How to Calculate a Buster Blackjack Side Bet Payout

Buster Blackjack is a side bet on the dealer busting. Under the selected Paytable A, your net profit depends on the number of cards in the dealer’s hand when it busts. Count every card, including the starting cards and the final card that takes the total over 21. Add the returned winning stake to your net profit to find the total return.

This guide uses only Paytable A from page 1 of the Nevada Gaming Control Board Rules of Play. The table, bet timing and outcomes below follow that page. They are not universal Buster Blackjack rules or confirmation that a casino currently offers the game.

Which payout table applies?

This guide uses Nevada Paytable A, whose odds express net profit relative to the side bet stake, not total return. All six rows come from page 1 of the Nevada document.

At 1:1, the net profit equals your side bet stake in addition to its return. The odds do not describe the entire amount returned to you.

The document was reviewed on 2026-10-16. The date 2019-10-09 in its file metadata is not an effective date for these rules.

Which cards count, and when does the bet stay active?

Count every card in the dealer’s completed bust hand—not the player’s cards or just the dealer’s drawn cards. In the selected version, both starting cards and the card that causes the bust count. The number of cards in that hand is unrelated to the number of decks in the shoe.

Place the main blackjack bet and optional side bet before the deal. The selected version has these subsequent outcomes:

• If the dealer has a natural blackjack, the side bet loses.
• If you have a natural blackjack and the dealer does not, the main hand is paid separately; the side bet remains active.
• If you bust, the main bet is collected, but the side bet remains active.
• While a side bet remains active, the dealer completes the hand even if players have already received natural blackjacks or busted.
• If the dealer finishes with 21 or less, the side bet loses. If the dealer busts, the card count determines the payout table row.

Losing the main hand therefore does not automatically lose the side bet. Equally, a player’s natural blackjack does not guarantee a side bet payout: The selected Paytable A provides no separate bonus for it.

Example: player busts, dealer busts with three cards

A $5 side bet produces $5 net profit and a $10 total return in this hypothetical sequence. This is a calculation example using the selected version, not a recorded hand.

• Your cards are 10 + 6 = 16, followed by another 10: 26, a bust. Your main hand loses; the side bet remains active.
• The dealer starts with 10 + 6 = 16.
• The dealer draws 6, reaching 22 and busting on the third card.
• All three dealer cards—10, 6 and 6—count. Paytable A pays 1:1.

Side bet net profit: $5 × 1 = $5.

Total return: $5 net profit + $5 returned stake = $10.

No rounding is needed. This calculates only the side bet. The main bet amount is unspecified, so the overall financial result of the hand cannot be determined.

Example: player has blackjack, dealer busts with six cards

A $5 side bet produces $60 net profit and a $65 total return in this hypothetical sequence. This hypothetical example follows the selected version, with no extra bonus for the player’s natural blackjack.

• Your starting cards are A and K: a natural blackjack. The main hand is settled separately.
• The dealer starts with 2 + 3 = 5, so has no natural blackjack; the side bet remains active.
• The dealer draws 4: 5 + 4 = 9.
• Next comes 5: 9 + 5 = 14.
• Next comes 2: 14 + 2 = 16.
• Finally, 10 makes 26: a bust on the sixth card.

The completed dealer hand is 2, 3, 4, 5, 2 and 10. Paytable A pays 12:1 for six cards.

Side bet net profit: $5 × 12 = $60.

Total return: $60 net profit + $5 returned stake = $65.

No rounding is needed. The main hand payout is excluded because its stake and settlement terms are unspecified.

Hypothetical Buster Blackjack examples comparing side bet net profit with total return

Hypothetical diagram of the two side bet calculations, not a photograph of actual play.

What should you check at another table?

Check your chosen table’s rules and payout table before betting. Paytable A used here does not establish another table’s terms, and the game’s name alone does not confirm a match.

Confirm bet timing, card counting, dealer hand completion, any separate bonuses, and whether quoted odds mean net profit or total return. Do not import other side bet rules: Match the Dealer, for example, checks starting cards rather than a dealer bust.