Quick answer: Every blackjack side bet in Australian casinos costs more than the main game. On the pay tables we checked, Crown Pairs runs from about 1.9% to 10%, Buster Blackjack from about 5% to over 20%, Any Pair at 11 to 1 about 11% and insurance about 7.4%. The main bet at a decent table costs 0.5% to 0.8%.
Side bets are where casinos make blackjack pay. A pair of 7s paying 25 to 1 feels like a win waiting to happen. So why is the bet still a loser? Because the payout is always a little short of the odds. We calculated the house edge for the side bets printed in current Australian rule documents, using the actual pay tables. Our method is at the bottom of the page.
Side bets at a glance
| Bet | Where you will see it | House edge |
|---|---|---|
| Main blackjack bet (for comparison) | Every casino | About 0.5% to 0.8% |
| Crown Pairs | Crown Perth, Crown Sydney, Crown Melbourne | About 1.9% to 10% (depends on pay table) |
| Buster Blackjack | Crown Perth, Crown Sydney, SkyCity Adelaide | About 5% to 22% (depends on pay table) |
| Any Pair (at 11 to 1) | SkyCity Adelaide | About 10% to 11% |
| Insurance and even money | Every casino | About 7.4% to 7.5% |
Crown Pairs: the pay table is everything
Crown Pairs wins if your first two cards are a pair. A Crown Pair is the same rank and suit, a Coloured Pair is the same rank and colour, and a Mixed Pair is the same rank in different colours. Crown Perth's May 2026 rules list seven pay tables. We worked out the exact house edge for each:
| Decks | Crown / Coloured / Mixed pays | House edge |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | 30 / 12 / 5 | 1.93% |
| 8 | 25 / 12 / 6 | 4.10% |
| 6 | 30 / 10 / 5 | 5.79% |
| 6 | 25 / 12 / 6 | 6.11% |
| 4 | 30 / 12 / 5 | 6.76% |
| 8 | 25 / 12 / 5 | 7.95% |
| 6 | 25 / 12 / 5 | 9.97% |
Look at the first and last rows. Same six decks, and a 5-unit drop on the rarest pair turns a 1.9% bet into a 10% bet. If you must play Crown Pairs, read the pay table and count the decks first. In my experience almost nobody does.
Buster Blackjack: betting on the dealer to bust
Buster pays when the dealer busts, with bigger payouts for more cards in the busted hand. In a no hole card game the dealer busts about 28% of the time. Crown Perth lists seven pay tables. Our estimates:
| Pay table (Crown Perth) | 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8+ cards | Dealer stands soft 17 | Dealer hits soft 17 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 / 2 / 4 / 15 / 50 / 250 | About 7.4% | About 5.2% |
| 2 | 2 / 2 / 4 / 15 / 50 / 200 | About 7.5% | About 5.3% |
| 3 | 2 / 2 / 4 / 12 / 50 / 250 | About 8.1% | About 6.1% |
| 4 | 2 / 2 / 4 / 12 / 50 / 200 | About 8.2% | About 6.1% |
| 5 | 2 / 2 / 3 / 12 / 50 / 250 | About 10.0% | About 8.1% |
| 6 | 1 / 2 / 6 / 12 / 50 / 200 | About 21.6% | About 19.3% |
| 7 | 1 / 2 / 8 / 20 / 50 / 250 | About 15.8% | About 13.0% |
- A dealer who hits soft 17 busts more often, so Buster is a little cheaper at those tables (the main bet is dearer, though).
- Three-card busts are the most common result. Pay tables 6 and 7 pay them at only 1 to 1, which is why they cost so much.
- In Blackjack Plus at Crown Perth, Buster also wins on a dealer 22, even though your main bet pushes.
Any Pair
SkyCity Adelaide offers Any Pair: your first two cards are the same face value, and colour or suit do not matter. A pair lands about 7.4% of the time with six decks and 7.5% with eight. The break-even payout would be about 12.5 to 1. At a typical 11 to 1 the house edge is about 11% (six decks) or 10% (eight decks). Check the payout on the felt: every step down costs about 7.4% more.
Insurance and even money
Insurance is a side bet in disguise. You bet up to half your stake that the dealer's next card is a 10-value card, and it pays 2 to 1. With the dealer's ace removed from six decks, 96 of the remaining 311 cards are tens: the bet loses about 7.4% (7.5% with eight decks).
