Blackjack Royal Match Side Bet

 
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The Royal Match Side Bet, more commonly found in a land-based casino will pay you 5:2 if you have two suited cards and 25:1 if you have a suited King. The Royal Match is a side bet in blackjack that is based on the first two cards that are dealt to the players. The rules are pretty simple to understand and follow, if the player’s first two cards are suited, then the player is paid 5 to 2. If the player has a royal match (a king and queen of the same suit) then the bet pays out at 25 to 1.

Introduction

The royal match is a simple bet that pays a bonus if the first two cards are suited (an easy match) and a top bonus for a suited king and queen (a royal match). Below are probability tables for various versions I have seen through the years.

Royal Match — Version 1 — Six Decks

EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Royal match251440.0029680.074202
Easy match2.511,8680.2446200.611551
No match-136,5040.752412-0.752412
Total48,5161.000000-0.066658

Royal Match — Version 2 — One Deck

EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Royal match1040.0030170.030166
Easy match33080.2322780.696833
No match-11,0140.764706-0.764706
Total1,3261.000000-0.037707

The following table displays the house edge for each version given the number of decks used.

Royal Match House Edge

Blackjack Royal Match Side Bet Winners

Number of DecksVersion 1Version 2
10.1085970.037707
20.0832710.008215
40.070792-0.006317
60.066658-0.011130
80.064597-0.013531

The probabilities for the royal match are easy to derive.Lets use n for the number of decks of cards. The number of two card combinations is combin(52×n,2). The number of ways to make a royal match is 4*n2. This is because there are 4 suits and n ways to choose the queen and n ways to choose the king. The number of ways to make an easy match is 4×(combin(13×n,2)-n2). The 4 is the number of suits and combin(13×n,2) is the number of ways to arrange 2cards from a given suit. You must also subtract the number of ways to make a royal match.

The probability of an easy match is 4×(combin(13×n,2)-n2)/combin(52×n,2).

The probability of a royal match is 4×n2/combin(52×n,2).

Blackjack Royal Match Side Bet

Royal Match - Version 3

In a third version there is a separate pay for a suited blackjack as follows.

  • Royal Match pays 25 to 1
  • Suited Blackjack pays 5 to 1
  • Easy Match pays 5 to 2

Blackjack Royal Match Side Bet Results

The following table shows the expected value for a 6-deck game is -3.70%.

Royal Match Version 3- Six Decks

HandCombinationsProbabilityPaysReturn
Royal match1440.002968250.074202
Suited blackjack5760.01187250.059362
All other matches112920.2327482.50.58187
Loss365040.752412-1-0.752412
Total485161-0.036977

The next table shows the house edge for various number of decks for version 3.

Royal Match Version 3- 1 to 8 Decks

DecksHouse Edge
17.84%
25.34%
34.52%
44.11%
53.86%
63.70%
73.58%
83.49%

Royal Match - Version 4

The Shufflemaster TMS 300 is an electronic blackjack game, played facing a giant video screen of a dealer. It features a Royal Match side bet, adding a pay for the player and dealer both having a royal match. Following is the return table for six decks.

Royal Match — Version 4 — Six Decks

EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Player and Dealer Royal Match1000191520.0000080.008242
Player royal match2568777280.002960.073996
Suited2.55684178600.244620.611551
Loser-117483590800.752412-0.752412
Total23236738201-0.058622

The next table shows the house edge by number of decks.

Royal Match — Version 4 — 1-8 Decks

Number
of Decks
House
Edge
110.14%
27.59%
36.73%
46.3%
56.04%
65.86%
75.74%
85.64%

Royal Match — Version 5

Version 5 of the Royal Match is a progressive jackpot on ShuffleMaster TableMax units. These are the electronic blackjack games with a big screen, usually showing a pretty and very buxom dealer.

Blackjack Royal Match Side Bet Pariuri

In this version, the side bet is always $1. It pays a progressive jackpot for a 'Crown Treasure,' which is both the dealer and player having a Royal Match. Smaller pays are $60 for a player only royal match, and $10 for a player straight flush, which I assume means the player's first two cards are suited and consecutive, including A-2.

There is also a $500 envy bonus, which pays if you make the side bet, and another player gets a Crown Treasure. The other player does not have to make the side bet for other players to qualify for the Envy Bonus.

Blackjack Royal Match Side Bet No Deposit

Blackjack Royal Match Side Bet

The following table shows a hypothetical return table, for six decks, a $10,000 jackpot, and no other players.

Six-Deck Progressive Royal Match — $10,000 Jackpot and No Other Players

EventPaysCombinationsProbabilityReturn
Crown Treasure$10,00019,152.000.0000080.082421
Royal Match$606,877,728.000.0029600.177591
Straight Flush$1082,762,560.000.0356170.356171
Loser$02,234,014,380.000.9614150.000000
Total2,323,673,820.001.0000000.616183

The general formula for the return in a six-deck game is 0.533762 + 0.082421×j + 0.004121× p, where j is the jackpot divided by $10,000, and p is the number of other players (not counting yourself).

The next table shows the breakeven points, in which the expected return is exactly 100%, given the number of other players, in a six-deck game.

Progressive Royal Match Breakeven Points

Other PlayersBreakeven Point
6$53,567.70
5$54,067.70
4$54,567.70
3$55,067.70
2$55,567.70
1$56,067.70
0$56,567.70

Written by: Michael Shackleford

Blackjack Royal Match Side Bet Picks

The Royal Match is a side bet in blackjack that is based on the first two cards that are dealt to the players. The rules are pretty simple to understand and follow, if the player’s first two cards are suited, then the player is paid 5 to 2. If the player has a royal match (a king and queen of the same suit) then the bet pays out at 25 to 1. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose your hand since you are paid out on your side bet as soon as the first two cards are dealt.

The casino’s advantage on a Royal Match depends on how many decks the casino is using. The more decks that are being used, the better the odds for the player. If you are playing in an eight-deck game then the house edge is lowest at 6.46%, but if you drop to a six-deck game then the edge increases to 6.67%. Things get worse as the decks are dropped, with four decks raising the advantage to 7.08%, two decks bringing it to 8.33% and worst of all is the single deck game, which stands at a 10.86% house advantage. I have however seen a single deck blackjack game with a 4 to 1 pay table, which would drop the house edge down to 3.77%.

In all my days at the casino though, I have never had the chance to see a side bet offered by the casino that was better than the odds on the game it is based on. Gimmicky side bets normally have a house edge of at least 3%, but can go as high as 76%.

If you want to maximize your time, then stick to the regular games and leave the side bets for someone else who doesn’t value money.