The game uses eight decks of 52 cards, and there are no other side bets apart from Lightning available in the game. The dealer stands on 17 – hard and soft – and you can split any pairs. Split aces will only get one card.

The Lightning element of the game works like a side bet. You bet on each round of the normal bj game, and the Lightning bet – the same stake for each

Once you have placed your initial bet, a range of possible multipliers is randomly assigned to the game round as follows:

• 2X, 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X, 6X
• 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X, 6X, 8X
• 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X, 8X, 12X
• 2X, 4X, 5X, 6X, 10X, 15X
• 2X, 5X, 6X, 8X, 12X, 20X
• 2X, 5X, 8X, 12X, 15X, 25X

These multipliers are linked to what hand you win in this order: 4-17, 18, 19, 20, 21 and blackjack.

Then the cards are dealt as usual. You are paid out normally if you win. The accompanying multiplier is carried over to your following hand.

You must, therefore, win the next hand to claim the random multiplier. Let’s look at an example.

• You place your two bets, and the multipliers for the game are 2X, 3X, 4X, 5X, 8X, 12X.
• You beat the dealer’s hand with a stronger hand/dealer busts.
• Your multiplier for the next hand is 4X
• 1) You win the next game against the dealer. Your main bet winnings are multiplied by 4
• 2) You lose the next hand against the dealer, losing your bet amount and the multiplier

If you were betting 20 BTH a bet, your total stake each game round would be 40 BTH – 20 BTH for the main bet and 20 BTH for the Lightning bet.

Note: the multiplier only pays out on your main bet, not the main bet + the Lightning fee.

Evolution Lightning Blackjack payouts – multiplier worth it?

All bets settled at these odds:

Player wins: 1/1

Player has blackjack: 3/2

In the event of a tie, main bet stakes are returned. This is a push. 

Multipliers are only paid on the next hand if you win and range from 2X-25X, depending on what hand you win with. 

The casino has several advantages. If the live dealer and player have the same hands, it’s a push for the main bet, but the player loses the Lightning bet. Secondly, if the player takes insurance, they get their main bet back but lose the Lightning bet. 

And like the regular game, you always play your hand first. Go bust, and the dealer wins, even if they would have gone bust on the same hand. 

Finally, because you are not paid out any multipliers on the Lightning fee, you need to win with a multiplier of at least 3X to keep breaking even on accumulated bets. A 2X multiplier means you are still down a unit on the previous game.

What’s the best Lightning Blackjack strategy and RTP?

The best tip for LB is to ignore basic blackjack strategy. Evolution Gaming has developed its own strategy for the game, which helped the company arrive at the promising RTP of 99.56%. At first glance, this looks really promising….but read on.

We encourage you to check the Lightning Blackjack strategy but beware, it’s long, complicated and advocates decisions like doubling and splitting hands that you would never make with basic strategy. 

Another issue is that decision times at live casino tables are fast. It makes playing the game with an optimal strategy impossible without the aid of an intelligent bot – which is against all casinos’ terms and conditions. 

The Lightning Blackjack RTP figure of 99.56% is widely disputed in gambling circles as it only considers the first hand out of the shoe. Subsequent hands need to account for the lightning fee and the multipliers. 

This is extremely difficult to calculate, but leading gambling maths whizz-kid the Wizard of Odds puts the RTP at more like 82.4%. In other words, a house edge of 17.6%. That is extremely low for any casino game and suggests you should only play Lightning Blackjack rarely if you want to keep your bankroll!

The problem with Lightning Blackjack is that it consistently pays out low multipliers, and the design of the game means you need to continually win two hands in a row to scoop the multiplier. And each multiplier needs to be a minimum of 3X for you to break even.