Bet Online Blackjack
Founded in 2004, Bet Online is headquartered in Panama City, Panama and licensed by the Panamanian government to operate an online gaming establishment. This online casino, sportsbook, poker room and racebook primarily serve customers from the United States of America.
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Play Real Money Blackjack Online. Blackjack is one of the most popular, fasted paced casino table games in the world. While simple to learn, true success requires experience, strategy and know-how. Become a real money blackjack expert today, starting with our extensive guide to playing online. Learn about different types of blackjack. Since then it has a added a plethora of live dealer games including Classic 7 seat live blackjack table, Blackjack Early Payout, European Roulette (single zero),American Roulette (double zero) and Standard Baccarat or Super 6 Baccarat. BetOnline offers a 100% up to $2,500 first deposit bonus (although not for live dealer games). BetOnline has made mistakes and is far from a perfect sportsbook, poker room or casino. They had and continue to have their shortcomings, the most recent of which we highlight in our review below. But, as best as we can tell, they have righted their wrongs and continue to improve on what they currently offer to players. American Blackjack. Play American Blackjack. Blackjack is one of the most popular casino games in the world, and is often portrayed in the media. Originally known as '21', this game has become bigger and better and time goes on. There are numerous variations of blackjack available, however, the basic rules of the game remain unchanged.
Is BetOnline Legit?
BetOnline is a brand recovering from a fairly shady past. While we have not received any recent complaints about them, we feel it’s in your best interest to be cognitive of the incidents that occurred at BetOnline that have caused their reputation to fall.
Their most recent incident occurred around February 2017 where a viral video of a professional blackjack player at a live blackjack table is dealt a card in a very suspicious manner. What the dealer did is called “second dealing” where the dealer manipulates the cards by dealing the second card instead of the top card with the intention of cheating.
BetOnline has since released a statement which can be read here
The TLDR; is they changed their live dealer software provider from Global Gaming Labs to Visionary Gaming and are taking clients feedback seriously in addressing any concerns.
Can BetOnline be trusted after this incident? It certainly doesn’t look good but perhaps their actions towards trying to rectify their reputation will lead to a much better and fair experience for players from hereon.
Games
Players can gamble on an assortment of games at Bet Online. They do have a fully comprehensive sportsbook, allowing players to wager on all of the major games such Baseball, Basketball, Football, Hockey, Soccer, and Tennis. They also take bets on Auto Racing, Cricket, Martial Arts and other sports. You can even bet on e-sports, where professional video game players compete in tournaments to see who is the best. Bet Online takes wagers on Counter Strike, Dota 2, League of Legends, Hearthstone and Vainglory.
Aside from their sportsbook, they do also have a fully comprehensive casino. They’ve got lots of different slots you can play, including video slots and the more traditional ones. Some of their slot games are Giovanni’s Gems and The Slotfather 2. They also offer video poker and virtual table games to their customers.
It’s not just virtual table games either. Customers of Bet Online can also play live dealer table games, powered by Visionary Gaming. This online casino has live dealer versions of Blackjack, Roulette, Baccarat and Super 6. Their live dealer blackjack game has the following rules :
- Dealer Hits on Soft Seventeen
- Dealer Peeks for Blackjack
- Double Any Two Cards
- Late Surrender
- Play of Multiple Hands Permitted
- Double After Split Okay
Unlike most online live dealer blackjack games, at Bet Online you get to play with only six decks. But card counting is explicitly prohibited at Bet Online, and they openly vow to confiscate the funds of any card counters that play there.
Bonuses and Promotions
There are a number of different promotions at Bet Online. They do offer three 100% match bonus up to $1000. How this works is they double your money right away, so if you make a $500 deposit you are playing with $1000 immediately. There is a 40x rollover associated with this bonus, so if you deposit $500 then you must give them $40,000 in action before you are allowed to cash out. Furthermore, you can only clear this bonus by playing slots and must clear the bonus within 30 days.
In addition to this welcome bonus, Bet Online also has a 20% casino rebate on your losses. Simply e-mail support and let them know how much you lost, and you will get free slot play.
Please note this slot bonus reimbursement does come with a 30x rollover requirement.
Another promotion at Bet Online is a $25 Risk-Free Bet on your first bet at the live dealer casino. Simply make a $25 wager. If you lose, then you are eligible to get $25 in sports bonus that has a 6x rollover requirement. Please note this is only valid for your first ever bet in the live dealer casino.
On This Page
Introduction
Free Bet Blackjack is a blackjack variant by game inventor Geoff Hall. The twist to this one is the player doesn't have to risk his own money when splitting or doubling (most of the time). It is like playing with a generous boyfriend at the table who makes all the supplemental bets for you and lets you keep the winnings. What is the catch? Like in Geoff's other game, Blackjack Switch, if the dealer gets a 22, all bets left standing push.
The game opened for business on June 20, 2012 at the Golden Nugget. I went down for the game's debut and found the table full of people enjoying the game. The strategy is simpler and offers more doubles and splits than conventional blackjack. Gamblers who find the basic strategy of conventional blackjack too complicated to memorize may take relief in the simplicity of Free Bet Blackjack.
