Vegas Free Bet (common 6-deck): blackjack house edge & basic strategy

Common Las Vegas Free Bet Blackjack setup: 6 decks, dealer hits soft 17, blackjack pays 3:2, double any two cards and after splits, resplit to four hands including aces, and no surrender. Hard 9–11 doubles and all pair splits except 10-value cards are free; dealer 22 pushes active non-blackjack hands. Check the table placard because some Vegas games pay 6:5.

House edge

1.16% per initial bet with perfect basic strategy (win 37.4% / push 14.8% / lose 47.7% of rounds). Derived by seeded Monte Carlo simulation of 300,000 rounds under the exact rules below.

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Table rules

Decks6
Shuffleshoe, ~75% penetration
Dealer soft 17dealer hits (H17)
Dealer 22pushes active hands
Hole cardUS style — dealer peeks for blackjack
Blackjack pays3:2
Free Betfree hard 9–11 doubles and pair splits except 10-value cards
Double downany two cards
Double after splitallowed
Splittingup to 4 hands; resplit aces allowed, one card on split aces
Surrendernot offered

Basic strategy chart

H Hit · S Stand · D Double · P Split · R Surrender. Rows are your hand, columns the dealer upcard (A = Ace).

Hard totals

Hard totals: rows are your hand, columns the dealer upcard
2345678910A
5HHHHHHHHHH
6HHHHHHHHHH
7HHHHHHHHHH
8HHHHHHHHHH
9DDDDDDDDDD
10DDDDDDDDDD
11DDDDDDDDDD
12HHHHSHHHHH
13HHSSSHHHHH
14SSSSSHHHHH
15SSSSSHHHHH
16SSSSSHHHHH
17SSSSSSSSSS
18SSSSSSSSSS
19SSSSSSSSSS
20SSSSSSSSSS

Soft totals

Soft totals: rows are your hand, columns the dealer upcard
2345678910A
A,2HHHHHHHHHH
A,3HHHHHHHHHH
A,4HHHHHHHHHH
A,5HHHHDHHHHH
A,6HHHDDHHHHH
A,7SSSSDSSHHH
A,8SSSSSSSSSS
A,9SSSSSSSSSS

Pairs

Pairs: rows are your hand, columns the dealer upcard
2345678910A
2,2PPPPPPPPPP
3,3PPPPPPPPPP
4,4PPPPPPPPPP
5,5DDDDDDDDDD
6,6PPPPPPPPPP
7,7PPPPPPPPPP
8,8PPPPPPPPPP
9,9PPPPPPPPPP
10,10SSSSSSSSSS
A,APPPPPPPPPP

Free Hard totals

Free Hard totals: rows are your hand, columns the dealer upcard
2345678910A
5HHHHHHHHHH
6HHHHHHHHHH
7HHHHHHHHHH
8HHHHHHHHHH
9DDDDDDDDDD
10DDDDDDDDDD
11DDDDDDDDDD
12HHSSSHHHHH
13SSSSSHHHHH
14SSSSSHHHHH
15SSSSSHHHHH
16SSSSSHHHSH
17SSSSSHHSSH
18SSSSSSSSSS
19SSSSSSSSSS
20SSSSSSSSSS

Free Soft totals

Free Soft totals: rows are your hand, columns the dealer upcard
2345678910A
A,2HHHHHHHHHH
A,3HHHHHHHHHH
A,4HHHHDHHHHH
A,5HHHHDHHHHH
A,6HHHDDHHHHH
A,7SHDDDSHHHH
A,8SSSDDSSSSS
A,9SSSSSSSSSS

Free Pairs

Free Pairs: rows are your hand, columns the dealer upcard
2345678910A
2,2PPPPPPPPPP
3,3PPPPPPPPPP
4,4PPPPPPPPPP
5,5DDDDDDDDDD
6,6PPPPPPPPPP
7,7PPPPPPPPPP
8,8PPPPPPPPPP
9,9PPPPPPPPPP
10,10SSSSPSSSSS
A,APPPPPPPPPP

Dealer outcome odds

Probability of each dealer final result, by upcard:

Dealer final-total probabilities by upcard (BJ = blackjack)
Upcard1718192021BJ22 PushBust
213.2%13.2%13.3%12.6%11.9%0.0%15.6%20.1%
312.6%13.1%12.8%12.2%11.7%0.0%10.0%27.7%
412.1%12.9%12.2%11.9%11.5%0.0%9.4%30.0%
511.7%12.2%11.9%11.8%10.9%0.0%9.3%32.2%
611.5%11.7%11.3%11.1%10.6%0.0%9.1%34.7%
737.0%13.9%7.9%7.9%7.2%0.0%6.4%19.6%
812.6%35.9%13.0%7.0%7.1%0.0%5.9%18.5%
912.2%12.1%34.7%11.9%6.3%0.0%5.7%17.1%
1011.1%11.0%11.1%34.2%3.4%7.9%5.1%16.3%
A5.7%14.1%14.4%14.2%6.5%31.0%3.9%10.3%

Frequently asked questions

What is the house edge at Vegas Free Bet (common 6-deck)?

With perfect basic strategy the edge is about 1.16% in favour of the house, per initial bet. Derived by Monte Carlo simulation of 300,000 rounds under these exact rules.

Does the dealer hit or stand on soft 17 at Vegas Free Bet (common 6-deck)?

The dealer hits soft 17 (H17), which adds roughly 0.2% to the house edge compared with standing.

How often does the dealer bust with a 6 showing?

Under these rules the dealer busts 34.7% of the time with a 6 up — the weakest dealer upcard.

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