How Many Decks Are Used in Blackjack?

If you are familiar with the game of blackjack (also known as 21 and Pontoon) – and play it at home with your friends or family, you probably use one pack of cards. This is the standard for most card games that we play for fun.

But, unlike games such as roulette – where you can only ever place your stakes on the result of one wheel, playing and betting on blackjack is more versatile and, in reality, you can use as many as you like. But how many decks are used in blackjack?

When the stakes are higher – and you play the game and start betting for real money, it gets serious and you shouldn’t expect the same experience as when playing with your friends. So, how many decks are used in blackjack if you take your place at a proper blackjack table[1] ? The answer – it depends on the game.

Occasionally, some games are played out similarly to the games you play at home, with just one deck of 52 cards. But most online and live casino blackjack games here at Rizk actually use between six and eight decks – making the stakes higher for serious players. That’s a lot more cards, and it’s something you need to consider when betting on your hand.

For standard players – those who enjoy betting on the game for fun, it doesn’t make much difference how many decks are used in terms of our experience. You still play the game in the same way and the standard blackjack rules remain the same, and unless you’re a serious card counter, generally the stakes remain the same. You get dealt with two cards, you can still see the dealer’s upcard and playing and betting on the game plays out in the standard way. It just makes it harder to keep track of aces, tens and face cards.

Why Casinos Use More Than One Deck

So why do casinos use more than one deck? Well, there are a couple of reasons why they might use six or eight packs rather than just one.

Saves Time

Firstly, if you play the game with just one deck, the dealer has to make sure that the cards are carefully shuffled after every single round, which can waste valuable betting time. That’s time when neither you nor the casino can make money. So, it’s beneficial for everyone to get through the rounds quicker. If there are six or eight decks of cards, you can play a lot more hands before there is any need for a shuffle. The more stakes you can make, the more you can win – or lose.

Changes the House Edge and Raises the Stakes

However, the second reason is beneficial for the casino only. The more decks used in a game of blackjack, the higher the house edge – so the more you play, the more betting action there is and the more money they stand to make.

One of the main reasons that the stakes are higher when you play with more than one deck, is that it’s a lot harder to keep track of what cards have been seen and how many times. Basically, card counting is much, much harder.

You Don’t Know What Cards are in Play

In a live casino, if you play a multiple-deck blackjack game, then the dealer will cut the card with a blank card before they place the cards in the shoe. Once the dealer gets down to the card that was cut, there will then be a reshuffle before betting resumes.

This means that not all of the cards are used in a game so not only are there a lot of cards to try and keep track of between the shuffles, you don’t even know how many pictures, aces or tens are in play anyway. Most of the aces could be in the half of the deck that isn’t being used…

The Number of Decks Used in Blackjack Online

Above, we have looked at real casino games, where there is a real table with real cards. But what about when you are betting on an RNG game of online blackjack? How many decks are used in blackjack when playing online? You might think that if the game is using an RNG, then it actually doesn’t matter how many are used – after all, it doesn’t have to stop and shuffle – and you can’t card count anyway.

You’d be absolutely right, the stakes generally remain the same. There is no real reason why an online game of blackjack would need to use more than one deck.

But – here at Rizk, we love authenticity. We think it is essential to make your online casino gaming experience as true to life as possible when you play – and that means offering games that use six and eight decks.

Live Casino Blackjack Tables

So, what about blackjack online live dealer games? How many are used then? Well, at most casino tables you will play with six to eight decks, just as in a real, land-based casino. Live online casinos also don’t want their dealer to spend half their time shuffling cards when there could be more betting action.

You might, every now and then, have the option of betting on a single deck game, but in these instances, there will be an automatic card shuffler in use. When one deck is in play, another is being shuffled, so the delays are minimal – and the stakes are every bit as high.

Play at Rizk.NZ

Whether you are interested in betting on RNG online blackjack games or high stakes live casino games, games with one deck, six or eight decks, we have whatever you want to play. Fancy betting on something different? Then test out your roulette strategy on one of our online RNG or live dealer tables. What are you waiting for? Open an account, claim your new player casino bonus, find your perfect game – and see if you can beat the house…

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