A Detailed Guide for Blackjack Plus: Gameplay & Test Results

Blackjack Plus is a modified blackjack table game that’s mainly found in Australian and New Zealand land-based casinos. The goal is very much the same as regular blackjack: beat the dealer without going over 21.

However, the game adds several extra rules and payouts that change the maths behind it. Yes, you guessed it right – the maths in Blackjack Plus are worse than regular blackjack.

For example, Blackjack Plus includes automatic payouts for certain hands like Five Card Charlie and non-natural 21s, but due to these player-friendly rules, the dealer doesn’t bust at 22, resulting in a push.

I’ll explain these features in detail below because they’re the main reason why the game is different from standard blackjack, but for now, you should know that it’s a separate game that’s mainly intended for casual players.

Blackjack Plus looks very similar to regular blackjack at first glance, and the way that The Crown markets it will make you think that it’s even better than the standard game. The gameplay is similar to classic blackjack, so you receive two cards, the dealer receives two cards, and the goal is to beat the dealer without going over 21.

However, several additional rules change the game’s odds, and I’ll discuss them below.

Blackjack Plus in Australian casinos is usually played with 6 to 8 decks and comes with a surprisingly mixed set of rules. On one hand, some of them actually look very player-friendly. Blackjack pays 3:2, the dealer stands on soft 17, you can double on any total, double after splitting, and split up to three hands.

But there’s one very important rule that throws all these ‘player-friendly’ rules in the water: the dealer pushes on 22 instead of busting.

In RTP terms, this means a drop of -6.5% on average, or even more if you’re not using the basic blackjack strategy.

In regular blackjack, dealer busts are the most common way players win hands. In Blackjack Plus, though, a dealer total of 22 becomes a push unless you have 21 yourself. This is a very bad rule (a similar rule has been introduced in some modern live dealer blackjack games you can find at Australian online casinos), but in these games, at least you get a multiplier on regular wins, so the RTP balances out.

In Blackjack Plus, there are several automatic payouts to make the game feel more balanced:

The gameplay in Blackjack Plus feels very similar to regular blackjack, but the automatic payouts definitely stand out once you start playing a few hands. For example, let’s say you place a A$10 wager and receive a King and Queen for a total of 20, while the dealer shows a 6 as the upcard.

In regular blackjack, this is usually a very comfortable spot because you have the second-highest possible score, and dealers frequently bust from weak starting hands like 5s and 6s. The dealer then reveals a 10 underneath for a total of 16 and draws another 6, reaching 22.

Normally, you’d expect to win the hand immediately because the dealer busted. But in Blackjack Plus, dealer 22 does not bust. Instead, the result becomes a push, so your A$10 bet is simply returned to you.

That’s pretty much how the Blackjack Plus gameplay works, and although it’s very similar to classic blackjack, these new rules will catch you off-guard when playing the game for the first (and probably your last) time.

From a mathematical perspective, Blackjack Plus is very difficult to recommend. I especially dislike the fact that the game makes it seem like players are getting several extra advantages. You get automatic payouts for Five Card Charlie hands, automatic wins on any 21, blackjack still pays 3:2, and some versions even allow doubling after the third card.

On paper, those rules sound excellent. The issue is that none of these bonuses compensates enough for the dealer pushing on 22. If you don’t see how that’s possible, here’s roughly how the RTP is affected by the main rule changes:

So while the “positive” rules add a bit back to the player, the dealer push on 22 removes an enormous amount of RTP from the game and pushes the overall house edge to roughly 5% to 6.5%, depending on the exact rules used.

That’s extremely poor for a blackjack game, and even ‘bad’ variants like Single Deck Blackjack that pays out 6:5 for blackjack wins are better than this. For comparison, a good standard blackjack game with player-friendly rules can easily reach RTP levels above 99%, while even weaker blackjack variants usually stay somewhere around 97% to 98%.

Blackjack Plus is one of the worst blackjack variants you can choose, and in fact, some mathematical analyses place the house edge at around 6.36%, which is one of the highest house edges I’ve personally seen on a blackjack variant. At that point, you’re honestly getting worse odds than most roulette games and online pokies.

The worst part about this game is that it creates the illusion of extra value through automatic payouts and special rules, but the long-term maths heavily favour the casino. It’s primarily aimed at casual casino visitors, and it’s no wonder that it never made it to online casinos.

To properly test Blackjack Plus, I decided to play 100 hands myself at my local casino, using a starting bankroll of A$1000 and a flat bet of A$10 per hand. I followed the basic blackjack strategy for most decisions, although I slightly adjusted a few plays because of the modified Blackjack Plus rules.

Surprisingly, the session started pretty well. I hit a few automatic 21 payouts early, landed a Five Card Charlie, and for a short while, I thought that this was a standard blackjack game. That’s probably the biggest reason why casual players don’t notice the pitfalls of Blackjack Plus so much: the bonus-style payouts create the feeling that you’re constantly getting rewarded.

But after enough hands, the maths starts catching up with you. The dealer pushing on 22 starts to become noticeable very soon, and you don’t fully realise how damaging that rule is until you actually sit down and play the game for a longer session. Hand after hand, situations that would normally be wins in regular blackjack suddenly become pushes instead.

By the end of the 100 hands, I finished down roughly A$270, which was honestly even worse than what the theoretical RTP would suggest over such a short sample size.

Could variance have played a role there? Of course, but my test confirms my assumption that the biggest problem with Blackjack Plus is its high house edge.

Let me be perfectly clear here: Blackjack Plus is not a game where strategy can “fix” the RTP problem, but if you still want to try it at an Australian or New Zealand casino, there are a few things I’d strongly suggest keeping in mind:

• Look for a better blackjack game first: Seriously. Every average standard blackjack table usually offers much better RTP than Blackjack Plus, especially if it comes with 3:2 payouts and player-friendly rules. Almost any game at the top blackjack online casinos has better odds than this one.
• If you absolutely want to play Blackjack Plus, keep your stakes very small: The house edge is simply too high to justify large bets over longer sessions.
• Stick to the basic blackjack strategy as closely as possible: Even though Blackjack Plus changes some decisions slightly because of the dealer push on 22, the basic strategy still helps reduce mistakes and slightly improves your long-term odds.

The short answer is no. Under almost any circumstances, I’d strongly suggest trying to find a better blackjack game instead because Blackjack Plus is simply not a good game mathematically, and there’s really no way around that.

Yes, the automatic payouts and ‘bonus’ rules make the game seem like a good pick, and I completely understand why casual players would play it during a night out at the casino. But once you actually break down the RTP and understand what the dealer pushing on 22 really does to the maths, it becomes very hard to justify playing Blackjack Plus over regular blackjack.

That’s essentially the biggest issue with the game: it creates the illusion that players are getting better value, while in fact, the house edge is higher than any other blackjack game.

So, if you find yourself at The Crown and all other (better) blackjack tables are busy, or you just want some casual entertainment with small stakes, then sure, give it a try once for the experience. But if your goal is to get decent RTP, use a strategy, or simply play blackjack with reasonable long-term odds, there are much better options out there.