Lightning Blackjack

Casinos with Lightning Blackjack

Casinos with Lightning Blackjack

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An Introduction to Lightning Blackjack

Lightning Blackjack is a live casino game released by Evolution Gaming in 2021. The company had previously introduced other games in the “lightning” series, such as Lightning Roulette and Lightning Baccarat. Due to their success, the popular software provider opted to create Lightning Blackjack too. 

The unique thing about these games is their potentially massive random multipliers on your winning hands. With Lightning Blackjack, you can enjoy win enhanced payouts ranging anywhere from 2x to 25x.

An electrifying gaming experience and super-charged multipliers are the main difference between Lightning Blackjack and your typical game of 21. 

Rules of Lightning Blackjack

Lightning Blackjack rules are easy to understand, even if you are playing for the first time. Here is a summary of the basic rules of the game:

• There are eight decks of 52 playing cards
• The cards are shuffled after roughly 50% of them are dealt
• Cards 2 through 10 maintain their face value 
• Jacks, Queens and Kings all count as 10s
• Aces can represent a 1 or an 11, depending on which option is favourable
• A winning hand pays 1:1
• Blackjack pays 3:2

As with other blackjack casino games, the aim of Lightning Blackjack is to beat the dealer. This happens if the player’s hand value is higher than the dealer’s total, but not greater than 21. If you end up with 22 or more, your hand is bust and you lose the game.

Basics of Lightning Blackjack

Once the cards are dealt, you must decide what to do based on what you have in your hand. You can “Hit” if your total is too low and you want to improve it with an extra card. The second option is to “Stand” if you are satisfied with the current hand total. You can also “Double Down” or “Split” by following specific rules outlined later in this article.

When it comes to hand totals, the computer does the work for you. Everything is displayed on the screen so you can see your hand value instantly. 

Special Lightning Blackjack Rules

One thing that sets Lightning Blackjack apart from other variants is that players must place a mandatory flash fee. This is the price you need to play to benefit from the multipliers discussed in the following section. 

The fee is worth 100% of your initial bet. If you bet 50 coins, for instance, then you must pay a fee of 50 coins and play with 100 coins. The lightning fee will remain the same even when you double or split a hand. But it’s never returned to the player, regardless of the outcome of the game.

Win Multipliers

High-payout RNG wins are possible in Lightning Blackjack courtesy of multipliers. Every game round comes with randomly selected multipliers from 2x to 25x the stake. The multipliers will appear on your screen once the bets are closed. 

Your multiplier could be 2x, 5x, 8x, 10x, 15x, 20x or 25x depending on the hand total. These values will apply to the next game round. In other words, you must have won the previous hand in order to benefit from a multiplier.

What if you win a multiplier and stop playing without using it? Well, you have up to 180 days to capitalise. All you have to do is come back within that period to claim your multiplier. 

Here are the rules for Lightning Blackjack multipliers:

• If you win a multiplier, it will apply to your next hand
• You will collect a multiplier if you split and win one of the hands
• The higher winning hand gets the multiplier if you split and with both hands
• If you win a multiplier and increase your bet, the multiplier will only apply to an amount equal to your initial wager
• You’ll lose the lightning fee and multiplier but get your initial bet back in case of a tie

Other Rules

The following rules are also applicable during gameplay:

• The dealer checks the hole card for blackjack if the upcard is an Ace
• The dealer must always stand on 17
• Players can only split a hand once
• The player only receives one extra card after splitting Aces
• You cannot double after splitting
• An insurance bet is possible if the dealer has an Ace
• The payout for an insurance bet is 2:1

Gameplay Procedure

The game begins with a shuffled shoe containing eight standard decks of 52 cards each. You’ll receive two cards at the beginning of the game. An infinite number of players can play, so these cards are available to all players. 

The dealer also begins the game with two cards; the first faces down and the second is turned up. Win multipliers will appear on the screen during this stage, followed by the game controls which allow you to play the hand. You can hit, split, double down, stand or take insurance based on the situation. Let’s now see what two consecutive rounds would look like.

Round One

Let’s assume this is your first round:

• You’ve placed a bet of 5 coins 
• The lightning fee is also 5 coins
• You receive 5 and 4 for a hand total of 9
• The dealer’s upcard is 2
• You decide to hit and find a Jack, for 19 in total
• Let’s assume the selected multiplier is 4x
• Things look good so you opt to stand
• The dealer receives a 6 and a 10 for a final total of 18
• You win this round, so the 4x multiplier is yours to keep
• The multiplier will only apply to the next round
• Your payout is 1:1 so you receive a payout of 10 coins

Round Two

Here’s how the second round pans out:

• You have a 4x multiplier from the previous round
• Your bet is still 5 coins so the flash fee is 5 coins
• The dealer’s upcard is now a 3
• Your first two cards are 4 and 6 so the total is 10
• You chose to hit and receive a King
• Your hand total is now 20 and so you elect to stand
• There’s a new 5x multiplier for this hand value
• The dealer busts after receiving a Jack and a 10
• You’ll now win 5 coins profit, multiplied by 4, plus your initial stake of 5 coins
• Your total win in this round is 25 coins
• The new 5x multiplier will now apply to a winning hand in the next round

How to Win at Lightning Blackjack

To win, you simply need to create a hand whose total is higher than the dealer’s, but not greater than 21. The published Lightning Blackjack RTP is 99.56%, which means the house edge is 0.44%. This is a pretty low casino advantage, but it’s only based on the first hand. So your chances of winning will be lower on subsequent hands, due to the lightning fee taken in each round. 

Sticking to the usual standard blackjack strategy can be helpful when playing this game. However, you’ll need to employ much better tactics to boost your chances of winning beyond the first wager. 

The optimal way to play Lightning Blackjack from Evolution Gaming is to consistently place the same initial bet amount. Once you collect a multiplier, it will only apply to the original bet if you decide to increase your stake after winning. So if you had previously bet 5 coins and managed to pick up a multiplier, then increased the stake to 10, only half of your bet will be multiplied.

Similarly, the multiplier will apply to your new bet size if you lower your stake after a win. If your multiplier is good for 5 coins and you only bet three, you are effectively wasting money.

You can also try counting cards. But remember that the shoe will be shuffled after approximately 50% of the cards are dealt. This will have a significant impact on card counting. 

Conclusion

Lightning Blackjack has certainly brought a new gaming experience to the online casino tables. As with other versions of blackjack, the rules are easy to understand, which greatly adds to the game’s appeal. But the game’s random multipliers of up to 25x are undoubtedly the main attraction.

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