Blackjack Online Missouri

Blackjack is among the more popular casino games worldwide, including at retail casinos in Missouri, where it is one of the top table games. While real money online blackjack is not legal in the state just yet, you can play it at Missouri online casinos that have sweepstakes-style game offers.

Here’s an overview of the main points regarding how and where to play blackjack online in Missouri.

Is live blackjack legal in Missouri?

Yes, blackjack online is among the legal games that Missouri gambling venues can offer. Missouri first legalized riverboat gambling in 1994 with the passage of Amendment 6, allowing gambling boats on the Mississippi and Missouri rivers to offer “lotteries, gift enterprises and games of chance.”

The Missouri Gaming Commission lists blackjack as one of the many table games that licensed riverboat casinos can offer. Indeed, the list of approved table games includes about three dozen blackjack variants.

Can I play blackjack online in Missouri?

Playing blackjack online is not legal in Missouri yet, which means you won’t find any sites legally offering real-money blackjack games to players in the state.

You may run across offshore gambling sites that purport to be legal in Missouri. Still, such sites are not operating under US or Missouri law and thus do not abide by any guidelines Missouri regulators impose on all legal gambling in the state. We strongly recommend you avoid such sites, as you would have no legal recourse should you encounter any problems with game integrity, the security of your funds or personal information, or anything else.

Blackjack online at social and sweeps-style sites

There is one legal option for those in Missouri wishing to play blackjack online. Sites working on the sweepstakes format allow you to play blackjack online legally and other games using virtual currencies. In some cases, these sites provide the chance to redeem winnings for cash prizes.

Most of these sites focus primarily on slots, but a few have table games such as online blackjack. Examples of such popular sites that include blackjack online among their available table games are McLuck Casino, Pulsz, and RealPrize, to name a few

These legal sites offer you the chance to play blackjack online for free with a chance to win real cash prizes.

How to play blackjack

When you play blackjack, you compete against the house, represented by the game’s dealer. When you sit down at a blackjack table, several people might be playing there as well, but you are each competing against the dealer and not against one another.

The game uses a traditional 52-card deck. Usually, there are multiple decks, with all the cards shuffled together and dealt from a “shoe.” The game’s object is to make a better blackjack hand than the dealer.

In traditional blackjack, you win by collecting more than the dealer’s cards without going over 21. Suits don’t matter, and only the cards’ ranks are significant. Cards 2 to 9 are equal to the number each card shows. Kings, queens, jacks, and 10s are each worth 10. Aces are either 11 or 1 (the player gets to decide).

Both you and the dealer start with two cards. Both of yours are face-up, while one of the dealers ‘ is face-up and the other is face-down. You go first, and can either stand and keep your cards without receiving any more or hit and receive another card. You can keep hitting as long as you like, unless you go over 21 and bust. The dealer then has a turn and will similarly stand or hit.

When the dealing is over, whoever has the highest total without over 21 wins the hand. If you and the dealer end with the exact total (again, adding up to 21 or under), the hand is a push, and you get your bet back. If your first two cards add up to 21 (say, an ace and a 10), that’s a natural blackjack, and you automatically win unless the dealer also gets a natural blackjack, in which case the hand is a push.

You are free to do whatever you like when it comes to standing or hitting. That’s where the strategy of the game and bankroll management comes into play. However, the dealer doesn’t have the same freedom. The dealer has to stand or hit according to the house rules for that particular blackjack game.

Usually, dealers must keep hitting if their cards add up to 16 or less, and stand when the hand adds up to 17 or more. Sometimes the house has the dealer hit on a “soft 17,” which is a hand that adds up to 17 and one of the cards is an ace. In those games, the dealer still stands on a “hard 17” (a hand adding up to 17 that doesn’t include an ace).

How to bet on blackjack

In blackjack, you place your initial bets before the deal. You can decide how much you want to bet; usually, the table has a minimum and maximum amount. After the dealing starts, you can make some additional betting decisions. Here are the most common:

• Double down — After receiving your first two cards, you can double your initial bet and take just one additional card.
• Split — If your first two cards are a pair, you can “split” your hand into two hands (adding a second bet), and the dealer will give you an additional card for each hand.
• Surrender — If your initial two cards aren’t great, you can give up the hand immediately and only lose half your bet.