- "But I have a blackjack!" Taking even money is exactly the same bet as insuring your blackjack. It costs you, on average, about 4% of your stake each time.
- Card counters are the exception. With many tens left, insurance can be worth it. For everyone else, decline.
Other side bets on Australian felts
Crown Melbourne's rules also cover Crown Suits, Magnificent Sevens and the Pontoon Pandemonium jackpot, and The Star's Queensland tables have offered a Blazing 7s progressive. We only publish a house edge when we can check the current pay table, and we could not for these. The pattern holds, though: jackpot bets usually carry the highest edges of all, because the top prize is paid for by everyone else's losses.
What side bets really cost per hour
We compared two players at a Crown Perth stand-on-soft-17 table, both betting A$25 on the main game at 60 hands an hour:
- Player A, no side bets: about A$8.55 an hour on average (0.57%).
- Player B, plus A$5 on Crown Pairs at the 6-deck 25/12/5 table: another A$29.90 an hour on average. The small chip costs three and a half times as much as the big one.
Run your own numbers in our house edge calculator, then add the side bet by hand: side bet x hands per hour x house edge.
How we calculated these numbers
- Pairs bets and insurance: exact counts of card combinations for the stated number of decks.
- Buster Blackjack: dealer outcomes with no hole card, using an infinite-deck model. Real 6 to 8 deck results differ slightly, most of all on the rare 7 and 8-card busts, so treat these as close estimates.
- Pay tables: from Crown Perth's rules for Blackjack and Blackjack Plus, updated 18 May 2026.
Found a pay table we have not covered? Send it through our contact page and we will add it with the date we checked.
Rules change from one casino to the next, and sometimes from one table to the next in the same room. Want every casino in one view? See blackjack rules at every Australian casino (one table, with sources). Or use these guides side by side before you choose a table: New to Aussie tables? Start with our Australian blackjack rules guide and keep the strategy chart open while you practise.Compare with other Aussie casinos
Casino guide What stands out Key number Crown Melbourne blackjack Rules Version 29.0: no hole card, double 9-11, Crown Blackjack hits soft 17 Pontoon 0.38% The Star Sydney blackjack Star Blackjack hits soft 17, Blackjack Challenge, NSW carded play Pontoon 0.42% Crown Sydney blackjack Traditional vs Crown Blackjack, partial doubles, no pokies A$20 legal minimum Crown Perth blackjack Soft 17 set by table layout, dealer blackjack takes all, resplit aces Pontoon 0.38% The Star Brisbane and Gold Coast Star Blackjack hits soft 17, 2026 ownership change About 0.8% SkyCity Adelaide blackjack Freebet and 6:5 Party Blackjack, SA's only casino Pontoon 0.64%
Game and tool guides What it covers Key number Blackjack Plus Dealer 22 pushes, instant pays on 21 and five cards 6.36% house edge Pontoon vs blackjack 48-card decks, player 21 always wins, house edge by city 0.34% to 0.64% Side bets in Australia Crown Pairs, Buster Blackjack, Any Pair, insurance 1.9% to 22% Minimum bets in Australia What players report at Crown and The Star, electronic tables Checked Sept 2026 Card counting in Australia What is legal, counting devices, bet limits and bans NSW s87(2) House edge calculator Enter your table's rules and see the cost per hour A$ per hour
Frequently asked questions
What is the best blackjack side bet in Australia?
Of the bets we checked, Crown Pairs on a 6-deck table paying 30/12/5 has the lowest house edge, about 1.9%. It is still more than three times the cost of the main bet.
What is the house edge on Buster Blackjack?
It depends on the pay table and the soft 17 rule. On Crown Perth's tables we estimate about 5% to 10% for pay tables 1 to 5 and about 13% to 22% for tables 6 and 7.
Should I take insurance or even money?
No, unless you are counting cards. Insurance carries a house edge of about 7.4% with six decks, and even money is the same bet.
Do side bets change basic strategy?
No. Side bets are settled on their own and do not change the best play for your main hand.
What is the house edge on Any Pair?
At 11 to 1, about 11% with six decks and about 10% with eight decks.
Try the main game for free
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