Apr 22, 2014 The casino I frequent has recently changed their rules on blackjack switch. The rule used to be hard total of 22 for the dealer was a push on all remaining hands. It has been changed to ALL 22 are a push. So if the dealer gets A-5-6 it's a push! My question is how does this change the house edge? Is it better for me or the house? If the dealer has blackjack, the hand is a push, but the player receives two times the value of the insurance, which is the same as the original bet. If the dealer does not have blackjack, the player wins 1.5 times the value of the original bet but loses the value of the insurance, and still ends up with the value of the original bet.
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Introduction
Rule variations will have an effect on the player's expected return. The numbers below show the effect on the player's return under various rules and after taking into consideration proper basic strategy adjustments. These changes are relative to the following rules: eight decks, dealer stands on soft 17, player may double on anyfirst two cards, player can double after splitting, playermay split to 4 hands.
Blackjack Rule Variations
| Rule | Effect |
|---|---|
| Blackjacks pay 2 to 1 | +2.27% |
| Triple down on any two cards | +1.64% |
| Five cardCharlie1 | +1.46% |
| Optional half win for 5-card Charlie9 | +0.77% |
| Suited blackjacks pay 2 to 1 | +0.57% |
| Player 21-points is automatic winner | +0.54% |
| Single deck | +0.48% |
| Early surrender against ace | +0.39% |
| Player 21 vs. dealer blackjack is a push | +0.35% |
| 5-card win pays 3-2 | +0.33% |
| Blackjack tie pays 3 to 2 | +0.32% |
| Six-card Charlie pays 3 to 2 | +0.31% |
| Early surrender against ten | +0.24% |
| 5-card (or more) 21 automatically pays 2 to 1 | +0.24% |
| Player may double on any number of cards | +0.23% |
| Ace and 10 after splitting aces is a blackjack | +0.19% |
| Player may draw to split aces | +0.19% |
| Double deck | +0.19% |
| Six card Charlie1 | +0.16% |
| Player may double, double for less, or stand after splitting aces | +0.15% |
| Tied blackjack pays 1-2 | +0.11% |
| Double Down Rescue | +0.10% |
| 6-card win pays 2-1 | +0.09% |
| Player may resplit aces | +0.08% |
| Player may double or stand after splitting aces | +0.08% |
| Late surrender against ten | +0.07% |
| Four decks | +0.06% |
| 7-card win pays 5-1 | +0.05% |
| 777 pays 3 to 1 automatically | +0.05% |
| Five decks | +0.03% |
| 777 pays 2 to 1 automatically | +0.03% |
| Six decks | +0.02% |
| Seven card Charlie1 | +0.01% |
| Late surrender against ace | +0.00% |
| Dealer must stop with six cards | +0.00% |
| Late surrender after splitting | +0.00% |
| Split to only 3 hands | -0.01% |
| No-peek: ace showing2 | -0.01% |
| BB+13 | -0.01% |
| Dealer secretly goes first5 | -0.02% |
| OBBO4 | -0.03% |
| European no hole card (splitting)7 | -0.03% |
| European no hole card (doubling)7 | -0.08% |
| Player may double on 9-11 only | -0.09% |
| No-peek: ten showing6 | -0.10% |
| Player may not resplit | -0.10% |
| European no hole card7 | -0.11% |
| Player may not double after splitting | -0.14% |
| Player may double on 10,11 only | -0.18% |
| Player may not split aces | -0.18% |
| Dealer hits on soft 17 | -0.22% |
| Blackkjack pays 7-5 | -0.45% |
| Player may not split | -0.57% |
| Red blackjack pays 2-1, Black blackjack pays 3-2, Mixed blackjack pays 1-1 | -0.57% |
| Blackjack pays 6-5 | -1.39% |
| Player may not double | -1.48% |
| Player loses 17 ties | -1.87% |
| Player may not double nor split | -1.91% |
| Blackjacks pay 1 to 1 | -2.27% |
| Player loses 17,18 ties | -3.58% |
| Player loses 17-19 ties | -5.30% |
| Dealer bust on 22 is a push8 | -6.91% |
| Player loses 17-20 ties | -8.38% |
| Player loses 17-21 ties | -8.86% |
Notes
- A 'Charlie' is an automatic winner. For example the five-card Charlie rule means the player automatically wins with 5 cards, as long as he didn't bust.
- Dealer does not peek for blackjack with an ace up. If dealer has a ace-up blackjack, player loses all bets made, including from doubling and splitting. A 10-up blackjack will be revealed immediately after peeking, and the player will lose only his original wager, except a blackjack tie will push.
- BB+1 refers to an Australian rule, in which the player will lose all busted bets, plus one unit, if the dealer gets a blackjack. For example, if the player splits 8's to three hands of a 20, (doubled) 19, and a busted hand, and the dealer get a blackjack, then the player will lose 2 units, one for the busted hand, and one from the remaining 3 units on the table. There is a great deal of confusion for the term for his rule, some sources calling it 'OBBO,' for Original and Busted Bets Only.
