A Beginner’s Guide to Winning Big at Progressive Blackjack
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Blackjack is an incredibly popular card game at online casinos, and with good reason.
It has the best potential RTP (return to player) among all casino games when played well and it has some of the simplest casino card game rules. Unlike poker, which requires a lot of hands and different strategies to understand, blackjack is the easiest game to learn and is considered the go-to game for beginners. There is also no need to read other players, which makes blackjack an ideal card game to play at online casinos.
But before we get to progressive blackjack betting, let’s first learn the basics of blackjack and discuss the concept of progressive jackpots.
Basic Blackjack Rules
The goal of blackjack is to end up with a higher hand than the dealer and do so without exceeding 21. If you go over 21, you bust and automatically lose. The same goes for the dealer. If the player and dealer both have the same total, it’s called a push – which is like a draw in sports.
Face (King, Queen, and Jack) cards are worth 10, while cards showing numbers are worth their face values. Meanwhile, the Ace can be valued at 1 or 11, depending on the situation.
At the start of the game, players and the dealer receive two cards each, with one of the dealer’s cards facing up. Players have two options – hit (ask for another card) or stand (stick to what you already have). A player can hit as many times as he wants for as long as he doesn’t bust.
A Brief Explanation of Progressive Jackpots
A progressive jackpot is a grand prize payout that increases each time the game is played but the jackpot is not won. When the progressive jackpot is won, the prize or the jackpot is reset to a lower amount and resumes growing in value using the same rule.
The first progressive jackpot games to surface were on slot machines or online slots in the case of online casinos. These games feature a jackpot that gets bigger the longer you play. The reason the jackpot keeps growing is that a fraction of the player’s bet is added to the base jackpot. When more players join the same progressive network, more amount is added to the seed jackpot, making it even bigger, until it is won.
Now on to our main event – progressive betting blackjack
Progressive Blackjack Betting
In recent years, online casinos began offering table games with progressive jackpots, including blackjack.
Progressive betting blackjack follows the same rules as the standard variation of blackjack. The only difference here is that the classic card game is linked to a progressive jackpot network. All players participating in the game contribute to the growing prize with optional side bets until one player is lucky enough to win the prize.
Once the progressive jackpot is won, it resets to a predetermined value called the seed and starts to accumulate again as more players play the game. The seed amount is normally provided by the game’s software supplier. Some online progressive blackjack jackpot games start with a seed amount of $10,000 while others open at as high as $50,000.
Regular Payouts and Side Bets
The regular payouts for progressive blackjack betting games are the same as those in land-based casinos. If a player beats the dealer with a higher card total, the payout is 1:1 or a return equal to his bet. If a player is dealt a natural blackjack – an ace plus a face card, the payout is 3:2. A blackjack player can also take an insurance bet if the dealer’s up card is an ace. If the dealer’s other card is revealed to be a face card, the player wins 2/1 on the insurance bet.
A side bet is an additional wager that a player must make in order to win the progressive blackjack jackpot. This bet is not linked to the main game bet and whether you win or lose, doesn’t affect the outcome of the main game, and vice versa.
The side bet amount is small in size and is usually not bigger than $1. It pays out for certain combination of cards with the exact combination, again depending on the game supplier.
Let’s Look at an Example
A common type of progressive blackjack at the top blackjack online casinos is played with four decks of cards. In that game, you place a side bet in the hope that your two cards will combine with the dealer’s two cards in a way that triggers a progressive jackpot. The side bet pays out several winning combinations aside from the progressive jackpot itself.
Here are the winning combinations in that particular game:
- 1 ace of any suit triggers a 3-to-1 payout.
- 2 aces of different suits trigger a 15 to 1 payout.
- 2 aces of the same suit trigger a 50-to-1 payout.
- 3 aces of different suits trigger a 200 to 1 payout.
- 3 aces of the same suits trigger a 1000 to 1 payout.
- 4 aces of different colors trigger a 2000 to 1 payout.
- 4 aces of the same color will trigger the progressive jackpot.
Another progressive blackjack game seeds at 50x the size of the side bet. Three percent of every side bet is added to the pot money. If a player’s hand has an ace, he wins 5x. Two unsuited aces pay 50x while 2 suited aces yield a 100x payout.
A staggering amount of 5,000x stake payout is earned by getting a hand with three suited aces. If you get luckier in that particular game and get four suites aces, the entire progressive jackpot is all yours. Note however that the four consecutive aces must start from the first card on your hand so the odds are really very slim.
Progressive Blackjack Tips
Now that you know the basics of progressive blackjack betting, it’s time to learn some tips to win big at the table. Keep these in mind:
Make a Side Bet
Side bets are worth more than regular payouts. As stated above, side bets are not related to your main bet. You can win a side bet even if you lose the hand.
For example, three unsuited aces only total 3 points ( 1+1+1) or 13 (11 +1+1) in a hand of blackjack. However, having those three cads pays 200:1 based on our sample game above.
Good Bankroll Management
A good betting plan is important when you play progressive blackjack betting games. Decide on a betting budget and keep to strict bets on every hand.
A good strategy would be to bet as low as 1% of your bankroll on your hand while saving enough for as many as 100 side bets. Remember that you can win side bets even while losing your hand, so you need to factor that into the overall betting cost.
Multi-Hand Blackjack
A progressive blackjack system works when you maximize your chances of winning. This can be done via multi-hand blackjack games where you can play up to three hands at once, hence increasing your chances of getting the most profit.
Well, that’s about it. We hope to have given you more than enough information about progressive blackjack. So what are you waiting for? Go get that jackpot.
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