The Best Live Blackjack Online Casinos UK 2024

How to Choose a UK Live Blackjack Casino

Every casino player will have their own opinion on what makes the best blackjack site, but we’ve highlighted a few factors you should consider before you sign up to play live blackjack online.

1. Live Blackjack Variations
   You won’t get to enjoy quite as many variations of live blackjack as with the RNG versions of this game, but that’s certainly not to say that all live blackjack tables are the same.
   While you might not find the likes of Double Exposure and Blackjack Switch in a live casino, you may find that some live blackjack games offer variation in the rules. While some will allow players to use the blackjack surrender strategy, others might feature a variety of side bets, including Perfect Pairs and 21+3.
2. Bonuses
   Fancy claiming a blackjack bonus to help your bankroll last a little longer? Don’t simply sign up to the blackjack site offering the most bonus cash. Take time to read the bonus terms and conditions to understand any wagering requirements, eligible deposit methods and games restrictions.
   The last thing you want is to sign up and realise your PayPal deposit isn’t eligible for the bonus, or that you can’t play live dealer blackjack with the matched deposit funds.
3. Payments Methods
   Live dealer blackjack is almost always exclusive to real money players, so it’s important that the blackjack site offers a deposit method that suits you.
   The best blackjack sites have banking options for everyone, from bank cards to e-wallets — some even accept Bitcoin deposits — but the minimum deposit can vary between each payment method, so be sure to understand the ins and outs before you sign up.
4. Games Library
   You might enjoy live dealer blackjack, but you may also want to spin the reels of online slots, or try your luck at live roulette from time to time. Check out the other games on offer at the live blackjack site before you sign up- it might be easier to have all your favourite games in one place.
5. Staking Limits
   Staking limits are one of the most important considerations when you’re choosing where to play live dealer blackjack, as they determine the minimum and maximum bet you can make during each hand. Think about how many hands you’d like to play and your budget for the session — and don’t forget about any side bets like splits, as these will require an additional stake. A good rule of thumb is to bring 100 times your bet value, or to bet 1% of your buy-in per hand.
   For virtual blackjack, the lowest stakes games could drop right down to the pennies, but finding such a low minimum bet for live blackjack is quite uncommon. Since these games cost more for online casinos to run, you’re more likely to find a minimum bet of around £1–£2. Some casinos set fluid staking limits too, raising minimum bets during busier periods to get the most out of a  limited number of players.
   If you prefer to bet big, you’ll have plenty of choice. Many casinos host games with a max stake of £10,000–£15,000 per hand, but we’ve seen these stretch as high as £20,000 at some sites. These high stakes tables are usually reserved for VIP blackjack games ‒ a particular type of live dealer blackjack that aims to recreate the high roller experience of a real casino.
6. Software Developers
   If you want to play live online blackjack, scope out which blackjack software developers have partnerships with online casinos. The best live casino sites will host games from at least a couple of different developers in their libraries.
   Evolution Gaming is a top-tier developer when it comes to blackjack. Live dealer games are its speciality, and the company is known for high quality across a large breadth of games. Along with standard live blackjack, Evolution runs variations like Speed, Lightning, Infinite, Blackjack VIP, and more, and you’ll be able to place a range of side bets like Perfect Pairs and 21+3 on these games.
   Some other top developers include Pragmatic Play, Microgaming, and Extreme Live Gaming. If you see any of these names at a live casino site, you know you’ll be getting a fantastic gaming experience every time.

How to Sign up and Deposit at a Live Blackjack Casino

Fortunately, it’s an easy process to sign up at a live blackjack casino, make your first deposit, and take on the dealer. Just follow our simple step-by-step guide below.

