Perfect Pairs in Blackjack: Winning strategy and odds

Blackjack is a fun game in its basic format. It’s social, not too volatile, and is easy to pick up, making it one of every casino’s most popular games.

But did you know you can mix it up by taking advantage of available side bets? For example, at most online tables, including live-dealer games like those on BetAmerica Casino, you can play Perfect Pairs.

What are Perfect Pairs in Blackjack?

You must place your wager on the Perfect Pair side bet before the cards are dealt. You will see a space to add your wager next to where you place your usual bet.

With Perfect Pairs, you are hoping both your cards are the same value or face card.

There are three ways to win with perfect pairs:

• A mixed pair with one black and one red card (example: a six of diamonds and a six of clubs)
• A colored pair with two black or two red cards (example: the jack of hearts and jack of diamonds)
• A perfect pair of the same suit (example: two seven of spades)

If any of the above combinations come in, you win the side bet, no matter what you go on to do in the hand. So, even if you go on to bust with your two sixes, you still win a healthy side bet return.

What are Perfect Pair odds?

You can probably deduce the three types of pairs listed above are hard to hit, with the perfect pairs the hardest of all. The odds offered by the house reflect that, so should your luck come in, you will earn a handsome payout.

In a six-deck game of blackjack, the usual Perfect Pair payouts are:

• Mixed pair 5:1
• Colored pair 10:1
• Perfect pair 30:1

Hit a Perfect Pair and you will earn a significant return. For example, place a $5 side bet, and you will get $150 back if you hit a Perfect Pair. However, it would help if you did not necessarily treat Perfect Pairs as a long-term winning strategy.

Blackjack Perfect Pairs strategy

The sensible player will treat blackjack side bets like perfect pairs or 21+3 (where you take your two cards and the first dealer card to make a winning three-card combination, like a straight or flush) as a bit of fun to try once in a while. If you land a good score, the wise move is to bank the cash and return to a regular blackjack game without the side bets.

The reason is that the casino has quite a chunky house edge with Perfect Pairs. By using the same six-deck game example, the house edge is 5.79%, which means, in the long run, you will lose $5.79 for every nominal $100 you bet on the Perfect Pairs side bet.

That house edge increases to 6.76% when playing a four-deck blackjack game.

Compare those house edge percentages to the much smaller 1.5% that you can achieve on the main blackjack game. That figure can come down to a house edge of only around 0.5%, if you play with a solid blackjack strategy.

Try Perfect Pairs Blackjack for yourself

There are lots of blackjack games on BetAmerica Casino, from the traditional online table games to fantastic live-dealer games, which are just like being in a real casino. If you don’t have an account already, be sure to make use of the new player package, which will give you a lucrative welcome bonus.