- OBBO stands for Original Bets and Busted Only. 'Original Bets' means each original bet per hand. So, if the player bet $5 and split to three hands, he would have three original bets of $5 each. As far as I know, the OBBO rule is confined to some parts of Australia and Malaysia. In the example above, the player would lose 3 units under this rule, one for the busted hand and two for the number of unbusted hands. The term is discussed in depth in the bookThe Pro's Guide to Spanish 21 and Australian Pontoon by Katarina Walker.
- This strange rule is actually followed in Pennsylvania, on Shufflemaster TMS-300 video multi-player blackjack games. State law prohibits one player taking the cards of another player. The way they implement this rule is to give every player, and the dealer, a separate shoe. The dealer plays out his hand first, secretly, and the results stored in memory. Then the cards used by the dealer are removed for each player shoe. When all players have finished acting, the game shows what cards the dealer drew already. According to Shufflemaster, the effect of this rule is 0.02% in favor of the dealer. Shufflemaster wishes to add this rule is part of a patent-pending technology.
- Dealer does not peek for blackjack with a 10 up. If dealer has a 10-up blackjack, player loses all bets made, including from doubling and splitting. An ace-up blackjack will be revealed immediately after peeking, and the player will lose only his original wager, except a blackjack tie will push.
- Dealer does not take a hole card, or never peeks at it if he does. If the dealer has a blackjack, then player loses all bets made, including from doubling and splitting, except a blackjack tie will push. The cost of this rule to the player is 0.08% when doubling, and 0.03% when splitting. This breakdown is important in the case of Galaxy casinos in Macau, where the player only loses the original bet when doubling, but everything when splitting, if the dealer gets a blackjack.
- The push on a dealer 22 rule is a legally protected rule. The rights belong to the owner of Blackjack Switch.
- This rule can be found at the Pharaoh's Palace in Macau. The player may invoke the rule before the dealer checks for blackjack. The effect shown is based on the dealer not taking a hole card.
Written by: Michael Shackleford
casinoflea
The casino I frequent has recently changed their rules on blackjack switch. The rule used to be hard total of 22 for the dealer was a push on all remaining hands. It has been changed to ALL 22 are a push. So if the dealer gets A-5-6 it's a push!
My question is how does this change the house edge? Is it better for me or the house? As far as I can tell I think it would be better for me. But that is purely a hunch on my part.
My question is how does this change the house edge? Is it better for me or the house? As far as I can tell I think it would be better for me. But that is purely a hunch on my part.
dwheatley
No, I think 12 is a bad hand for whoever has it. It's more likely to bust than to make a hand, and always has -EV as a player hand. I think this rule is good for the house.Wisdom is the quality that keeps you out of situations where you would otherwise need it
pacomartin
But that is purely a hunch on my part.
What is A-A-3-7 ? Is that a soft 22? If it is only 3 card soft 22's, then it won't make much of a difference.Your hunch cannot be right. A 12 is a losing hand, so the casino is better off taking a push.
What Does Push Mean Blackjack
Blackjack Switchweb page says under the standard Las Vegas rules, with six decks, the dealer hits a soft 17, and a switched blackjack counts as 21 points, the house edge is 0.58%, assuming optimal strategy.Perhaps the Wizard will add a note as to the actual change in house edge with this rule variation when he does the calculation
casinoflea
Dwheatley and pacomartin thanks for the help. Any hand that could be 12 OR 22 is a soft 22. I fear you both are correct in saying my hunch was wrong. All other rules are the standard lv rules you quoted from. Would this change basic strategy? Im very curious how much the house edge changes here.
pacomartin
It shouldn't change by much, as the soft 22 is pretty infrequent. I would also be surprised if it changed strategy. But there is no way to know without running the computer program.
ams288
Does Switch know about this?
Seems like an odd rule. What if the dealer is showing an ace and they flip over another ace in the hole. That's it? They stop and call it a push?
Seems like an odd rule. What if the dealer is showing an ace and they flip over another ace in the hole. That's it? They stop and call it a push?
dwheatley
That's what it sounds like, but that is probably the one situation where it favours the player, because I think in a soft 12 may actually be an ok hand against the average player hand.Wisdom is the quality that keeps you out of situations where you would otherwise need it
geoff
I'm not sure where everyone is getting their math, but 12 is more likely to make a hand than it is to bust. Particularly if you were to consider that busting at 22 would give the push anyway.
chrisr
my intuition is that hit on soft 22 favors the dealer.. i'm thinking the ratio of the dealer making_hand:bust:push would be around 3:1:2
DJTeddyBear
I'm not sure where everyone is getting their math, but 12 is more likely to make a hand than it is to bust. Particularly if you were to consider that busting at 22 would give the push anyway.
What Does Push Mean Blackjack
That's what I was thinking, but I don't have the math to back it up.
But does that mean the edge goes up or down?
Google What Does Push Mean In Blackjack
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