Evolution’s Free Bet Blackjack Gets an Updated Version

There is a new Evolution live blackjack table game in town. It’s a modified version of their existing Free Bet Blackjack that has a limited, 7 seats and a new studio environment. Based on a highly popular variety of Blackjack played in land-based casinos, it offers players “free” Double Down and Split bets in exchange for a dealer hand of 22, resulting in a push. The 2022 version of Free Bet Blackjack is already available at most Evolution online casinos, including some exclusive tables from premiere operators like Unibet.

The new version of Evolution’s Free Bet Blackjack is played in a custom-made studio environment with multiple blackjack tables. As a result, it offers a slower pace and a unique experience that no other live casino provider is offering to this day. For context, the original one has been renamed to Infinite Free Bet Blackjack, and it can still be found in their live casino lobbies. The updated game is played with 8 decks of cards that are manually shuffled and hence create pauses every now and then across all tables. Among other things, the rules of the seven-seater Free Bet Blackjack state:

• The dealer stands on both hard and soft 17.
• The dealer peeks for blackjack with an Ace up card.

Free Bet Blackjack includes selected free Double Down and Split bets on the condition that the dealer pushes on 22.

• Free Double Down on two-card with hard totals of 9, 10 or 11. If you win, the value of the free bet will be matched to your original bet. Both a loss and a tie affect only the original bet.
• Free Split on all pairs except 10, J, Q, K. In this case, the player will get only one additional card per hand, with no option to hit.

The free bets are automatically offered to the player whenever their hand qualifies, so there's not much effort needed to opt in, although it's not always the best strategy to play these Free Bets.

Bet limits at the new Free Bet Blackjack edition tend to start from 5 credits, which is higher than the Infinite version. Besides primary bet, players can also play Bet Behind and one of two optional side bets instead of four, like in the Infinite version of the game. The side bets include:

• Perfect Pairs – pays if the player’s first two cards comprise a pair
  • Perfect Pair pays 25:1 
  • Coloured Pair pays 12:1
  • Mixed Pair pays 6:1.
• 21+3 – pays if the player’s first two cards plus the dealer’s upcard comprise a poker hand
  • Suited Trips pays 100:1
  • Straight Flush pays 40:1
  • Three of a Kind pays 30:1
  • Straight pays 10:1
  • Flush pays 5:1.

Evolution’s Free Bet Blackjack payouts are as follows:

• Blackjack pays 3:2
• Insurance pays 2:1
• A winning hand pays 1:1.

The RTP is 98.26% vs 99.28%, offered by the studio’s more traditional live blackjack.