There is no doubt that Perfect Pairs is one of the most popular blackjack side bets out there. However, that also means that it can be found in most online blackjack games and casinos. Why, then, would Felt Gaming dedicate a whole new title to it? Is this game as one-note as it sounds? Keep reading our Felt Gaming Blackjack Perfect Pairs review to find out.
In both looks and gameplay, this game resembles other releases by Felt Gaming. This includes a large blue board with plenty of options for players. From this starting screen, you can access all the information you’ll need to learn how to play Blackjack Perfect Pairs. Not only is there a robust information screen with all the details, but there is also a comprehensive step-by-step tutorial.
Players can also tweak options such as sound effects and game speed to their liking. We also enjoyed that you can get a sort of printout recap of the previous round. In case you don’t understand what happened, you can always refer to it to get the full run-down.
Behind the sleek presentation lies a very simple approach to gameplay. Blackjack Perfect Pairs by Felt Gaming features a standard shoe of 6 decks with 52 cards each. The RTP is 99.63%, which is typical for blackjack games, but the 6 decks are somewhat favourable for card counting.
However, you should keep in mind that this is an RNG-based title, not a live casino game. There are definite upsides to this – game speed can be increased if you so chose. Also, you can play up to 3 hands against the dealer at any time.
You’ll find all the other rules clearly displayed at the bottom of the screen. The dealer must stand on a soft 17. Blackjack pays out 3:2, while the insurance pays out 2 to 1. Speaking of which, insurance is your only option besides standard hands and Perfect Pairs. However, this option can be disabled in the settings.
Perfect Pairs, being the focal point of Felt Gaming’s release, is the only available side bet. If you’re not sure how it works, no worries – it’s one of the simplest side bets in blackjack. Essentially, this wager predicts that your initial cards will be a pair. The bet is made before the first hand, and all side bets in all hands are resolved left-to-right. All Perfect Pairs bets are resolved before the Blackjack game.
There are four possible outcomes here. Firstly, you can lose if the cards aren’t a pair. Alternatively, the cards can form a Mixed Pair, Coloured Pair, or Perfect Pair. The less likely the outcome, the better the payout – you can refer to our table below.
We already glossed over the payouts and RTP of the main game, which should be familiar to most blackjack fans. That said, the RTP of the Perfect Pairs side bet is not the same. The estimated return for these wagers is 93.89%.
In addition to the basic payouts above, winning blackjack pays out the standard 1:1 odds. Perfect Pair wagers pay out as follows:
If you’re having trouble winning in this game, we can refer you to our blackjack strategy guides. These can help you develop your skills from a complete beginner to an advanced player, along with our blackjack blog.
Since there aren’t many features here except blackjack and Perfect Pairs, there is precious little we could tell you. The simplicity of Perfect Pairs is its greatest asset, making it one of the more approachable side bets. Still, the RTP is considerably worse than just playing the game straight-up. It’s mostly completely luck-based, though.
There’s nothing ostensibly wrong with this blackjack casino game. However, Felt Gaming’s flagship project is Blackjack+, which features perfect pairs and 5 other side bets. We can’t see any obvious downsides to just playing that game instead. It’s the same developer with the same features, only more of them.