1. Compare live blackjack casinos
   Our experts have singled out the best live blackjack casinos to make your choice easy. All our recommended sites are fully licensed by the UK Gambling Commission so you’re in safe hands. Use our comparison tables to quickly weigh up the options, then click through for a more detailed review. Once you’re ready, use our link to head straight through to the live blackjack casino’s homepage. 
2. Enter info and sign up
   You’ll need to provide some basic personal information to create your account. You may also be asked for proof of ID or address at this stage too, in a process called Know Your Customer (KYC) checks. This is a legal requirement — it’s there to prevent underage gambling, fraud, and money laundering. Follow the steps to create your account and then verify your email address when prompted. 
3. Claim a welcome bonus
   If the live blackjack casino offers new players a welcome bonus, you might need to opt in or enter a promo code during the sign-up or deposit process. Now is a good time to read the terms and conditions of the deal so you know what’s required to make it a success. Make note of any wagering requirements, game restrictions, time limits, and excluded payment methods. If it’s a no deposit bonus, you should receive it straight away; for minimum deposit bonuses, head to the next step.
4. Make your first deposit
   Navigate to the cashier page of the live blackjack casino and select ‘deposit’. At this point, you’ll need to choose a deposit method. If you’re not sure which to go with, check out our guide to casino payment methods. When claiming a welcome bonus, be sure to pick an eligible method. At most live blackjack casinos, the deposit process itself is broadly the same: pick your method, enter the amount, enter the required information, and confirm the deposit. 
5. Pick a game and play!
   Once your deposit has settled and the funds are in your casino wallet — along with your welcome bonus — you’re ready to go! Head to the games library to get started. If you want to get involved in live dealer blackjack straight away, you should be able to filter to show only these games. From there, you can pick a game based on your preferences — whether it’s a specific blackjack variant, certain table stakes, or number of players in the room. If you’re looking to take your blackjack gameplay up a notch, why not try learning some basic strategy? We also recommend reading through our responsible gambling guide before you start betting. 

How Live Blackjack Works

There’s nothing complicated about playing online blackjack with a live dealer. Casinos stream live webcam footage in real time, using fully trained dealers and blackjack equipment to give you the most authentic blackjack experience. Let’s take a look at the different components involved when you play live blackjack at a top UK casino.

Dealers

Just like in a real casino, you’ll have a personable and professional dealer to take you through each round of live blackjack. Fully trained by the casino developers, these dealers know the game back to front. You’ll be able to communicate with your dealer via a live chat system and they can reply to you in real time via the microphone. You’re often able to pick between several dealers across a range of languages, with each dealer bringing their own personality to the table.

It’s worth noting some live casino games like roulette use automated machines rather than dealers, although that’s not usually the case with live blackjack.

Studios

While some live games are streamed from the casino floor, most of the action takes place in dedicated studios built specifically for live dealer games. Some sets are simple, while others give you a taste of the most luxurious VIP back rooms found in top casinos across the globe. If you’re looking for a bit of atmosphere, some developers even stream all their games from the same room — so you could be chasing a blackjack while a game of roulette or baccarat plays out in the background.

Sensors

The sensors are an essential part of the live blackjack experience. These detect which cards have been dealt, integrating with the computer systems running the game to allow you to place bets, make decisions, and pay out any winnings. Sometimes you’ll see your dealer run cards over a special reader when they’re dealt. This reader detects the value of the card and passes it to the game control unit (GCU) where it’ll then appear on your own screen.

Cameras

Without the cameras, live dealer blackjack would be pretty boring. Each studio’s setup will differ somewhat, but each game will offer a single camera angle of the entire table as a minimum, usually broadcasting in full HD quality. Fancier systems do exist, which could give you access to different camera angles — such as close-ups on your cards or the dealer’s.

Shufflers and Shoes

Just like playing real blackjack in a brick-and-mortar casino, shufflers and shoes are used to manage the decks of cards in live dealer blackjack at online casinos. The shuffler is a machine which automatically shuffles the cards to ensure fair gameplay, after which they’re placed in a shoe. The shoe can hold multiple decks, the number of which ‒ ranging between one and eight ‒ depends on the game’s rules. A cut card will be placed at a specific point in the shoe, indicating the final hand before a shuffle.

How to Play Blackjack

Blackjack is the most popular of a series of casino games known collectively as Twenty-One. These games originated in 17th century Spain, but different variations started appearing in France and Great Britain soon after.

Blackjack is the popularised American version of the game and is played with two or more players, typically 2-7, with players pitting themselves against the dealer and the house as opposed to each other. 

In blackjack, a hand’s value is the sum of its cards’ value, and the aim is to gain a hand closest to 21 without exceeding 21. Players that exceed 21 are bust and take no further part in the round. Cards numbered 2-10 hold their face value, and picture cards (jacks, queens and kings) are each worth 10. Players can choose whether aces in their hand are worth one or 11. 

Each player is dealt a two-card hand; depending on the casino’s rules, these cards are either dealt face up (upcards) or face down (downcards). The dealer is then dealt either one or two cards (again depending on the casino), with at least one card face up. 

Details around the dealer’s hand are inconsequential, because no matter which blackjack rules the casino applies, the dealer’s hand plays out in front of all players at the end of the round.

