Blackjack Rules And Their Effect On The Players Edge
There are good video-blackjack games and bad video-blackjack games and you should be able to distinguish between them. Basic strategy players and card counters alike benefit by liberal rules and are hurt by tight games with few options for the players. Even if the option is only marginally helpful to a player, it is better to play at a machine with this option, all other things being equal. The world of video blackjack is an ever-changing landscape and new rules come and go. However, for good or ill, most of the following rules can be found often enough in machines that it is worth knowing their impact on your expectations. Some of these variations are not yet found in video blackjack but more than likely will be in the near future—so forewarned is forearmed.
What follows will first be a discussion of the rule or option, followed by its percentage impact on the game. The percentages were prepared and furnished by John F. Julian, author of Julian's No-Nonsense Guide to Winning Blackjack and The Julian Strategies in Roulette.
All these percentages are based on a comparison of their impact on a single-deck game with Las Vegas Strip rules. This will be our model. The rules for the Las Vegas single-deck game are as follows: a player can double on any first two cards; player can split any pairs and double after splits. Blackjack pays three to two and insurance is allowed. This game is effectively even. In video-poker terms it is a 100 percent payback game. A double-deck game with the same rules favors the house by 0.35 percent. In video-blackjack parlance that machine is a 99.65 percent payback game. Percentages are based on playing perfect basic strategy.
Doubling on any first two cards
A good rule for the basic strategy player when used properly. For basic strategy players, follow the doubling strategies for the single and/or multiple decks as detailed later in this chapter. For the card counter, this is an even better rule since a card counter will find many more opportunities upon which to double. If the dealer-in-the-machine should have a blackjack, you only lose your initial bet on any double down. (No percentage value since this is part of the above 100 percent machine model.)
Doubling on 9, 1 0, and 11 only
This is not a good rule for single deck basic strategy players since there are times when you will want to double on eight. This rule is primarily aimed, however, against card counters to diminish their opportunities for doubling in advantageous situations. Value: -0.13 percent.
Doubling on 10 and 11 only
Awful rule and any game that stipulates this should be avoided if better games are available. Value: -0.28 percent.
Doubling on 11 only
Yuck. Value: -0.78 percent.
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How Video Blackjack Is Played Part 2
Once the player is dealt his first two cards, he must decide whether to ask the dealer-in-the-machine to hit him, that is, give him another card; or, he must indicate that he is content with his first two cards and will stand.
The player can also decide to do any of the following:
1. If he has a pair of the same number, the player can split them and make each card the first card of a new hand. The dealer will then deal him a second card on the first hand and the player will play out that hand. When he is finished, the dealer will deal him a second card on the second hand and the player will play out that one.
2. The player can double down on his first two cards (when allowed). This means that the player is placing a bet equal to or less than his initial bet and will now receive only one card.
3. In some video-blackjack games, the player can surrender his hand. That means he gives up playing the hand in exchange for losing only half his bet.
4. The player can insure his hand against a dealer's face-up ace. He would put in a bet that can be as much as half his original bet. The insurance bet pays two to one. This bet is a side bet where the player who is insuring is wagering that the dealer-in-the-machine indeed has a blackjack—thus, the dealer-in-the-machine has a 10 in the hole with the ace on top. This is a very poor bet and should never be made, unless the player is counting cards and has a reasonable assurance that the 10 is underneath.
If the player should bust his hand (go over 21), the dealer-in-the-machine will immediately indicate that this round is over. In a game with more than one player, if the dealer-in-the-machine should subsequently bust, the player who has busted first still loses. This is the casino's biggest edge—the player must play his hand first and if he busts, regardless of what the dealer-in-the-machine does, the player loses.
Once the player(s) has played his hand(s), the dealer-in-the-machine plays his. However, the dealer-in-the-machine does not have any individual discretion in the playing of the hands but must play according to a prearranged set of rules. These rules are usually posted on the machine or can be found by pushing the INFORMATION button on the console.
There is very little variation from machine to machine. The dealer-in-the-machine must hit all hands that total 16 or less, and stand on all hands that total 17 or more. The only area where machines differ in the application of these rules concerns the soft hand of 17 (ace + six). Some machines have their dealers-in-the-machine stand on soft 17. Some machines have their dealers-in-the-machine hit a soft 17. It is to the player's advantage if the dealer-in-the-machine stands on a soft 17.
When the dealer-in-the-machine has finished playing his hand, he pays off and/or takes the bets from the losers who didn't bust beforehand.
Simple? Quite. Yet, there are many rules variations within the structure of blackjack that can make the game more or less favorable for the players.
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