There are other choices you can sometimes make, including taking insurance. If the dealer’s face-up card is an ace, you can take insurance by betting half your initial bet that the dealer’s face-down card has a value of 10 for a natural blackjack. Some games also have other kinds of side bets, some of which we go over below.

We’ve been discussing American blackjack, which you’ll likely find at the most popular Missouri gambling venues. In American blackjack, the dealer will peek at the down card, and if it makes a natural blackjack, the dealer will show it right away, and the hand ends right there. In European blackjack, the dealer only gets one card initially, then a second card after the players finish their hands. Thus, players don’t know if the dealer will have a natural blackjack when they play their hands.

Payout odds for blackjack

Winning at blackjack generally means doubling your wager if you win. In such cases, winning blackjack hands pay out at even money or 1-to-1. Thus, if you’ve bet $20, you win $20 plus you get your bet back, meaning you collect $4l. You lose your entire bet to the house if you lose the hand.

You earn a larger payout when you win a hand with a natural blackjack (your first two cards totaling 21). Gambling locations typically pay out 3-to-2. If you’ve bet $20, you’d win $30, getting $50 back. Sometimes you’ll encounter games where a natural blackjack pays out at 6-to-5, slightly less than 3-to-2. Some blackjack games also feature side bets that pay out at various odds.

Whenever you sit down at a blackjack table, be sure to take note of what the table pays for blackjacks and what the table stakes are (minimum and maximum).

Blackjack variants

While all gambling locations in Missouri feature blackjack, some stick with the traditional game while others offer variants. These variants usually don’t alter the game significantly, but add side bets to give you other ways to bet as you play.

Here are some of the blackjack variants you will most likely see.

Blackjack 21+3

Blackjack 21+3 plays similarly to regular blackjack, though it adds an option for you to make an additional side bet that your two initial cards and the dealer’s one face-up card will form a winning three-card poker hand. To do so, those three cards must make a flush, a straight, three of a kind, or a straight flush.

The payout for winning might vary, although typically it is 8-to-1 or 9-to-1 if the three cards make any of these poker hands.

Argosy Casino Riverside, Hollywood Casino St. Louis, and Isle of Capri in Boonville all feature Blackjack 21+3. Bally’s Kansas City and Century Casino Caruthersville offer the same game, but they call it Trilux with Super 3. Hollywood Casino St. Louis also offers Blackjack 21+3 Double Deck (with just two decks) in its high limit room.

Other Missouri gambling locations might also have this variant, so keep an eye out for it.

Blackjack 21+3 with Top 3

You might also see another variation on the game Blackjack 21+3 with Top 3. The game features the same side bet, though it pays out differently for different winning three-card poker hands.

For instance, Argosy Casino Riverside offers Blackjack 21+3 with Top 3, with payouts as follows:

• Three of a kind suited: 270-to-1
• Straight flush: 180-to-1
• Three of a kind: 90-to-1

Note that “three of a kind suited” means getting three of the same card. This game is usually only available in blackjack games that feature four, six, or eight decks.

Isle of Capri offers Blackjack 21+3 with Top,3, and Blackjack 21Side Bet (another variation).

Double Deck Blackjack

Some locations offer Double-Deck Blackjack, which, as the name implies, uses only two decks (rather than four, six, or eight).

One mathematical truth about blackjack worth knowing is that the fewer the decks, the higher the frequency of players getting 21, since players get bigger payouts when they make a natural blackjack (and dealers don’t), which can make the blackjack game using fewer decks preferable to play.

Note, though, that the payouts for blackjack are different (6-to-5 instead of 3-to-2) in a double-deck blackjack game.

Electronic blackjack

Most locations also offer electronic blackjack games alongside the live ones. One popular brand of “e-blackjack” is Diamond Blackjack at Harrah’s Kansas City and elsewhere.

Electronic blackjack plays similar to live blackjack, although with the electronic version the game uses a random number generator when dealing the cards rather than shuffling and dealing from a shoe. Some electronic blackjack games also offer a greater number of variations than are available in the live games.