After receiving their first two cards, players have four options:

• Hit: players receive an additional card from the dealer;
• Stick: players take no more cards – this is also known as ‘stand’;
• Double down: players increase their initial bet up to 100% in exchange for committing to a stick call after receiving one more card. Some casinos only permit double down calls on the condition that the bet must be increased by 100%;
• Split: if the first two cards are the same value, players can split them into two separate hands by placing a matched second bet behind the split hand. An additional card is then dealt to the two split hands and play out in turn. Typically, all cards of ten value qualify as splitting hands, i.e., players can split with a ten and a queen, for example;
• Some casinos allow for a fifth surrender option – players are able to surrender at their first decision, giving half of their stake to the dealer and keeping the other half.

Once all players at the table have completed their hands, it’s the dealer’s turn to play. The dealer will not play their hand if everyone has busted, or if everyone has received a blackjack – considered the best hand in the game, consisting of an ace and a ten-valued card. 

The player with the hand closest to 21 wins their bet. If a player has a blackjack and the dealer doesn’t, the player wins and usually receives a bonus. If a player goes bust, the player loses, even if the dealer is also bust. If player and dealer hands are equal, no one wins.

House Edge and Player Strategy

Blackjack has the kindest house edge of the table-based casino games, but this edge varies depending on how many 52-card decks are in play. With one 52-card deck, the house edge is 0.17%, reflected in the rule that the house wins if both dealer and player go bust. 

As a way of mitigating against card counting, casinos introduced multi-deck blackjack games of up to eight decks. Although card counting isn’t a concern for online casinos, multi-deck blackjack games are seen as a way of increasing the house edge at casino sites – with every additional deck in play, the chances of hitting a blackjack decrease, and so the house edge consequently increases.

Some casinos play with up to eight decks, which raises the house edge to 0.66%. 

No matter the size of the house edge, many players head to the blackjack table with a strategy in place, inspired by Ed Thorpe’s seminal 1963 book Beat the Dealer, which laid the foundation for all subsequent blackjack strategies. You can read more about how best to approach blackjack strategy in our guide.

Play Live Blackjack on Your Mobile

Thanks to mobile-optimised sites and dedicated mobile apps, you can enjoy live dealer blackjack online wherever you are — all you need is a good internet connection and a functioning smart device. Using HTML5 technology, casino software houses now develop live dealer games with mobile blackjack players specifically in mind, so you can enjoy HD graphics and seamless dealer interaction on the go.

Developers like Evolution and Playtech have made their entire live dealer portfolios available on mobile, but it’s worth checking whether your chosen blackjack title is available through a native casino app. The game will be displayed in landscape mode in either case, but when playing via a mobile browser, it’s not always easy to access all the controls. Playing via a dedicated app gives you access to a full-screen experience thoughtfully designed for your specific device.

Not only does mobile gameplay allow bets to be placed whenever and wherever it suits you, but an app’s push notifications also offer the best way for punters to keep informed of all the latest bonuses and promotions. To find the best mobile blackjack apps, head over to Google’s Play Store if you have an Android device, or the App Store if your device runs on iOS.

All casino games are available to play on mobile devices, with developers using mobile-friendly technology to build their titles. There are two ways in which mobile blackjack is offered to you: in your mobile browser, or through the casino’s dedicated app — we’ve broken down the pros and cons of both options below. 

Apps vs Mobile Sites

Here are the pros and cons of playing in a blackjack app. 

Play High Stakes Live Blackjack

Live dealer blackjack tables offer some of the highest betting limits on the market, with certain tables allowing players to wager over £20,000 per hand. Combining high stakes blackjack games with professional dealers and authentic sights and sounds of the casino brings players close to the atmosphere and excitement of the real thing.

That said, you stand to lose a lot of money when playing high stakes blackjack. Here are some things to keep in mind if you’re considering live dealer blackjack with high table limits. 

Should I Play High Stakes Live Dealer Blackjack?

High stakes blackjack isn’t for everyone. What counts as ‘high stakes’ varies from player to player — we’d argue that bets of £1,000 per hand and up fit the description. The upper limit depends on the live blackjack casino, but some will allow bets of £50,000 per hand or even more. For the vast majority, that’s a pretty staggering amount of money. 

It goes without saying, but blackjack newbies should not be playing high stakes games. We recommend you first understand blackjack strategy and have a substantial number of hours under your belt before trying high stakes live blackjack. Also consider what you can afford and what you’re comfortable losing. Some live blackjack casinos require players to pass affordability checks before letting them play at high stakes tables.

Budget Management

Keeping tabs on your spend is an essential part of online gambling, and that’s particularly true when playing high stakes live blackjack. Decide on a budget for your session and stick to it before you sit down at the live tables. It can be helpful to record details of your session to track your spend — this facility is built in at some live blackjack casinos. You could also use an e-wallet like PayPal for your casino banking, which makes it easy to keep gambling funds separate from your regular bank account. Remember, never chase losses and end your session once you’ve spent your budget.

