Looking for Games Like Blackjack? Consider Baccarat, Pai Gow Poker, and More

There are plenty of banked games played at casinos that are not similar to blackjack—but you might be surprised how many are actually like blackjack.

Banked games are defined as those gambling games that pit the player or players against the house (represented by the dealer). For instance, roulette is a banked game, as is craps.

Even the carny’s wheel of fortune is a banked game. The clue is in who takes your money when you lose and who pays you when you win. If the answer to both of those questions is “the dealer,” then you’re playing a banked game.

So, games like blackjack are considered banked games. You and a half-dozen of your closest friends can all play the game, but you won’t be competing with one another. You’re competing against the dealer (the house).

Below you’ll find five games similar to blackjack that have varying similarities. Some are virtually indistinguishable from 21, while others share only a few features.

All, however, are top-rated banked table games you can play at the best online casinos.

Traditional Pai Gow is played with Chinese dominoes, but the Pai Gow Poker you’ll encounter at both land-based and online casinos will be played with a standard 52-card deck plus a single joker.

What makes it one of the card games like blackjack is the fact that it is a banked game involving a standard 52-card deck of cards.

This guide to Pai Gow Poker will have everything you need to know, but I’ll break things down briefly for you.

Up to six players can compete against the dealer. The game’s object is to build the best five-card hand and the best two-card hand. To win, the player must do both.

Seven cards are dealt face down to each player and the dealer/banker.

If you try this game at your favorite local casino, be sure you understand the rules for the game at that specific casino because ignorance of local customs can have tragic results.

For instance, in casinos in Nevada, the A-2-3-4-5 is the second highest straight, while in other states (notably California and Michigan), it is the lowest possible straight.

The joker is likewise valued as a bug used to fill straights and flushes, an ace, or a wild card, depending on where you’re playing.

From how baccarat is portrayed in the movies, you would imagine it is basically blackjack with a dress code. But while it’s a game similar to blackjack, it differs greatly in scoring, play, and odds.

Whether you’re playing punto banco, chemin de fer, or baccarat, this is inarguably the classiest casino table game. If it was good enough for James Bond, then it’s good enough for the likes of you and me.

In the most popular variant of the game (Punto Banco), the house is the bank (Banco), and the player (Punto) is attempting to best the banco. Every hand (or coup, as the French call them) ends in either a player win, a bank win, or a tie.

As with blackjack, baccarat is dealt from a multiple-deck shoe (usually six to eight 52-card decks). In gameplay, the ten through the ace have no value, and the value of each hand is derived from the sum of the two cards.

Only the units digit is important in this game—for example, a 7-7 hand sums to 14, which gives the hand the value of 4. A K-2 is valued at 2 (zero plus two), while a 9-9 is valued at 8 (sum of 18). Two cards are dealt (all face up) to the player and to the bank.

If neither has an 8 or a 9, the banker may be dealt a third card depending on various rules and conditions.

Obviously, the game is similar enough to blackjack to be enticing and different enough to cause confusion and consternation among neophytes.

Check out our guide to playing baccarat if you want to learn more!

If you like to play blackjack online for money but want to try something different, consider trying Pontoon instead. 

First played in Spain back in the 17th century, the version of Pontoon currently played at casinos is virtually identical to blackjack except that the tens are missing from the deck (or decks, if dealing from a shoe).

Other rules have been altered to mitigate the additional advantage those missing tens give the house.

Note that a “pontoon” is just another name for blackjack, i.e., an ace and a card with the face value of ten. Some of the online pontoon games are dealt from a four-to eight-deck shoe, except at Bovada.

Typically, a pontoon pays 2-1, as does a five-card trick (drawing a total of five cards without exceeding a score of 21). All other winning hands pay even money. The dealer wins ties.

If you’re ready to try more games like blackjack, consider signing up at the gambling site featured below.

Wandering farther afield in the world of casino table games similar to blackjack, we find Ultimate Texas Hold’em. This recent addition to the gambling world turns Hold’em into a player vs. house competition.

The game was the invention of Roger Snow for Shuffle Master (now a subsidiary of Bally Gaming).

This poker guide will tell you that it is very similar to regular Texas Hold’em with several notable exceptions.

The game is played against the house (rather than competing poker players), and only certain wagers are permitted (for example, only one raise is allowed during a hand).

Casinos like the game because it satisfies patrons’ wishes to play Texas Hold’em without setting aside entire rooms for the game.

And players like the game, because it affords them the “feel” of Texas Hold’em but offers the house only a blackjack-like edge of roughly 2.2%.

If you want to start earning cash at blackjack, our blog is a great place to start.

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Lastly, we have Casino War, a card game very similar to blackjack.

The only way you could find a simpler game to play in a casino is if the Bellagio started dealing 52-Card Pickup. This game is another recent invention of Bally’s, and as I just noted, it is about the easiest game to play since tic-tac-toe.

In any case, Casino War is a banked game, of course, and it’s typically dealt from a six-to-eight deck shoe to the dealer and the players. One card is dealt to the player(s), and one is dealt to the dealer.

What makes this a war is if there is a tie between the player and the dealer.

In this situation, the player may choose to surrender, losing half his original wager. Or, he may choose to go to war, but if that is the choice, the player must double his original bet.

If the player chooses to go to war, he and the dealer are each dealt another card. If the player’s new card is of higher value than the dealer’s card, the player wins his original wager only. If the player’s new card is of lesser value than the dealer’s, the player loses both his initial bet and the “go to war” wager.

But if the player’s new card is equal in value to the dealer’s new card, the player is paid 1-1 for his doubled wager. And that’s why Casino War ends up on my list of games like blackjack.

That’s going to wrap up this list of games similar to blackjack, but try your luck with the best games like bingo.

As you can see, there are a lot of different games like blackjack that you can play in the casino. All these games have the same premise as blackjack, which is that you are up against the dealer.

Other casino games will pin you against the house or other players, which makes blackjack and similar games stand out a bit more.

It’s unlikely that you want to go to the casino and make enemies. Some people will be enjoyable to play with, but at the end of the day, you’re bound to have an issue with someone if they keep taking your money.

Instead of directing that at another casino player, it makes more sense to direct it at the dealer, or the house. At the end of the day, the dealer is just doing their job. You can’t be upset at them for that.

I touched on a few poker games earlier, but I have one more before you hit the road. That game is Tri Card Poker, which can be found at Bovada’s casino.

Tri Card Poker is another banked game, but the winner is determined by the higher poker hand instead of whoever gets blackjack, or the closest to one.

If you understand poker hands, I strongly recommend Tri Card Poker.

You can find Tri Card Poker, blackjack, and other games from this list at Bovada. Check out this Bovada review for more information about their site, or click the link below to play now!

Footnotes:

• Details about Ultimate Texas Hold’em provided by the Office of the Attorney General in California.
• Blackjack/pontoon origins are from Britannica.
• Dice Summit provided information about Roger Snow.