Suit Em Up 21 Rules and Strategy Charts
How to Play Suit Em Up Blackjack – Finally, a 21 variant with a comparably decent side bet, edged as low as 2.67%.
Suit Em Up Blackjack is a variant of 21 that exists in both live and online casinos. It’s been popping in and out of select Vegas properites for almost a decade, and has been digitized by several internet gaming software brands, including Felt Gaming and RealTime Gaming (RTG). The Vegas and RTG versions are identical, and far more preferable, in today’s casinos, so those are the rules, odds and strategies we’ll be focusing on today.
The game itself isn’t all that spectacular. You can find better paying blackjack games at online or walk-in casinos. What makes it unique, however, is its side bet. don’t get me wrong – like all side bets, this one is a sucker bet. It just happens to suck less than most of them. That is, if you can find the right rules applied.
Judging a Game by its Shoe Size
The problem with this game is that it’s been offered in three formats; as a double-deck, six-deck and eight-deck game. Normally, I would always recommend playing with fewer decks, is it decreases the overall house edge. On a 2-deck Suit Em Up Blackjack table, the base game edge is just 0.34%. However, the side bet edge increases to 9.41% Ouch!
As a six-deck offering, the standard game rises to 0.54% RTP, while the side bet falls to 3.41%. Finally, with 8 decks in play, the game’s edge rises a bit higher to 0.56%, while the side bet reaches its best mark of 2.67%. See the table below for an easy comparison.
| Decks in Shoe | Base Game RTP | Side Bet RTP |
| 2 | 0.34% | 9.41% |
| 6 | 0.54% | 3.41% |
| 8 | 0.56% | 2.67% |
That being said, if you want to place the Suit Em Up side bet, you need to find a game with 8 decks. The most common rules feature 6 decks, so be vigilant. If you don’t care about the side bet, the 2-deck games have a pretty good RTP, on par with the industry average.
How to Play Suit Em Up Blackjack
The basic rules of Suit Em Up 21 are detailed below:
Specific Rules of Play
- Decks: 2, 6 or 8
- Soft 17: Dealer Hits
- Doubling: Yes, on any two cards
- Splitting: Yes, 2x (up to 3 hands)
- Double after Split: Yes
- Resplit Aces: No
- Draw to Split Aces: No
- Surrender: Yes
- Dealer Checks for Blackjack: No
- Against Dealer Blackjack: Only original bet lost
- Blackjack Pays: 3 to 2
Suit Em Up Pay Table
The Suit Em Up side bet is a wager that the player’s first two cards will be of the same suit. If they are, the bet is won. If not, the bet is lost.
Certain suited hands pay better than others. For instance, where any suited hand is worth 2 to 1, a suited hand totaling 11 is worth 3 to 1. A suited pair pays 5 to 1, suited blackjack 10 to 1, and best of all, a pair of suited Aces pays 60 to 1. See the pay table below for complete payout rules.
| Player’s First 2 Card Are… | Pays |
| Pair of Suited Aces | 60 : 1 |
| Suited Blackjack | 10 : 1 |
| Any Suited Pair, Except Aces | 5 : 1 |
| Suited Total of 11 | 3 : 1 |
| Any Other Suited Hand | 2 : 1 |
| 2-Deck Edge = | 9.41% | 6-Deck Edge = | 3.41% | 8-Deck Edge = | 2.67% |
Suit Em Up 21 Strategy
For your convenience, I’ve taken the time to create two separate strategy guides. The first is for 2-Deck Suit Em Up, and the second for 6-8 Deck Suit Em Up. The last chart will apply to a 4-Deck game too, if you happen to find one.
These charts will guide you through every possible hand situation. There are three charts for each deck size below. The three charts are divided into the following sections – hard hands, soft hands, or paired hands. Choose the chart for your hand type, select your current hand value from the left side, then follow the instructions in the right column based on the dealer’s up-card.
