What Makes Online Blackjack So Popular in the UK?

Posted by Harry Kane on Tuesday, January 2, 2024

Online casino, sports betting and bingo produced a cumulative GGY of £6.5 billion between April 2022 and March 2023, with slots dominating this yield. However, table games generate around 16% of the GGY in the UK, with blackjack and roulette dominant in this vertical.

Blackjack in particular stands out, as it’s categorised as a game of skill in which players can use strategy and numerary skills to leverage a competitive advantage over the house. This is one of many things that make online blackjack so popular in the UK, but what else sets this game apart?

The Element of Skill

Casino verticals such as roulette and slots are inherently games of chance, which means that players can do little to control individual results and outcomes (although roulette players can deploy a betting strategy to manage their bankroll efficiently). However, blackjack is similar to poker in that allows for the deployment of skill to influence in-game results.

Sure, online blackjack outcomes are triggered by random number generators (RNGs), but there are ample opportunities for players to influence the course of games. For example, advanced numerical ability and the capacity to perform mental arithmetic quickly enables players to swifty calculate the value of their hand, enabling them to make more informed decisions about whether to ‘stand’ or ‘hit’ (depending on the precise blackjack iteration that you’re playing).

Additionally, you can utilise this ability and knowledge of the game to estimate the probability of specific cards being drawn next, especially when playing blackjack iterations with a minimal number of decks. This is different to card counting, while this skill becomes far less relevant when playing with multiple decks (some blackjack iterations feature up to eight decks).

These skills can make it far easier to win individual blackjack hands, and when combined with a manageable and suitable betting strategy, they have the potential to help sustain your success over an extended period of time. Your betting strategy can also prove key, as this will need to suit the size of your bankroll and appetite for risk.

Leveraging Specific, Player-friendly Rules to Your Advantage

As we’ve already touched on, blackjack has spawned a huge number of iterations online, each of which combines various rules that have an incremental impact on your chances of winning. Interestingly, most online blackjack versions have a house edge of between 0.43% and 2%, which is an incredibly competitive range that compares well to games like slots and American roulette.

But which rules have the most positive impact on players? One of the most obvious is the ‘late surrender’ rule, which stipulates that players who don’t like their hand are able to fold at any point during the game while retaining half of their stake (in instances where the dealer doesn’t have a blackjack).

This can definitely help to minimise losses over time, helping you to preserve your bankroll and pursue more chances to win. Sure, it’s no available in every blackjack version online, but identifying iterations that feature the late surrender rule can help you to turn the house edge and return-to-player (RTP) rate further in your favour.

You’ll also find that some blackjack variations require that the dealer to ‘stand’ on a soft 17, with this hand featuring an ‘Ace’ that’s counted as 11. This basically stops the dealer from being able to hit a soft 17 and construct a hand with a significantly higher value, lowering the house edge slightly and increasing your chances of winning marginally.

Some games also enable you to ‘double down’, through which you place an additional bet (equal to your ante) in return for one additional card. After receiving this, your hand is over and you’ll need to wait for the dealer to reveal their hand, but it can offer a huge advantage in some instances. For example, if you have a hard nine and the dealer’s face-up card is two-six (inclusive), you may benefit from doubling-down given the absence of an Ace in the dealer’s hand.

We’d always recommend checking the individual rules associated with each iteration, but we’re sure that you’ll find an iteration that’s right for you. When combining favourable rules with versions that utilise a relatively small number of decks, you can access even more favourable outcomes over time.

Unlocking a Competitive House Edge

As you can see, each blackjack version has its own unique house edge, but generally speaking, this will be considerably lower than virtually any other casino discipline or vertical. Given that some carry a house edge that’s as low as 0.43%, this means that you can recoup a staggering £99.57 for every £100 wagered on average in some instances.

In simple terms, the typical house edge in blackjack is around 0.5% in instances where you deploy basic strategy. This can then increase or decrease slightly depending on your existing skill level, betting strategies and the precise rules in play, while novices who operate without a strategic mindset can yield another 1.5% or so to the house over time.

The house edge also varies depending on the combination of rules in play. For example, the classic Las Vegas, single-deck blackjack version forces the dealer to hit on a soft 17 and prohibits doubling after a split, creating a considerably lower house edge of just 0.18%. However, this version is rarely made available at online casino platforms, due to the lack of advantage that it offers to the house.

To put this into context, the house edge associated with American Roulette is 5.20%, whereas the equivalent figure for European Roulette is 2.70%. Even certified, low-variance slots with a return-to-player (RTP) rate of 97% present a house edge of 3%, so there’s no doubt that blackjack provides a far higher potential return to players over time.

This is arguably the single most important contributor to the enduring popularity and appeal of online blackjack in the UK. This is especially true in the case of knowledgeable and experienced blackjack, who can leverage skill and insightful game selection to make the most of their starting bankroll online!