Tips, strategies and stories about black jack.

You Mean Not All Blackjack Games Are The Same?



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Yep, though there is one basic set of rules as to how blackjack is played in all casinos, you can expect little variations that create sub-rules. Each casino may have its own set of sub-rules. Even more, each table – depending on the dealer – may also have its slight variations. That is why experts suggest that before you flop down at a table to play, take a look around and observe how the play the game first.

Expert Fredy Renzey has a very informative article on this topic. He has classified the way blackjack is played into three general types – typical blackjack, hand-held blackjack, and great blackjack. What are the differences?

Typical Blackjack: The most typical blackjack game will be dealt with a six-deck shoe and the dealer will stand on soft 17. You’ll also be able to double down on split pairs, re-split them out to four hands — and that’s about it. With this setup, the house will have a 0.43% advantage over a proper basic strategy player.

Hand-held Blackjack: Since fewer decks are known to be better for the player, some casinos pull the wool over your eyes by offering a double-deck game with “tight” rules. If they hit soft 17, don’t allow double after splits and restrict doubling down to hands of 10 or 11 only, the house has a 0.75% basic strategy advantage. As bad as this game is, you’ll probably find them packed with sheep who flock to play blackjack with only two decks — but you’ll know better. Don’t get sucked into games just because they’re double deck. Know the rules.

Great Blackjack: If you want to trim the house edge to the bone, places in Vegas like the Bellagio, Mirage and Treasure Island have double-deck games with the typical six deck rules (stand soft 17, double after split), which bring your basic strategy disadvantage down to 0.20%. This is about as good as it gets. Mandalay Bay and MGM have six-deck games with those same standard rules, plus you can re-split Aces out to four hands and you can Surrender. That starts you out at just a 0.27% disadvantage, another very good game.

Hope you find great blackjack the next time you go to a casino!

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