2 Deck Suit Em Up Strategy
How to Decide a Hard Hand
| Hard Total | Correct Action by Situation |
| 8 & Under | Hit |
| 9 | Double against Dealer’s 2-6; otherwise Hit |
| 10 | Double against Dealer’s 2-9; otherwise Hit |
| 11 | Double |
| 12 | Stand against Dealer’s 4-6; otherwise Hit |
| 13-14 | Stand against Dealer’s 2-6; otherwise Hit |
| 15-16 | Stand against Dealer’s 2-6; Surrender to 10-A; otherwise Hit |
| 17-21 | Surrender against Ace; otherwise Stand |
How to Decide a Soft Hand
| Soft Total | Correct Action by Situation |
| 13 | Double against Dealer’s 5-6; otherwise Hit |
| 14-16 | Double against Dealer’s 4-6; otherwise Hit |
| 17 | Double against Dealer’s 3-6; otherwise Hit |
| 18 | Double against Dealer’s 2-6; Hit against 9-A; otherwise Stand |
| 19 | Double against Dealer’s 6; otherwise Stand |
| 20-21 | Stand |
Conditions for Splitting Pairs
Proper pair splitting is critical to achieving optimal RTP. In this last section, you’ll learn how to handle all splitting situations. The rules allow for splitting up to two times. Odds are you won’t get the exact same pair enough times in a row to even consider a third split, but if this occurs, you won’t be able to do it. Instead, you’ll need to refer to the hard/soft hand totals above for the correct action.
| Pair | Correct Action by Situation |
| Ace-Ace | Split |
| 2-2 | Split against dealer’s 2-7; otherwise Hit |
| 3-3 | Split against dealer’s 2-7; otherwise Hit |
| 4-4 | Double against dealer’s 5-6; otherwise Hit |
| 5-5 | Double against dealer’s 2-9; otherwise Hit |
| 6-6 | Split against dealer’s 2-7; otherwise Hit |
| 7-7 | Split against dealer’s 2-8; otherwise Hit |
| 8-8 | Surrender against Ace; otherwise Split |
| 9-9 | Split against dealer’s 2-6 or 8-9; otherwise Stand |
| 10-10 | Stand |
4-6-8 Deck Suite Em Up Strategy
How to Decide a Hard Hand
| Hard Total | Correct Action by Situation |
| 8 & Under | Hit |
| 9 | Double against Dealer’s 3-6; otherwise Hit |
| 10 | Double against Dealer’s 2-9; otherwise Hit |
| 11 | Double |
| 12 | Stand against Dealer’s 4-6; otherwise Hit |
| 13-14 | Stand against Dealer’s 2-6; otherwise Hit |
| 15-16 | Stand against Dealer’s 2-6; Surrender to 10-A; otherwise Hit |
How to Decide a Soft Hand
| Soft Total | Correct Action by Situation |
| 13 | Double against Dealer’s 5-6; otherwise Hit |
| 14-16 | Double against Dealer’s 4-6; otherwise Hit |
| 17 | Double against Dealer’s 3-6; otherwise Hit |
| 18 | Double against Dealer’s 2-6; Hit against 9-A; otherwise Stand |
| 19 | Double against Dealer’s 6; otherwise Stand |
| 20-21 | Stand |
Conditions for Splitting Pairs
Again, splitting at the right time is critical to reaching the highest RTP. This last section shows you how to play Suit Em Up Blackjack with any pair. If unable to split due to rule restrictions, refer to the hard/soft hand charts above.
| Pair | Correct Action by Situation |
| Ace-Ace | Split |
| 2-2 | Split against dealer’s 2-7; otherwise Hit |
| 3-3 | Split against dealer’s 2-7; otherwise Hit |
| 4-4 | Double against dealer’s 5-6; otherwise Hit |
| 5-5 | Double against dealer’s 2-9; otherwise Hit |
| 6-6 | Split against dealer’s 2-6; otherwise Hit |
| 7-7 | Split against dealer’s 2-7; otherwise Hit |
| 8-8 | Surrender against Ace; otherwise Split |
| 9-9 | Split against dealer’s 2-6 or 8-9; otherwise Stand |
| 10-10 | Stand |
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About the Author
Adalene Lucas: is our jack of all trades here at DBC. She is a skilled coder, gambler, writer and webmaster. She lives in Manitoba where she enjoys the lush landscapes and camping near Tulabi Falls. Nature gives her inspiration to write. When she's not immersed in nature, her favorite words are "game theory". She lives with her husband and their two Labradors, Kophy and Whisper.
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