Blackjack side bets, ranked by what they cost you
Side bets resolve on the first cards dealt, so their odds are pure combinatorics — they can be computed exactly, and they are not pretty. The main blackjack hand costs a basic-strategy player about 0.5% per bet; every side bet below costs several times that, per unit wagered. Ranked from least to most expensive in a 6-deck game:
| Side bet | House edge | Wins | Cost/hour (units) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21+3 | 3.24% | 9.68% | 11.34 |
| Perfect Pairs | 6.11% | 7.40% | 21.38 |
| Insurance | 7.40% | 30.87% | 25.88 |
| Lucky Ladies | 24.71% | 10.59% | 86.48 |
Each page below has the full paytables, exact odds per outcome, and how the edge moves with the number of decks:
- 21+3 — a three-card poker hand on top of your blackjack
- Perfect Pairs — what a 25:1 headline really costs
- Insurance — the side bet hiding inside the main game
- Lucky Ladies — the worst common bet on the blackjack table
Analyze side bets for your casino’s exact rules →
Free, in your browser: pick a casino rule set, and the analyzer recomputes every side bet for
that deck count next to the optimal basic strategy for the main game.