In the late 1990s and 2000s, developers began noticing that the internet has become a true necessity for making our everyday lives easier. Thus, bringing blackjack to the comfort of players’ homes became a realistic idea.

At first, mostly crude versions of the main game and a few haphazardly executed variations were the only chances of people to play their favorite card game outside of a casino.

Even though computing power was growing exponentially, game designers were still busy coming up with new variants that would spice up the land-based world, as well. One such designer was Geoff Hall. 

Already known for the immensely popular Blackjack Switch, a variant where you can exchange cards between hands whilst occupying two spots at the table, Hall was adamant to advance the game even further.

His background, after all, was in advising players on advantage play, so all the experience he acquired pointed him right towards the key problems that plague the average player. One of the foremost complaints he encountered were related to doubling down and splitting. 

Both of these actions are tempting to a player because of opportunities that may increase your winnings significantly. However, hesitation precedes any such instance, as you’re required to up your wager. Geoff Hall wanted to do something about it, and, just like that, Free Bet Blackjack was born in 2012. 

After its debut at the Golden Nugget Casino in Las Vegas, NV, Hall, and co. soon realized that the game has too much potential for it to be limited to the Strip. Evolution Gaming was somehow able to convince Geoff to allow them to turn his iconic work into a live dealer masterpiece and the highly anticipated title finally reached casino sites in 2019. 

In the following sections, we’ll closely analyze the advantages and disadvantages of Free Bet Blackjack. Afterward, we’ll discuss the specific of the game’s set of rules, as well as how they influence the outcome for both players and dealers.

Our intention is also to check how does this live dealer game compared to other popular blackjack titles. With all that an more, you’ll know exactly what to expect from a game that hasn’t stopped turning heads for almost eight years. 

While we do receive this question about every live dealer game we review, things are a little bit different from Free Bet Blackjack. Even though it’s one of the most popular titles right now, most players are generally skeptical when it comes to looking for a casino solely for the purpose of playing a variant of a popular game.

Taking the road less traveled might be unnerving at times, but it’s not that hard to discern whether a Free Bet Blackjack casino is good or bad. 

For casino sites in general, the first thing you have to look for is the license. Is the casino legally allowed to operate in your region? If not, you may not get in trouble with the authorities, but you won’t be legally protected against any malicious moves the casino might make.

While playing games within the boundaries of the law is important, there are also other things such as UI quality, ease of registration, loading speed, and much more.

However, our goal was to find out what makes a great Free Bet Blackjack casino. During our testing phase, we collected more than 200 pages of impressions, comments, and suggestions about all the sites we felt displayed quality.

After a significant amount of debate and reorganizing our notes, we came to the conclusion that every proper Free Bet Blackjack site needs to be highly rated in the following categories:

Now that we’ve deconstructed the inner workings of the hypothetical ideal Free Bet Blackjack casino, it’s time to focus on the game itself.

In the following few sub-sections, we’ll cover this exciting blackjack variant from top to bottom. We’ll also mention the things we like, while also pointing out flaws that may or may not lead you to a different version of blackjack. 

To give you the best possible Free Bet Blackjack review, we gathered a group of 30 people. 15 of them have already played Evolution’s Live Blackjack extensively, while the other 15 had no experience with live casino games whatsoever. We’ve recorded their input and opinions, all while playing for a bit ourselves. 

Free Bet Blackjack is also shaped by the existence of side bets. We found them very useful, as they were able to return our wager on a number of different occasions. That’s why our advice would be to maintain a small, but nevertheless functional wager on all four, at all times. Here’s what you can choose from:

• Any Pair. The basic side bet, Any Pair pays if the player’s first two cards are a pair. Mixed pairs pay 8:1, while suited ones pay 25:1. We believe that you should always maintain a small wager on this pair, as it can give you a great return, especially if you’re in the midst of cold streak.Remember not to go too crazy, as Any Pair can also be an unnecessary burden if you choose to rely on it too much.
• 21+3. This is where things can get a little crazy. Two of your initial up cards and the dealer’s first combine to form a 3-card poker hand. If that hand is suited Triples, the payout is 100:1.If it’s a Straight Flush, 40:1. Regular Trips pay 30:1, while a Straight and a Flush give you a tenfold or fivefold amount, respectively. 21+3 is considered to be on the riskier side of side bets in Free Bet Blackjack, so proceed with caution.
• Hot3. Another side bet that combines your two-up cards with the dealer’s one, Hot3 only pays if the cumulative number of those cards is 19, 20, 21 or three sevens. 19 gets you your wager back, 20 pays 2:1, a regular 21 pays 4:1, while a suited one is much more lucrative, at 20:1.However, the biggest ‘jackpot’ of Hot3 outcomes is the three sevens scenario. If you have two up sevens and the dealer has one, you will get a 100:1 payout. Believe it or not, 19, 20, and 21 are seen a lot, so you should definitely take a chance and breathe some life into your bankroll.
• BustIt. Serving as the antithesis to the Push 22 rule, the BustIt side bet lets you earn some extra cash whenever the dealer busts out. If they bust out with three cards, you get your wager back.Four cards pay 2:1, five cards 9:1, and six cards net you your wager times 50. Now, you can also break the bank if the dealer busts out with seven (100:1) or eight (250:1) cards.As even five-card busts are relatively common, you should always place a wager on this side bet, as it serves the role of insurance in case the Push 22 rule starts messing your mojo up.

When it comes to software, Evolution Gaming did a masterful job with the simple interior and the seamless fusion of real-time camera action and computer-generated windows and pop-ups. You definitely get that iconic casino feel, without too many tradeoffs in terms of smoothness, speed, or flux.

The only problem that we encountered was when we entered mix mode. It’s advertised as an alternative for players with lower connection speeds, but it usually ends up crashing or freezing. We tried it on several laptops, tablets, and phones that are 5+ years old and the result was pretty much the same in every case.

Due to the game not being new anymore, you’ll have a hard time finding Canadian casino sites offering a deposit bonus catered specifically at players interested in Free Bet Blackjack.

However, you will find many casinos that have a permanently active live casino bonus.

Such a promotion can help you whilst you’re taking baby steps and learning the rules of the game. 

Before you take the plunge and choose a deposit bonus, make sure you know everything about the terms and conditions of the bonus, especially the wagering requirements.

Doing a bit of homework before playing can improve the overall quality of your experience, all while preventing any disappointments or other unpleasant occurrences.

It’s up to you to ensure the smoothness of your time playing Free Bet Blackjack.