When you think casino blackjack, are you thinking about the standard multi-deck card versions at casinos, or the non-standard card games? Are you also thinking online games or live games? Standard card game blackjack has six decks of cards in a shoe and the full suite of betting options at casinos, live or online, including the ability to surrender a hand during games. That’s what you get when you play The New Blackjack and Classic Blackjack in our online casino for real money. But there’s more than one way to play blackjack games at Bovada Casino, and that’s where Single Deck and Double Deck Blackjack online for real money games come into play.

Out of our nine blackjack games, four of them come with shoes that have fewer than six decks. Choose between two card game versions of Double Deck Blackjack and two card game versions of Single Deck Blackjack for the ultimate play selection of online blackjack table games for real money online. In this comprehensive online blackjack card game play guide, we compare these two games with the standard, so you know the best blackjack table game for house edge and casino game play rules for real money online. 

Single and Double Blackjack Differences

Before Blackjack table card game became the target of advantage casino players, Single Deck Blackjack was the norm. Multiple card decks were introduced in the ‘60s to thwart card counting at casinos, as it was more challenging to keep a running count with multiple decks in play. Now, when you play standard table game blackjack for real money, the shoe comprises six decks of cards.

However, when you play Single Deck Blackjack games—online or in a land-based casino — you’re playing with just one deck during games. If all the playing rules were identical between Single Deck and standard Blackjack games, the Single Deck table game version would have a lower house edge. Double Deck Blackjack, which uses a two-deck shoe and is often far more common than single deck table games, also has a lower house edge than the six-deck standard. But as we’ll see below, it’s quite rare to find Single and Double Deck games with the exact same playing rules as the six-deck games. Let's see how on can play online at Bovada. 

Single Deck Strategy and Rules

To mitigate the lower house edge, casinos place more restrictive playing rules on Single Deck Blackjack games compared to standard games, and that’s the case here at Bovada online casino too. Below, you’ll see five ways Single Deck Blackjack game rules differ from the standard online for real money.

With Single Deck Blackjack, you get:

  • One deck-shoe vs. six-deck shoe
  • Max bet: $300 vs. $2,500
  • Split up to two hands vs. three hands
  • No Surrender. With standard blackjack games, you can surrender your first two cards.
  • Play just one hand per round vs. up to three hands per round with Six-Deck Blackjack.

Pull up an online blackjack game strategy chart for Single Deck casino versions and Six-Deck casino versions, and you’ll see a few key differences in how certain hands are played. The following playing differences are based on the blackjack Dealer hitting on soft 17 for both online and live games.

Hard Hand Differences:

  • Double on a score of 8 vs. blackjack Dealer Five and Six upcards.
  • Double on a score of 9 vs. a blackjack Dealer Two upcard.

Soft Hand Differences:

  • Double on a score of 13 vs. blackjack Dealer Four upcard.
  • Double on a score of 17 vs. blackjack Dealer Two upcard.
  • Stand on score of 18 vs. blackjack Dealer Two upcard.

Split Hand Differences (based on double after split being allowed and no surrender option):

  • Split Threes vs. blackjack Dealer Eight upcard.
  • Split Fours vs. blackjack Dealer Four upcard.
  • Split Sixes vs. blackjack Dealer Seven upcard.
  • Split Sevens vs. blackjack Dealer Eight upcard.
  • Stand on Sevens vs. blackjack Dealer Ten upcard.
  • Split Nines vs. blackjack Dealer Ace upcard.

Double Deck Strategy and Rules

The rules to our online casino Double Deck Blackjack differ from those in our standard blackjack in the following six casino ways:

  • Two-deck shoe vs. six-deck shoe
  • Dealer stands on soft 17 vs. hits on soft 17.
  • Max bet: $250 vs. $2,500
  • Split up to two hands vs. three hands
  • No Surrender.
  • Play just one hand per round vs. up to three hands per round.

Double Deck Blackjack play strategy is a little different from the 4-8 deck play strategy, and that’s partially because of the fewer decks involved and because the Dealer stands on soft 17 in our online casino version of Double Deck Blackjack. When you compare a standard play casino 4-8 blackjack strategy chart where the play Dealer hits on soft 17 to a Double Deck Blackjack strategy chart where the Dealer stands on soft 17, you’ll notice the following key differences in these games:

Hard Hand Differences:

  • Double on a score of 9 vs. Dealer Two upcard.

Soft Hand Differences:

  • Stand on a score of 18 vs. Dealer Two upcard.
  • Stand on a score of 19 vs. Dealer Six upcard.

Advantages of Single and Double Deck Blackjack

The main advantage at casinos of Single Deck Blackjack is the number of decks involved. For example, playing with just one deck vs. eight decks increases your expected return by 0.48% when all other rules are the same. Some live land-based casinos offer lower real money payouts for landing a natural to offset the casino player advantage, but in our online casino versions of Single and Double Deck Blackjack, the real money payout remains 3:2.

Double Deck Blackjack has a slightly lower effect on return (+0.19%) than Single Deck, but compensates with the Dealer standing on soft 17. This player-beneficial play rule is rare with Single and Double Deck variants, but is available in both our Double Deck versions online for real money.

Disadvantages of Single and Double Deck Blackjack

The disadvantage of Single and Double Deck Blackjack is the restricted casino game rules. For one, both games restrict splits to two instead of the standard three, which reduces the overall player return. Another disadvantage is the exclusion of the Surrender option. Single Deck Blackjack basic play strategy recommends Surrendering in six play scenarios. In Double Deck Blackjack, the number of recommended Surrenders is three (when the Dealer stands on soft 17). All online casino blackjack strategy charts list the second-most optimal move to make when surrender is not an option.

Even considering the disadvantages brought on by the restrictive Single Deck and Double Deck Blackjack play rules, these casino versions still have lower house edge than our six-deck variant when playing online for real money with these games. Keep that in mind when playing online real money blackjack for maximum returns at Bovada Casino.