible, with one of these pay tables preferably.
Can 21+3 Be Beaten?
While a
lower house edge is 🫰 always a better bet, can the game be beaten?
Eliot Jacobson, a
table games hacker of sorts, showed that a simple 🫰 count of suits was enough to beat the
game, albeit with a very low expected return and a high degree 🫰 of difficulty.
But as
many casinos went to progressive pay tables with three ace of spades or something
similar, many individuals 🫰 and teams realized they could look for progressive payouts
that were large enough to give the player the advantage.
In these 🫰 very limited cases,
the mathematical pendulum had swung to favor the player as the size of the jackpot grew
to 🫰 offset the slight house advantage.
So it never hurts to keep an eye out for large
progressive meters when scouting for 🫰 a 21+3 table.
Conversely, small jackpots on these
progressive games may mean that you are playing at a much worse house 🫰 advantage than
you would be just playing on a conventional game, so beware.
21+3 Is Here To Stay
21+3
is a simple, 🫰 fun side bet, which, if you’re careful, doesn’t have to have a huge house
advantage.
It can add a lot of 🫰 excitement for just aR$1 orR$5 bet, and it gets the
whole table pulling together in a way that blackjack doesn’t 🫰 always.
That’s the reason
it’s been around for two decades and will probably be around for at least two more.
