{"id":8770,"date":"2023-03-24T12:03:05","date_gmt":"2023-03-24T12:03:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.com\/blog\/\/blog\/?p=8770"},"modified":"2024-12-02T17:09:56","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T17:09:56","slug":"how-many-decks-in-blackjack","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.com\/blog\/2023\/03\/24\/how-many-decks-in-blackjack\/","title":{"rendered":"How Many Decks In Blackjack?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Blackjack is one of the most popular casino games in the world. No matter where you sit down, in-person or online, players are attempting to best the dealer in a number of ways. Part of establishing a strategy at the<\/span> blackjack<\/span><\/a> table means knowing how many decks are in play.<\/span><\/p>\n

When it comes to blackjack, how many decks are typically in play? If you\u2019re a casual player, you may be surprised at the answer. It can run anywhere from one deck to eight, depending on the type of blackjack being played and the casino in question.<\/span><\/p>\n

Friendly games of blackjack typically only use one deck, but casinos are a much different story. How many decks can you expect to find in some of the biggest and most famous<\/span> gambling cities<\/span><\/a> like Atlantic City and Las Vegas?<\/span><\/p>\n

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Why Do Casinos Use More Than One Deck?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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In 1966 the brilliant mathematician, Edward Thorp, released his ground-breaking book \u2018Beat The Dealer\u2019. In this book, Thorp mathematically proved that players could use a points-based system to beat the house in blackjack. Gamblers across the world soon adopted Thorp\u2019s system, including one of the most famous gamblers in history<\/a> \u2013 Bill Benter.<\/p>\n

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Until the release of Thorp\u2019s book, almost every casino in the world would only have offered single-deck blackjack. However, card counting<\/a> with a single deck was not an incredibly intellectual task that required a computer-sized brain; thus, it was quite an accessible system and a danger for casinos.\u00a0 Before long, as casino bosses started to see the profits get eaten into by teams of card counting gamblers, changes had to be made. Casinos would soon introduce multiple-deck games, change minimum bets and alter pay-outs to protect themselves from card counters. Whilst card counting is still possible with multiple decks, it does not offer as significant an opportunity to gamblers as in the single-deck games.<\/p>\n

Card-counting is a major reason for the move to multiple decks. But with a closer look, there are actually a few major reasons why most of the casinos you walk into will have multiple decks at play at the average blackjack table.<\/span><\/p>\n

Combatting Card Counting<\/b><\/h3>\n

The single biggest reason for the implementation of multiple decks is to make it tougher to implement card counting. The strategy is often used by skilled players to keep track of the low and high cards that have already been dealt. This gives them a slight edge, allowing them to successfully adjust bets.<\/span><\/p>\n

When there are more decks in play, card counting becomes much tougher and the remaining cards becomes much more difficult to predict. The house is countering an edge that a skilled card counter may garner when sitting down at the blackjack table.<\/span><\/p>\n

Increasing the House Edge<\/b><\/h3>\n

For the casino, house edge is the most important factor. Games are structured in a way that gives the house an advantage over the player in nearly every situation. When there are more decks implemented into a game of blackjack, the house edge increases.<\/span><\/p>\n

For single-deck games, the house edge can be quite low, even as low as 0.17% against players using an optimal strategy. When more decks start getting added, the house edge goes up. For multi-deck games, it can go up by a full percent point in some instances. The greater the house edge, the better the chance of higher profitability on the game over time.<\/span><\/p>\n