War Blackjack is a highly entertaining table game that combines selected elements of traditional 21 and Casino War. It is distributed by Las Vegas-based games manufacturer and supplier AGS (American Gaming Systems). At this point, it can only be played at land-based gambling establishments, since there’s no online casino version available.
This variant follows standard blackjack rules, unless the player decides to make an optional War bet aside from their regular initial bet before cards are dealt.
In other words, if the player skips the above-mentioned side bet, they will be playing a regular game of blackjack.
War Blackjack is played with standard 52-card decks. As pointed out above, the game can only be found at land-based casinos. No real-money online versions are available at this point. However, if you want to familiarize yourself with its rules, AGS offers a demo version on its official website.
But why is it treated as a separate game and is played at dedicated tables on the gaming floor, even though it is nearly identical to standard 21? And what adjustments players need to make to their basic strategy, if they want to be successful at this variant? Here is more comprehensive information about it and its specific characteristics.
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Rules Specific to This Game
There is one and only one difference between this variant and the traditional game of blackjack that is loved by so many from all corners of the world.
In War Blackjack, players are offered the option to place a voluntary War wager on a designated space on the table at the same time they make their primary bet and before any cards are dealt. As in Casino War, this optional bet pits the first card that is dealt to the player against the dealer’s face-up card. The higher of the two wins.
In other words, if the dealer’s card is higher, the player loses their War bet, but not their primary wager. If the player and the dealer are dealt cards of the same value, the dealer wins. If the player wins, they are paid even money and may either take their War winnings and the War wager or parlay the War winnings by adding them to their primary bet and reclaim their War bet.
Aces play as the lowest card…
… in the War portion of the game with a value of 1 for both the dealer and the player. All other cards play at their face value and by their usual Casino War ranks, with King being the highest card, followed by Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2.
This variant can be played with one, two, four, six, or eight decks. According to its manufacturer, the house edge for a six-deck game is about 1.17%, which is higher than some other blackjack games, but still not awfully bad.
How to Play War Blackjack?
The game starts as any other blackjack variant – players are invited to place their initial wager in the big circle in front of them. There is also a circle for the War side bet. The player is required to place a bet in the main circle in order to participate in the round, but placing chips in the War circle is optional.
According to a Game Rules document on the site of the Washington State Gambling Commission, the player’s mandatory bet and optional War bet combined should not exceed the table limits. For example, if the maximum bet is capped at $300, the player may choose to bet $250 on War and place $50 as their main bet, or wager $150 on War and $150 as a main bet.
However, in AGS’s demo game, the max bet is $200 and we were able to place up to $200 as a main bet and up to $200 as a War bet. So we guess, the amount the player is allowed to place in both the mandatory bet circle and the optional bet circle depends on the rules set by the regulators the casino is governed by or by the gambling venue itself.
Once the player has placed all bets – both mandatory and optional – the dealer deals one card to the player and one card face up to himself or herself.
If the player’s card is lower than the dealer’s…
… they lose their War bet and the game continues under standard Blackjack rules. The dealer wins ties, which means that if their card is the same as the player’s, the latter loses their War bet and the game continues under standard rules.
If the player holds a higher card than the dealer’s at this point, they win even money on their War bet. They will have to decide whether they want to take their War winnings and War bet or parlay the War winnings to increase their main wager.
If they choose the latter option, they will receive back their War wager, while the dealer will cap their War winnings with the main bet.
Once the optional bet is resolved, the hand is played out following normal rules. This means that the player and the dealer will each receive one more card. The dealer’s will be placed face down.
If the dealer’s face-up card is an Ace, the player will be offered an Insurance bet that enables them to wager on whether the dealer has a 21. If they indeed have a blackjack, the player that has placed an Insurance wager will be paid 2 to 1.
If the dealer’s up card is an Ace, a 10, or a face card…
… they will peek at their hole card to see if they have a blackjack. If they do have a blackjack, the hand ends. The player is paid their Insurance bet, if they have made one. If they have a blackjack, the hand is a push. If they don’t, they lose.
If the dealer doesn’t have a blackjack, the hand continues. At this point players may hit, stand, double down, or split if they have a pair. We’ve been told that some casinos permit surrender, but others don’t. In the AGS demo version, surrender is not an option.
If the player chooses to double down, they must make an additional bet that matches their main bet and their parlayed War side wager.
According to AGS’s rack card for the game, the dealer wins all ties, blackjack pays 3 to 2, and all other wins pay even money.
One more important thing – the dealer hits soft 17 in this game. If the dealer has 18 or higher after their hole card is exposed, they stand and the hand ends.
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Basic Strategy Adjustments
As already mentioned, War Blackjack is a game that is played with regular decks of cards, as opposed to variants played with just 48-card decks such as Spanish 21 and Double Attack Blackjack. In addition, this variant is played as a traditional game of 21.
This means that players don’t really need to make any specific adjustments to their basic strategy in order to fare well in this particular game. In other words, they should just follow the appropriate strategy steps for the rules at the table they play, including dealer hits soft 17.
However, we can recommend a nice parlay strategy for the cases when players choose to add their War winnings to their main bet. The strategy is presented in this chart by the Wizard of Odds.
The player basically needs to remember to:
- Never parlay vs dealer 10, Jack, Queen, King, or Ace
- Always parlay if the sum of their card and the dealer’s up card is equal to or greater than 11
- Parlay 8 vs dealer 2
Another way to express the Wizard of Odds’ recommended strategy is:
- Never parlay 3 vs dealer 2
- Never parlay 4 vs dealer 2 and 3
- Never parlay 5 vs dealer 2, 3, and 4
- Never parlay 6 vs dealer 2, 3, and 4; always parlay 6 vs dealer 5
- Never parlay 7 vs dealer 2 and 3; always parlay 7 vs dealer 4, 5, and 6
- Always parlay 8 vs dealer 2 through 7
- Always parlay 9 vs dealer 2 through 8
- Always parlay 10 vs dealer 2 through 9
War Blackjack and Card Counting
Since this variant is nearly identical to proper blackjack, you can implement any card counting method when playing it and you won’t need to make any adjustments to your preferred count to make sure that it works well in War Blackjack.
In fact, a properly utilized counting strategy will really help you adjust both your main and War bets in a manner that will increase your winnings. Just make sure that you’re really good at counting and that you have mastered your method of choice to perfection or at least near perfection.
Where to Play This Game?
This variant can only be played at brick-and-mortar casinos since no iGaming software developers have adapted it for the digital gambling scene.
As to where exactly you can play it, of course, Las Vegas is the first place you should check out for this game. As far as we’re informed, it can be found at the gambling parlors of several Downtown casino resorts, including The D Las Vegas Hotel & Casino and Downtown Grand Hotel & Casino.
Card rooms across California and gaming venues across Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Washington, among other states, have also been offering it for a while now.
Final Thoughts
War Blackjack is one utterly enjoyable variant of one of the most popular table games in the world. As mentioned above, it offers a house edge of 1.17%, which is rather low compared to other newish blackjack games.
We highly recommend it if you’re always on the lookout for new table game experiences, although it really isn’t that much of a novelty in the world of casino gambling without its War side bet.
However, if you have a limited bankroll and you want to play something that you’ll lose as little as possible on, then you’ll probably want to stick to traditional blackjack or a variant with a lower house edge.
