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Perfect Pairs
Introduction
I'm aware of two side bets calling themselves Perfect Pair or Perfect Pairs. I'll divide them into a version 1 and version 2.
Version 1
Version 1 goes by the plural name Perfect Pairs. It may be found in casinos in Australia, Macau, and London. It pays if the player's first two cards are a pair. The following table shows the specifics. A "perfect pair" is two identical cards (like two ace of spades). A "colored pair" is two cards of the same rank and color (like the ace of spades and ace of clubs). There are four pay tables that I am aware of, which are referred to as A to D below. The following four tables show how the odds of each pay table.
Internet casinos using live dealer studios by Evolution Gaming the following pay table.
Pay Table A — 8 decks
| Hand | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perfect pair | 25 | 1456 | 0.016867 | 0.421687 |
| Colored pair | 12 | 1664 | 0.019277 | 0.231325 |
| Red/black pair | 6 | 3328 | 0.038554 | 0.231325 |
| Non-pair | -1 | 79872 | 0.925301 | -0.925301 |
| Total | 86320 | 1 | -0.040964 |
Pay Table B — 8 decks
| Hand | Pays | Combintions | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perfect pair | 30 | 1456 | 0.016867 | 0.506024 |
| Colored pair | 10 | 1664 | 0.019277 | 0.192771 |
| Red/black pair | 5 | 3328 | 0.038554 | 0.192771 |
| Non-pair | -1 | 79872 | 0.925301 | -0.925301 |
| Total | 86320 | 1 | -0.033735 |
Pay Table C — 8 decks
| Hand | Pays | Combintions | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perfect pair | 25 | 1456 | 0.016867 | 0.421687 |
| Colored pair | 12 | 1664 | 0.019277 | 0.231325 |
| Red/black pair | 5 | 3328 | 0.038554 | 0.192771 |
| Non-pair | -1 | 79872 | 0.925301 | -0.925301 |
| Total | 86320 | 1 | -0.079518 |
Pay Table D — 8 decks
| Hand | Pays | Combintions | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perfect pair | 25 | 1456 | 0.016867 | 0.421687 |
| Colored pair | 15 | 1664 | 0.019277 | 0.289157 |
| Red/black pair | 5 | 3328 | 0.038554 | 0.192771 |
| Non-pair | -1 | 79872 | 0.925301 | -0.925301 |
| Total | 86320 | 1 | -0.021687 |
The next table shows the expected return under all four pay tables, according to the number of decks.
Perfect Pairs Expected Returns
| Decks | Pay Table A | Pay Table B | Pay Table C | Pay Table D |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | -0.223301 | -0.252427 | -0.262136 | -0.203883 |
| 4 | -0.101449 | -0.106280 | -0.140097 | -0.082126 |
| 5 | -0.077220 | -0.077220 | -0.115830 | -0.057915 |
| 6 | -0.061093 | -0.057878 | -0.099678 | -0.041801 |
| 8 | -0.040964 | -0.033735 | -0.079518 | -0.021687 |
Version 2
Version 2 goes by the singular name Perfect Pair. It can be found at Internet casinos using live dealer software by Evolution Gaming. Despite the singular title, it pays for one or two Perfect Pairs. A Perfect Pair is defined by the player's or dealer's initial two cards matching in both rank and suit.
Evolution uses eight decks in the blackjack game, so I am basing this return table on eight decks. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 8.05%.
Version 2 — 8 Decks
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two perfect pairs | 200 | 2,101,008 | 0.000285 | 0.056941 |
| One perfect pair | 25 | 244,747,776 | 0.033166 | 0.829138 |
| Zero perfect pairs | -1 | 7,132,734,336 | 0.966550 | -0.966550 |
| Total | 7,379,583,120 | 1.000000 | -0.080470 |
Next, here is the house edge for 2, 4, 6, and 8 decks.
Version 2 House Edge
| Decks | House Edge |
|---|---|
| 2 | 48.08% |
| 4 | 21.50% |
| 6 | 12.54% |
| 8 | 8.05% |
There is another version of version 2 that pays 25 to 1 for one or two perfect pairs. The house edge on that, assuming eight decks, is 13.03%. This side bet is also seen in baccarat, where I have a separate page for it.