The thing about live dealer blackjack is that they have started to run out of ways to make blackjack blackjack. So now they sell you different versions of blackjack. This is what happens when the core product is mathematically solved but you still need to differentiate.
There is common blackjack. Then there is every other thing they thought up at 2am in a product meeting.
Standard Live Blackjack
This is the baseline. You and seven other players against a real dealer with a real shoe. The deck is cut, the rules are posted, the house edge is whatever the house edge is (usually between 0.5 and 0.7 percent if you play basic strategy). It is the most boring version and therefore the most honest version. The casino is not trying to get cute. You just play blackjack.
Lightning Blackjack
Evolution Gaming invented this. Lightning strikes certain cards, giving them higher payouts. If the lightning hits your 5-6 combination, now it pays 50 to 1 instead of -1. This sounds good. The math, however, does not care how it sounds. The house edge sits somewhere around 4 percent if you are chasing the lightning payouts.
Light travels fast. Your bankroll travels faster.
Infinite Blackjack
This is the weird one. Instead of sitting at a table with other players, you get your own seat at a dealer table with an infinite number of other seats that are technically available but that you cannot see. You place your bets and play your hand. The dealer moves through the shoe dealing to people you cannot see, dealing to you, dealing to people you cannot see again.
The advantage: you never feel rushed.
The disadvantage: you are sitting alone at a table with invisible people.
The math: standard house edge, nothing weird happening, just an unusually isolating experience.
Free Bet Blackjack (Live Version)
They let you split and double down for free. Sounds great until you realize that the dealer wins ties, the 6-5 blackjack pays even money, and the overall edge swings to something closer to 1.5 percent.
Free things in casinos are usually the most expensive things you can buy.
Perfect Pairs
You place a side bet on your first two cards. If they match (same rank and suit), you win. Different suits but same rank is a smaller payout. It is a simple idea. The house edge on the side bet is approximately 2.5 percent. You can play straight blackjack alongside it and ignore the side bet entirely, which is what you should do.
Or you can chase the bonus. It is your money.
21 + 3
You bet that your first two cards plus the dealer's up card will make a flush, straight, or three of a kind. This is entertaining as a gimmick. The house edge on this side bet is somewhere around 3.2 percent. Again, ignore it unless you love the action of waiting to see if the dealer's card completes your hand.
One note: the live dealer games are all more expensive per hand than computer-generated blackjack. You pay for the dealer, the pit, the overhead. The RTP (return to player) is usually somewhere between 99 and 99.5 percent, which means the house edge is between 0.5 and 1 percent. That is better than most side bets and worse than basic strategy in a land casino.
The Honest Play
If you want to play live blackjack and not feel like you are being sold a package, play standard blackjack, learn basic strategy, and ignore the side bets. The variants exist because the math is solved. You are being offered novelty instead of advantage.
Nothing wrong with that. Just know what you are paying for.
