How to Play ‘Sette e Mezzo’: Blackjack’s Italian Variant

Sette e Mezzo is one of many selections from our Live Casino games library   

If you’re looking to diversify your Live Casino playing experience, Sette e Mezzo is the game for you. An Italian card game whose strategy resembles that of Blackjack, this title directly translates to ‘seven and a half’, as the main objective is to beat the dealer without going over a hand of seven and a half points.

However, even though it may remind players of Live Blackjack in some ways, Sette e Mezzo is its own game with its own set of unique rules, side bets, payouts, and even card suits. Read on to discover everything there is to know about this fascinating variant from the Bel Paese.  

Making Sense of the Deck

First things first- the 40-card deck used in Sette e Mezzo will probably take some getting used to, as its suits and values are entirely different from the standard 52-card deck you might be familiar with. Here, a total of four Neapolitan playing card suits make up the deck. In the original Italian it is as follows: Denari (Coins), Coppe (Cups), Bastoni (Clubs), Spade (Swords). Each of these suits are assigned their own card ranks, with Asso (Ace) being one point, and re (King), Cavallo (Cavalier), and Fante (Jack) representing half a point.

When it comes to cards 2-7, their face value is the number of points. In the Coins suit, the king is a wild card which can be used to represent any card number 1-7. The last thing to know about the deck is that a Sette e Mezzo Royal is made up of a hand of seven and a half, where one of the cards is the king of Coins.

Getting Started

So, now that you’ve been briefed on the deck, let’s move on and learn a bit of playing basics. A game of Sette e Mezzo begins when the dealer asks the players to make an initial bet before any cards are dealt. This wager can be a main bet or one of two side bets which are detailed below. From here, the croupier deals one card face up to the player and one face up to themselves. In the event that a player’s card is less than the dealer’s, an additional card is dealt to the player, with this action happening continously until the players’ card is higher in value. After the player has arrived at this point, they have the ultimate ‘Blackjack’ decision to make- do they want to hit or stand?

Available Side Bets

In addition the main bets available in the game, Sette e Mezzo players have the option of choosing two side bets: Partita Perfetta (Perfect Pairs) or Mano di Poker which resembles 21+3. The first is a bet that the players’ and dealers’ first cards will form a pair, while the latter hopes for the players’ first two cards and the dealers’ first card to be a poker ranked hand. Of course, here, the Royal Flush is the highest possibility.

Rules to Remember

If you’re new to the Sette e Mezzo Live Casino studio, it will be beneficial to learn a few of the most important circumstantial rules associated with the game. To start, if a wild card (king of Coins) is dealt on the first deal, a second card is given to the player. Additionally, if both the dealer and player get a five as their first card, the player is delt another card. In Sette e Mezzo, a hand automatically busts when its total goes over 7, but a hand is also lost if both tie on five. Although these may seem like a lot of rules to remember, it’s quite uncomplicated to catch on once you get started. Spice up your online casino life with Sette e Mezzo today!