Blackjack Strategy

We recommend learning blackjack strategy no matter what stakes you play at. But when you’re betting such large sums of money, minimising the house edge becomes even more important to get maximum value out of your bankroll. Check out our guide to blackjack strategy if you need a primer. 

You could also consider a betting strategy to structure your wagers. Negative progressive betting systems like the Martingale or D’Alembert can be high risk, but are less likely to hit their usual pitfall of table limits when you play high stakes blackjack. Positive progressions like the Paroli system are a less risky alternative, where players double up after wins but keep to their base stake after a loss. 

Keep in mind that a betting strategy will not improve your chances of winning. Rather, it’s a way to manage your bankroll and can be a fun way to structure your live blackjack session.

Highest Paying Blackjack Games

Whether you’re playing live dealer blackjack or an RNG title, you’ll want the best returns. While you should never gamble with an aim to make money, it also makes sense that you’d want to get the most out of your bankroll — and that’s where an understanding of RTP is important.

RTP, or return to player, is the percentage of money paid into a game that is quite literally returned to players. Let’s say you’re playing live blackjack with a 99% RTP. For every £100 bet on the game, £99 is paid back out to players on average.

You can also think of it as the inverse of house edge, which represents how much the casino stands to make over the long run. Games with a lower house edge will have a higher RTP and vice versa.

So, how do you maximise RTP? First, you should learn some basic blackjack strategy — this is the biggest step you can take to minimising the house advantage. Secondly, look for live dealer blackjack with favourable rules. For example, single-deck blackjack has over 0.5% lower house edge than a game played with eight decks, all else being equal. You can find more tips in our guide to blackjack strategy.

Last but not least, most games have a published RTP. While good strategy is the most important factor, higher RTP is an indication that a live blackjack title could pay out more in the long run. Here are a few live blackjack titles with the highest RTPs:

• Blackjack Azure Live by Pragmatic Play – 99.59%
• Blackjack 3 Live Casino by Extreme Live Gaming – 99.59%
• Lightning Blackjack Live by Evolution Gaming – 99.56%

Our Favourite Live Blackjack Games

There’s plenty of choice once you’re ready to play live dealer blackjack at a UK casino. Here are some of our top picks to inspire you:

Play Live Blackjack at New Casinos

Live blackjack games aren’t exclusive to well-known, established casino brands- you’ll also find live games at a selection of the best new casino sites.

This means that, whether you want to take advantage of an innovative welcome bonus offer, or like the look of the latest casino’s fresh interface, you’ll be able to enjoy those perks as you play blackjack with a fully trained, professional dealer.

Best Live Blackjack Software Developers

Many casino software developers are getting on board with live casino games, but there are a few that stand out from the crowd, offering something a little more special.

Responsible Gambling at UK Live Blackjack Casinos

Gambling is a pastime to be enjoyed, but it’s not without its dangers. When approached without care and a responsible attitude, a variety of problems can crop up. Some of the red flags that can indicate that online gambling has become a problem include:

• Spending more time or money gambling online than you intended.
• Hiding how much you are gambling from family and friends.
• Getting into debt to gamble more.
• Neglecting work or other responsibilities to gamble.
• Feeling depressed or anxious about gambling.
• Thinking about gambling more than usual.

Responsible Gambling Tips

Of course, gambling doesn’t always prove to be an issue for players, but to ensure that gambling stays fun, it can help to practise responsible gambling habits. Here are some top tips to help keep you safe when you bet online:

• Set and stick to a budget and time limit when you gamble online. Once you hit these limits, it’s time to take a break.
• Use the tools provided by online casinos. The best sites are committed to safer gambling, so you can expect to find tools like deposit limits, reality checks, and time-outs readily available.
• To avoid any disappointment or unexpected surprises, always read the terms and conditions to make sure you’ve understood wagering requirements and other restrictions on any bonuses.  
• Never chase your losses. It’s important to walk away when things don’t go your way. Blackjack has one of the highest RTPs of all casino games, but you’re never guaranteed a win and losing streaks are a natural part of playing. 
• Avoid gambling if you’re under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Both can impair your judgement and make you take risks. This could lead to you losing more money than you can afford to. 
• Always bet at casinos that are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission. If you’re ever gambling outside the UK, ensure the site is licensed by the relevant regulator, such as the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA).

Where to Get Help

We take our role and responsibilities in the gambling industry very seriously. If you’re worried about problem gambling in yourself or someone you know, there are several professional organisations that can offer help and support in the United Kingdom, including:

• BeGambleAware.org
• GamCare
• Gamblers Anonymous
• GamblingCommission.gov.uk