Play Single Deck Blackjack Online

It’ll be clear even to our least astute readers, that the characteristic feature of Single Deck Blackjack is that it’s played with a single deck of cards. This is a classic casino game combining luck and skill and has remained popular in both land-based and online casinos over the years. It’s not hard to see why: this version of blackjack has one of the lowest house edges of all casino games at just 0.15%, and there many strategies players can use to increase their advantage over the casino.

A game of Single Deck Blackjack by NetEnt
  • Lowest Possible House Edge
  • Great for Strategic Players
The Strategy Table:

We hope you like what you see in the little preview shot above and are keen to try this game out! We’d recommend to play it at our real money casino pick above. Read on for more information on this fantastic blackjack variant – there’s rules, tips, hints and more of the best casinos to play Single Deck Blackjack online at.

Single Deck Blackjack Game Principles and Instructions

The aim of the game is to get the strongest hand value of 21, or as close as possible without exceeding the number and going bust. The player wins when achieving a score that is 21 or less, but greater than the dealer’s final total. Play is over one hand, and every card in play impacts on the distribution of the rest of the cards.

The rules are as follows. Only one deck of cards is used, and the dealer must hit on soft 17. Player Blackjack pays 3:2 and any other winning hand is paid 1:1. A player and a dealer hitting blackjack on the same hand is known as a Push, this means it’s a tie. Insurance on the other hand pays 2:1, and there’s no surrender available in this game. Players may split a hand but receive only one card after splitting aces, and there’s no re-splitting of aces. Be wary that a split ace and a ten-value card is not considered a blackjack. The one hand deck is reshuffled after each hand. For a quick reference summary see below.

Game Rules: Special Features: Dealers and Betting:
Multi-Hand: No Re-Split: Yes (except aces) Blackjack Pays: 3 to 2
Insurance: Yes Hit Split Aces: No Side Bets: No
Surrender: No Double: Yes Dealer Peek: No
Split: Yes Double After Split: No Dealer Hits Soft 17: Yes

Now on to the finer points. Let’s discuss the terminology in greater detail. As with all forms of blackjack online, all card suits are irrelevant, cards 2 to 10 have face value, and Jacks, Queens, and Kings are worth 10 each, Aces are valued 1 or 11. After receiving the first two cards, players have the option to ‘Double Down’. This means the bet on the hand is doubled, and one additional card is dealt to the player. Players can ‘Split’ when the first two cards they are dealt are of equal value, choosing to split in to two separate hands. An additional bet of equal value to the original bet must be placed on the second hand. Both hands are played to completion and any winning score of 21 is paid 1:1.

Insurance is a supplemental bet offered to players when the dealer is showing an Ace. A wager of half the original bet is placed, and should the dealer get a blackjack, the house will pay the insurance bet 2:1. If the dealer doesn’t get a blackjack, the insurance bet is lost and the player’s original bet is settled by comparing their cards with the dealers. Should both player and dealer have blackjack, the game is ‘pushed’, the players get the amount won by taking even money, aka ‘insurance’. This game offers no side bets; for games which include these extra bets head to our main blackjack page.

Tips and Tricks for a Winning Game

As we’ve discussed, the greatest advantage of Single Deck Blackjack is its low house edge. However, to take advantage of this, players need not only a basic understanding of the rules, but how to use good blackjack strategy. Given our experiences playing Single Deck Blackjack, we’ve compiled some tips and tricks to follow to get the most out of your game. This is basic online blackjack strategy and serve as guide to the best practice moves, where we’ve gotten the most out of the game.

Single Deck Strategy Table

Player’s Hand

Dealer’s Hand

5-7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17+ 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20+ 2.2 3.3 4.4 6.6 7.7 8.8 9.9 A,A
2 H H D D D H St St St St St H H H H D St St St Sp Sp H Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp
3 H H D D D H St St St St St H H H H D D St St Sp Sp H Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp
4 H H D D D St St St St St St D D D D D D St St Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp
5 H D D D D St St St St St St D D D D D D St St Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp
6 H D D D D St St St St St St D D D D D D D St Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp
7 H H H D D H H H H H St H H H H H St St St Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp St Sp
8 H H H D D H H H H H St H H H H H St St St H Sp H H Sp Sp Sp Sp
9 H H H D D H H H H H St H H H H H St St St H H H H H Sp Sp Sp
10 H H H D D H H H H H St H H H H H St St St H H H H Sp Sp St Sp
A H H H D D H H H H H St H H H H H St St St H H H H H Sp St Sp

Basic strategy rules are as such: never take insurance or “even money.” The house edge for insurance is 5.9%, based on a single deck. If there is no row for splitting (the fives and tens), then see your hand as a hard total, which means 10 or 20. Finally, if you can’t split due to a limit on re-splitting, then consider your hand as a hard total.

Single Deck Blackjack: For Fans of the Classic Game

The beauty of this game is that it’s fast-paced and doesn’t require much if any, skill or pre-knowledge to begin playing. There are many variants of online blackjack but none offering such a low house edge. When you’re ready to play it in a casino with real money, head on over to our casino pick. We’ve selected this operator because it hit all the top criteria for a reputable online casino to benefit players old and new, in addition to a fantastic selection of games, including blackjack variants and beyond.

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Last Updated on 18 Jan 2024 by Mark Podd