Blackjack in Macau

(Last updated: March 21, 2026)

Blackjack is the fourth most profitable game in Macau, trailing only Baccarat, Slots, and Sic Bo. 

Outside of the Big 13 casinos, it’s now only available at Oceanus ($300), and the Plaza ($1000).  Like Oceanus, many casinos offer it for $300, which is the lowest limit in town.  

Basic strategy is not well known among the majority of local players, so bite your tongue, put up with their errors and just hope they benefit you in the end.

Blackjack in Macau: Advice and Strategy

A decade ago, Blackjack in Macau was like the Wild West – there was no order and it seemed like every casino played by their own rules.  It was confusing and contradictory, but ultimately good for the player, with a 0% house edge game at New Orient Landmark and 0.08% games at Wynn and MGM.  Unfortunately those days have bit the dust and we’re left with a Blackjack scene that is much more streamlined now. 

If you’re looking for positives, a standardized set of rules means there’s less basic strategy to learn so you should be able to confidently walk into any casino in town knowing what to do and the best way to play the game.

Of the 15 casinos in town that offer Blackjack, 6 of them follow these rules: 

• Five or six decks
• Dealer sticks on soft 17
• Player may double after their first 2 cards on any total, and may also double after splitting
• Player can split up to 3 times to make 4 hands; however aces can only be split once
• Early surrender is always available, except when the dealer has an ace
• Continuous shuffler is utilized

Under these rules, the house edge is 0.15% (5 decks) or 0.16% (6 decks).

The following 9 casinos are exceptions.  Note that the game is no longer available at Altira.

As for basic strategy, the Wizard has you covered on his Macau site, with a very handy basic strategy chart that covers every 0.15% and 0.16% table in town.  Don’t pay any mind to his Galaxy or Pharaohs Palace strategy cards though, as they’ve been obsolete for years.

Blackjack in Macau: What to Watch Out For

Back betting.  Look, what’s cool in Baccarat isn’t cool in Blackjack so I can’t explain why casinos in Macau allow the player with the higher wager to control the hand, even when he is back betting.  In Baccarat of course, it doesn’t matter because the person who “plays the hand” only turns the card over and has no impact on the result of the game whatsoever.  Blackjack is totally different though which is something that casino operators should know.

So picture this.  You’re on a good run, you’ve got $500 down on the table, when some Baccarat whale saunters over at the last minute and drops $2000 behind you.  You’re dealt a 10-6 versus a 10 and instead of surrendering like you tell him to, he smirks to his friends, takes a card and then busts your hand.  If you think that’s crazy and would never happen, that’s only because you’ve never played Blackjack in Macau! 

If there are 10 Chinese players at a table, it’s no exaggeration to say that exactly 0 of them will know what they’re doing.  You might need to cycle through 20 or 30 to finally meet 1 who has ever heard of basic strategy. 

So needless to say, this back betting rule is as vile as it is wrong.  If it happens to you, tell the dealer immediately you want to pull your chips away and they should let you do it.  And then hopefully the person messing up your mojo will get the hint and leave before too long.

Blackjack in Macau: What to Watch Out For II

Poor side bets.

In addition to the standard 11-1 Pair bet (11.25%) seen all over town, a few casinos also offer Over/Under 13, Perfect Pair, and Lucky 7 side bets.

The Over/Under side bet is as straightforward as it is bad.  You wager if your first two cards will be over or under 13, with a 13 resulting in a loss.  Paying out 1:1, the Over bet (6.55%) is slightly better than the Under bet (10.07%).  Of course, you shouldn’t be wagering on either one.

At 7.95%, Perfect Pair actually has a lower house edge than the traditional 11-1 Pair bet that’s been in Macau for decades.  If the pair is identical (like two 10 of diamonds), it pays 25-1.  If the pair is the same color (10/diamonds and 10/hearts), it pays 12-1.  All other pairs, finally, return 5-1.

Lucky 7 side bets were introduced in 2023 and are available at SJM, Melco, and MGM casinos.  It pays out if you get a pair of 7s, or three 7s, while a single 7 returns nothing.  The pay table is as follows.

In the Melco casinos, the 7s must had to have been split beforehand.  At MGM, the third 7 can come after a hit or a split.

I don’t really know the ins and outs of this bet and how to calculate it exactly, or if the wager automatically loses versus a Dealer Blackjack.  However, if we take the preferential MGM rules, and assume the Dealer doesn’t have a Blackjack, AI tells me the house edge is a whopping 31.46%.  Lucky 7 usually pays 3-1 if your first card is a 7, but in Macau you get nothing, which is probably why it’s so high. 

Or to put it another way, Lucky 7s my ass.  

To learn all about Caribbean Stud Poker in Macau, just follow the link below!