Blackjack Variants from Pragmatic Play

The name Blackjack was moulded in the 20th century when casinos were looking for ways to call this game previously referred to as 21. Real casinos were offering all kinds of bonuses, one of them being awarded for hitting a jack of spades or clubs (a black jack) and an Ace of spade. And just like that, ladies and gentlemen, Blackjack was born! 

Although the provider has been introducing a bunch of Live Casino titles in the past few months, with Sweet Bonanza Candyland, Andar Bahar, and Dragon Tiger being the latest hits, Pragmatic Play also offers a couple of Blackjack variants, for players who enjoy a standard card game, with no distractions from the dealer. 

Let’s see what Blackjack options the provider has to offer for its more traditional players! 

Pragmatic Play American Blackjack 

Like in any Blackjack game, the goal here is to stay under 21 points or to have better scores than the dealer. However, the beauty here is that users can play multiple hands. 

Points of a hand are calculated based on their face value or an assigned value. This way, cards 2 to 9 add their face value, while the Ace can add 1 or 11 points, and 10, Jack, Queen, and King add 10 points. 

Depending on the number of points a hand has, you can hit one of the following hands: 

• Blackjack hand (21 points)- consisting of two cards: an Ace and a 10 card 
• Bust hand (over 21 points)- both the dealer and the player can have a bust hand 
• Soft hand (combination of an Ace and another card)- as the Ace can award 1 or 11 points, the points awarded are called soft points 

A side bet available in Pragmatic Play American Blackjack is the Insurance bet. This bet is half of the initial one and is available for all Player’s hands. 

Pragmatic Play American Blackjack Rules 

American Blackjack from Pragmatic Play provides a rather standard gameplay players have fallen in love with. A round starts with the dealer giving two cards face up for each hand. Then, the dealer proceeds to give two cards to himself, one face up, and the other, face down. 

If the shown card is an Ace, you are offered the chance to make an Insurance bet. If the dealer has an Ace or a 10 card, he reveals the other card and checks if he has Blackjack. This opens two scenarios: 

• If the dealer has Blackjack, Insurance bets win, all Blackjack hands from the Player’s side result in a Push, and all the other bets are lost. The round ends with the Dealer as the winner. 
• If the dealer does not have Blackjack, Insurance bets are lost, and the round continues to stage 2 for all Player’s hands that don’t have 21 points. 

In stage 2, the Player has a couple of new actions he can take advantage of: 

• Stand – no changes are done to the hand, so the game moves on to the next hand 
• Hit – one more card is drawn from the deck 
• Split – separates the two cards of the hand and doubles the bet. The Dealer gives an extra card for each new hand, to reach two cards per hand 
• Double – it doubles the bet for one hand 

After all hands have had their turns, the dealer turns over the face down card, and, if the sum of points is under 17, the dealer draws cards one by one. If the dealer’s hand is over 21, all Player’s hands that are not busted win. If the dealer has 21 points or fewer, one of the three following things can happen: 

• The player wins, if he has more points 
• The player’s hand has the same number of points, the bet of the hand is returned to the player 
• The player losses, if it has fewer points 

Pragmatic Play also offers a multi-hand Blackjack option for its fans, with players having the possibility of playing more hands. 

Pragmatic Play American Blackjack Payouts 

Pragmatic Play American Blackjack pays according to the paytable. Blackjack hands pay 3;2, Insurance bets pay 2:1, and win pays 1:1. 

In terms of RTP, Pragmatic Play American Blackjack has a high return to player of 99.60%, with the minimum bet being $1 and the maximum one, $100. Multihand Blackjack comes with a 99.51% RTP while keeping the same bet range. 

Blackjack remains one of the most popular card games to the day, with providers going above and beyond to mix its thrilling nature with other features and casinos trying their best to integrate it into their platforms.