Description
Pit your skills against the house in Multihand Blackjack, available from Pragmatic Play, in which your cards are compared with the dealer’s rather than other players’.
This game is more commonly found online than in a brick-and-mortar casino, perhaps because you can consider your moves at greater leisure that way. And, as the name suggests, because you’re playing with more than one hand (up to five in fact) you can expect a lot more excitement.
So Multihand Blackjack is ideal for the seasoned player who fancies a fresh spin on a classic game without having to learn a whole new set of rules.
How to play
The objective here remains the same as with blackjack’s classic variant – you’re aiming to form a card total that’s as near to 21 as you can get, without going over it. Cards retain the same value as in the classic variant of this game.
Multihand Blackjack – How to Play
The big difference here is that you can stake more bets and make different moves because you can play more than a single hand, and you get to choose how many as the game kicks off.
You play each hand individually during the session, and not all wagers need to be equal. Each hand is treated as separate.
To get started, just click on the chip denomination (which you can change this any time) at the right of the screen, make your way to the bet buttons and click on them. Then choose your max and minimum wagers per hand hit Bet, then Deal. If you wish, you can also take out insurance against the dealer’s ace.
You and the dealer will receive two cards each in the first instance. Your cards face up, while the dealer has their second card facing downwards. You can carry on drawing further cards until you either reach 21, stay with a lesser total, or ‘bust’ (exceed 21).
Unfortunately, ‘busters’ lose their wager at once, whatever the dealer’s hand looks like.
If you have below 21, you can choose to stay at that total, ending your hand. The dealer must then keep drawing cards until they have at least 17 or higher. Your aim, of course, is to have a card total that’s above the dealers without going beyond 21.
If you end up with a hand that’s identical to the dealer’s, however many hands you’re doing, it’s counted as a push and your money is returned to you. However, if your hand exceeds the dealer’s but doesn’t go over 21, you win for every hand beating the dealer.
Alternatively, you can split your bet up to three times, or double down – the risky move of doubling your bet mid-hand in return for another card.
After each hand, modify your betting choices via the settings icon at the left of your screen.
Special features
Payouts and card values
- Blackjack pays out at 3 to 2
- Insurance pays out at 2 to 1
- Cards 2 through 9 are taken at face value; Jack, Queen or King are worth
- Aces are high or low (you choose) – and therefore are worth 1 or 11
Personalisation
There are many chances to make this game your own, including:
- Turbo mode
- Number of hands – one, three or five
- Background music (or not)
- Table colour (red, blue, green, black)
- Limits you’d like to bet
Return to Player (RTP)
You’d expect a table game to have a higher Return to Player or RTP, and this is no exception, at a theoretical 99.4 – 99.6%.
Verdict
Check this game out in demo mode before you part with any of your hard-earned cash. Clearly, when you do come to play for money, you’ll be able to wager more with separate bets and so have the chance to win more, too.
It may not be the perfect option for a novice player, but it’s otherwise well worth giving it a shot. Let us know how you get on.
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