What is 21+3 in blackjack?

The 21+3 blackjack side bet uses your first two cards and the dealer's upcard to make a separate three-card poker hand. It pays when those cards form a listed combination, such as a flush, straight or three of a kind.

You place the side bet before the cards are dealt, alongside your main blackjack wager. Its result is settled independently, so you can win 21+3 and lose the blackjack hand, lose 21+3 and win the main hand, or win both.

The name can cause confusion. You are not trying to make a total of 24. The 21 refers to blackjack, while the 3 refers to the three cards used for the side bet.

How does the 21+3 blackjack side bet work?

The betting area appears beside the main wager on blackjack tables that offer 21+3. After both stakes are placed, the table deals two cards to you and shows one dealer card. Those three cards settle the side bet immediately.

Suppose you receive the 5 and 6 of clubs, and the dealer's upcard is the 7 of clubs. The cards make a straight flush, so the side bet pays according to the table's 21+3 paytable. Your main blackjack game then continues using the normal total of your own two cards. The dealer's 7 helps create the side-bet result but is not added to your blackjack hand.

The same separation applies when 21+3 loses. If the three cards do not form a qualifying poker hand, only the side-bet stake is lost at that point. You can still hit, stand, double or split during the main game.

Which hands win in 21+3 blackjack and what do they pay?

A common 21+3 paytable uses five winning hands. They are ranked by how difficult they are to make, with suited three of a kind at the top.

The figures below are used in the Speed Blackjack game. Other blackjack tables may use different payouts, so the game information should always take priority.

Suited three of a kind is also called suited trips. Blackjack commonly uses several decks, which makes it possible for identical cards to appear in the same three-card combination. If more than one description fits the cards, only the highest qualifying hand is paid.

A 100:1 payout means a £1 winning bet makes £100 profit, with the £1 stake also returned. It does not mean that the result occurs once in every 100 rounds. Payouts and probabilities are separate parts of the calculation.

What affects the 21+3 blackjack odds?

The chance of winning depends on the number of decks and the paytable used by the game. More decks change the possible card combinations, especially for suited trips, while different payouts change the theoretical return attached to those combinations.

The rarest hands pay the most. Flushes and straights appear more often than suited trips, but their payouts are lower. Looking only at the largest prize gives an incomplete picture of the bet. Check the complete paytable and any listed return information before placing a stake.

The 21+3 house edge is normally higher than the edge on the main blackjack game when basic strategy is applied correctly. Exact figures vary between tables, so one percentage should not be treated as universal. A different number of decks or a change to one payout can alter the calculation.

No hit, stand or split decision can improve a 21+3 result because it has already been settled using the opening cards. Previous rounds do not make a flush, straight or suited trips more likely on the next deal, and changing the stake does not change the card probabilities.

How is 21+3 different from other blackjack side bets?

Blackjack side bets can appear together on the same table, but they are not interchangeable. Each one uses different cards and asks a different question.

Perfect Pairs in blackjack focuses entirely on your opening pair. Colour and suit determine which pair payout applies. In 21+3, the dealer's visible card joins your two cards, and the result is ranked using poker-style combinations.

Insurance is offered only when the dealer shows an ace. It is a bet on the hidden card completing blackjack and usually pays 2:1. Unlike 21+3 and Perfect Pairs, it is not available before every initial deal.

None of these bets changes the cards in the main hand. Placing several side bets also means putting more money at risk during one round, even though every stake is shown separately on the table.

Is the 21+3 side bet worth playing?

21+3 adds a separate result to the opening deal, but it is not part of blackjack basic strategy and cannot improve the expected return of the main hand. Its larger payouts are balanced by less frequent winning combinations and a separate house edge.

Before placing the bet, check:

• Which three-card hands qualify 
• The payout for each result 
• The minimum and maximum side-bet stakes 
• The number of decks, if the rules provide it 
• How much the extra wager adds to your total stake per round 

If you decide to use 21+3, count the stake as part of your session budget rather than treating it as a small extra. Faster games can make repeated side bets add up quickly. Decide your maximum spend and session length before the first round. Close the game once either limit is reached.

You can compare blackjack with the other table and live formats in our online casino. Read the rules for the individual game before placing a real-money wager because side bets and paytables can differ.