Side bets at DaleWin tables: what they really cost

For months I put Perfect Pairs down «on the side» every hand, with a minimum chip. I never counted it as spending. When I did count it, that minimum chip was taking more than the big bet sitting next to it.

«A side bet is not a tip for luck. It is a second table inside the table, and it charges more than the first.»

Camilo Andrés

What side bets are

A side bet is a separate wager on an event that does not decide the hand. It goes in a small box next to the main bet and settles by its own rules. Three things define it:

• it is independent: you can lose the hand and collect the side bet, or the other way round;
• it pays for a rare event, such as two matching cards or three cards in sequence, with a high multiplier;
• it has its own house edge, almost always far higher than the hand's.

The small box and the big payout make it look cheap. In fact you are paying for a second draw with worse terms than the first. That is why a side bet is not an add-on to strategy; it is a different game with different maths.

Side bets at DaleWin, table by table

Each table family carries its own side bets and each has a different edge. The payouts in the table are the usual ones in the big studios' versions; each table's info card shows its own. Ordered from cheapest to most expensive:

None goes below 2.6%, and the best-selling ones in the lobby sit between 4% and 14%. For comparison: a blackjack hand costs 0.5% and the baccarat banker 1.06%. Roulette is not listed because it has no side bets: every box on its layout is a layout bet, with the same 2.7% on a single-zero wheel.

Blackjack insurance is a side bet too

Insurance does not look like a side bet because the dealer offers it out loud and presents it as protection. It is a separate wager on a single question: whether the dealer's hole card is worth ten. This is how it works:

• it is offered when the dealer shows an ace and costs half the main bet;
• it pays 2 to 1 if the dealer has blackjack and is lost if not;
• with six decks the hole card is worth ten in 4 cases out of 13, and the payout needs 1 in 3 to break even.

That gap between 4 in 13 and 1 in 3 is the edge: 7.4% with six decks. It does not change even if you hold 20, because insurance does not bet on your hand but on the dealer's card. It would only make sense with card counting, and at an online table with continuous shuffling that does not exist.

What side bets cost per hour

The edge on its own misleads, because the side bet is usually small. What matters is how much it adds to the hour's spend. I take a blackjack table at 60 hands an hour, the hand at 0.5% and a side bet at 4%, and measure the cost in main bets:

A side bet of a quarter of the stake triples the cost of the hour. And that is with a 4% edge; with the baccarat Pair or the tie the sum runs away. So when I want a long session, the side bet is the first thing out of the budget.

Three mistakes with side bets

I made all three, and all three repeat in the table chat every week. None is a beginner's mistake. They come from not doing the sum above:

• placing the side bet «on the side» every hand, with the minimum chip, without counting it as spending;
• taking insurance while holding 20, as if a strong hand made it cheaper;
• betting the baccarat tie for the 8 to 1, without noticing it is the most expensive box in the whole casino.

The first is the quietest. Nobody feels they are losing with a minimum chip, and by the end of the month the side bet has cost more than the hand. The third is the fastest: the tie comes once in ten hands and pays eight, and that difference is the 14.4%.

What I check before accepting a side bet

Cut down to three questions, the filter fits in the seconds the betting pause lasts. I apply it before the first chip touches the small box:

• how much it costs: I look up that side bet's edge on the info card or in the table above, and if it is over 5% it is out;
• how much it adds: I work out what share of the main bet it would be and how much the hour's cost rises;
• why I want it: if the answer is «for the big payout», that is exactly the reason it exists.

With that, the side bet stops being an automatic gesture and becomes a decision with a price. How to read the payouts of each box I explained in «how to read the payout table», and the rules of each table are on this site's blackjack and baccarat pages. The edges in this note match the tables at Wizard of Odds, which have been published for years.

I play with a limit set before I open the browser and never to win back what I lost. If gambling stops being free time, Gamblers Anonymous offers meetings and support at no cost.

Last updated: 2026.

FAQ

DaleWin frequently asked questions about side bets

Quick answers on what they are, which is the most expensive, insurance, the rollover and roulette.