Perfect Pairs Blackjack Side Bet: How It Works

Perfect Pairs is a side bet on a standard blackjack game, made in addition to the usual blackjack bet.

It is paid or taken by the dealer before the blackjack hand is played out according to the casino’s normal rules of blackjack.

What is the Blackjack Perfect Pairs bet?

The Perfect Pairs blackjack bet is a bet that your first two cards will be a pair.  

If you get dealt a pair, you win, otherwise you lose your ‘Perfect Pairs’ bet.

It’s a fun and exciting way to add more adrenaline to blackjack.

To see more on what is the Perfect Pairs in blackjack, you can watch our informative video guide below:

A pair is two cards of the same number or face card value, such as the 9 of Hearts and the 9 of Diamonds, or the Jack of Spades and the Jack of Hearts. 

There are three different kinds of pairs.

The Perfect Pair

A Perfect Pair is two cards of the same suit and either the same number or face card value such as two Kings of Spades, or two 9s of Diamonds.

The Perfect Pair payout is 30 to 1.

The Colored Pair

A Colored Pair is two cards with the same number or face card value and having the same color, such as the 10 of Hearts and the 10 of Diamonds, or the King of Spades and the King of Clubs.

The Colored Pair payout is 10 to 1.

The Mixed Pair

A Mixed Pair is two cards with the same number or face card value, but of different colors and different suits, such as the 8 of Hearts and the 8 of Clubs, or the Queen of Diamonds and the Queen of Clubs.

The Mixed Pair payout is 5 to 1.

A common pay table for the Perfect Pairs bet in a land-based casino is: 

• The Perfect Pair payout is 30 to 1
• The Colored Pair payout is 10 to 1
• The Mixed Pair payout is 5 to 1

Bet	Example	Definition	Payout
Perfect Pair		Same value and same suit	30 to 1
Colored Pair		Same value, same color and different suit	10 to 1
Mixed Pair		Same value and different color	5 to 1

I’ve seen the pay table changed to allow for larger payouts for the lower paying winning bets and reducing the top award payout as shown in the House Advantage table below.

This means the House Advantage is increased for the casino from 3.38% to 4.09%. That doesn’t seem like much, but it represents an increase of 21% - so it’s quite significant.

• The Perfect Pair payout is 25 to 1
• The Colored Pair payout is 12 to 1
• The Mixed Pair payout is 6 to 1

House Advantage on the Perfect Pairs bet

As you can see in the table below, the HA is quite low compared to some side bets in Blackjack, and changes depending on the payouts offered.

This table shows the HA for an 8-deck shoe with three very common pay tables.

How to Play Perfect Pairs Blackjack

It’s very simple.  

You must have a regular blackjack bet to place the Perfect Pairs bet.

• Before the cards are dealt, place your Perfect Pairs bet in the appropriate betting area.  
• The dealer deals the blackjack hand as normal.
• If your first two cards are a pair, you win up to the top award, depending on the type of pair it is.
• If you do not have a pair with your first two cards, your Perfect Pairs bet loses.
• Once the Perfect Pairs bet has been settled, the regular blackjack game continues as normal.

The Side Bet Payouts and Odds

Let’s take a look at the real odds of getting a Perfect Pair.

In an 8-deck shoe, there are a total of 8 x 52 cards = 416

There are 8 of every card.

Let’s say our first card is the King of Diamonds.

There are 7 remaining Kings of Diamonds, and 415 total remaining cards.

So the odds of getting one of the Kings of Diamonds for the Perfect Pair is 7/415.

Which is 0.01686 – and rounding up for easy math, it’s 1.7%

Expressed another way, it means that you have 17 ways to win, and 983 ways to lose out of the total hands available.  This is based on 1,000 hands.

Which is approximately 58 to 1

The casino pays you 30 to 1 if you win this bet, which is way below the true odds of getting the Perfect Pair.  

Strategy for Playing the Live Blackjack Perfect Pairs

As with most side bets, there really isn’t a ‘strategy’ to playing Perfect Pairs.  Short of counting down the decks and keeping track of how many of each card has been dealt, it’s really not possible to formulate a strategy.

Comparison with Other Blackjack Variants

Perfect Pairs is a side bet and isn’t considered a blackjack variant like European Blackjack and Blackjack Switch and so on. It has no effect on the regular blackjack game where it is offered. 

Expert Advice: Tips for Mastering Perfect Pairs Blackjack

• The advantage of this bet is that it can be bet for a very small wager, often only $1, and typically offers payouts that are much larger than the usual blackjack payouts.
• The downside is that it comes with a HA that is much larger than the usual HA for a blackjack game. While it can be as low as 2% or 3%, this still represents a significant increase in the usual blackjack HA a player is facing.
• You may want to bet it when the shoe is running in your favor, and you want to add a little more excitement and adrenalin to your game.

Conclusion

The Perfect Pairs side bet is a fun way to get a little more money in action.
Check the pay table to make sure you’re getting a reasonable payout for your bet.

And good luck!

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