Rules
The rules have changed since the game launched at the Golden Nugget. It is my understand that the rules below are now the norm. The game is based on standard blackjack, with the following rules:Bet Online Sports
- Six decks
- Dealer hits soft 17's
- Blackjacks pay 3 to 2
- Double after split allowed
- Double on two cards only
- Re-split pairs up to four hands, including aces
- No surrender
The game introduces two major rule changes:
- 'Free Doubles' on hard totals of two-card total of 9, 10, or 11. Regular doubles are still allowed on all other two-card hands. With a 'free double,' the player's original wager is matched with a 'free bet' button and the player receives one additional card. At the end of the hand:
- If the dealer wins, the player loses his original wager only.
- If the hand results in a push, the player gets back his original wager only.
- Otherwise, if the player wins, the player gets back his original wager plus winnings equal to double that wager.
- 'Free Splits' on all pairs except 10's. With a 'free split,' the player's two cards are divided into two one-card hands. The player's original wager is placed with the first hand and a 'free bet' button is placed with the second hand. The player plays out each hand one at a time and is entitled to a 'free double' or 'free split' on both hands. For winning hands, each 'free bet' button is replaced with real chips equaling the original wager. On hands resulting in a player loss or push, the dealer takes back the 'free bet' button.
- Dealer pushes on 22. If the player has 21 or less and the dealer busts with 22, then the player's wager is a push.
Basic Strategy
Strategy depends on whether you are playing a real money bet or a free bet. There is a difference because a push is just as bad as a loss on a Free Bet, thus causing a more aggressive strategy. The following three tables show the strategy for a real money hand, free bet hand, and pairs respectively.
If you remember just one thing about the strategy, accept every free double and free split opportunity.
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House Edge
The house edge under the standard rules above is 1.04%.
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Rule Variants
Following are the effects of some possible rule variants. The effects are the change in the player's expected return. The figures below with a (SH) were taken with permission from Discount Gambling. The ones with a (Wiz) were calculated by me. It is interesting that the greater the number of decks, the better the odds for the player, which is the opposite of conventional blackjack. I assume it is because there is more free-splitting with more decks, due to a lesser effect of non-replacement.
- Free doubles with three or more cards (DG): +0.66%.
- Dealer stands on soft 17 (DG): +0.31%.
- Late surrender allowed (DG): +0.21%.
- One deck: -0.14% (Wiz).
- Two decks: -0.06% (Wiz).
- Eight decks: +0.01% (Wiz,DG).
- No re-splitting aces (DG): -0.08%.
- No free re-splits on a pair of fours (DG): -0.27%.
- No re-splitting 2-9: -0.32% (DG).
- No double or free-double after a split (DG): -0.70%.
- Blackjack pays 6 to 5: -1.36% (Wiz).
Pot of Gold
I have heard reports that some casinos offer a side bet called Pot of Gold, which is based on the number of Free Bet tokens the player accumulates per initial hand. The Washington Gambling Commission lists two Pot of Gold pay tables. Following is my analysis of both of them. These tables were based on a random simulation. The lower right cells show a house edge of 5.77% on pay table 1 and 4.64% on pay table 2.
Pot of Gold — Pay Table 1
| Tokens | Pays | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 1000 | 0.000002 | 0.002026 |
| 6 | 300 | 0.000027 | 0.008140 |
| 5 | 100 | 0.000194 | 0.019445 |
| 4 | 60 | 0.000847 | 0.050799 |
| 3 | 30 | 0.003866 | 0.115973 |
| 2 | 10 | 0.013488 | 0.134884 |
| 1 | 3 | 0.148155 | 0.444466 |
| 0 | -1 | 0.833420 | -0.833420 |
| Total | 1.000000 | -0.057686 |
Pot of Gold — Pay Table 2
| Tokens | Pays | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 100 | 0.000002 | 0.000203 |
| 6 | 100 | 0.000027 | 0.002713 |
| 5 | 100 | 0.000194 | 0.019445 |
| 4 | 50 | 0.000847 | 0.042333 |
| 3 | 30 | 0.003866 | 0.115973 |
| 2 | 12 | 0.013488 | 0.161861 |
| 1 | 3 | 0.148155 | 0.444466 |
| 0 | -1 | 0.833420 | -0.833420 |
| Total | 1.000000 | -0.046426 |
The player can lower the house edge on the Pot of Gold by splitting fives instead of doubling, at the detriment of the primary wager. If the player splits fives the house edge on the Pot of Gold will be 2.75% under Pay Table 1 and 1.48% under Pay Table 2. Splitting fives, instead of doubling, will increase the house edge on the base wager by 0.15%.
Acknowledgement
I would like to thank Geoff Hall, the inventor, for his cooperation with the rules and sharing the math report. This report is based on a combination of work between Stephen How and me. We are in close agreement on the house edge. The basic strategy and some of the effects of rule variations are the work of Stephen How.
Internal Links
- Original rule card. Please note that doubling on three or more cards is no longer allowed but free splits of fours is. Overall, the old rules were better, of course. Table game rules seldom get better for the player.
Outside Links
Bet Online Casino
- Free Bet Blackjack page at Discount Gambling.
- Free Bet Blackjack Facebook page.
Written by:Michael Shackleford