Blackjack Payout Variations to Avoid

On 06.08.11, In Blackjack Odds, By Vivi

The payout you receive for being dealt a natural blackjack is the biggest payout you can get in the game. It is what every blackjack player is hoping to be dealt at the onset of each hand. The payout is a 3-2 payout and it is the only payout you should be getting for a natural blackjack.

However there is a fad in both online blackjack and casino blackjack for blackjack variations. These variations, while having the potential to be entertaining, they have one major flaw—aside from the side bets, but that is a whole other topic. The major flaw is in the payout for a natural blackjack.

There are two main categories that blackjack variations can fall into: single deck games and side bet variations. Both of those should be self-explanatory, but in both categories players do not receive a 3-2 payout for a natural and that variation in payout hurts a player’s edge.

In single deck blackjack games, where the play is the same and there are no side bets, players receive a 6-5 payout instead of the 3-2. This causes a 1.39% loss to a player’s edge. This is because the house does not pay players as much. If you were wagering $10 a hand, a 3-2 payout would yield $15 while a 6-5 payout would only yield $12. Get into larger wagers and the difference becomes harder and harder to put up with. Safe to say you are paying to play in a single deck game and the increase in edge gained from only having one deck is overshadowed by the decrease from the payout variation.

When it comes to side bet blackjack variations, the payout variation is worse for natural blackjacks—which is one more reason why side bet blackjack variations should be avoided. When a player is dealt a natural blackjack—the highest hand in the entire game—they are only given a 1-1 even money payout. So if you wager $10 you would only receive $10. The blackjack player’s odds are hit for a loss of 2.27%.

Neither hit to a player’s odds is desirable and so such payout variations should be avoided, and by extension, such blackjack variations.

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Odds of Winning a Hand in Online Blackjack

On 06.02.11, In Blackjack Odds, By Vivi

There is a popular idea about online blackjack that says a player’s chances of winning each hand changes every time. This would be not true.

The odds of winning a hand of online blackjack are the same no matter what. There will always be about a 44% chance of winning a hand and about a 48% chance of losing a hand. The remaining 8% is for pushes.

Most players who hold to the idea that the odds change for every hand like to site how cards are removed from play, and that effects the remaining cards that you could potentially be dealt. This might be true a tiny bit—there are small variations—when playing blackjack in a land casino, but it does not apply when playing online blackjack.

In online blackjack the cards are dealt based on what the RNG pulls randomly. The RNG pulls from all possible outcomes. I will explain this with an example:

Let’s say that you are playing online blackjack with only a single deck, and you were just dealt a Queen and an 8. When the round and the cards are “discarded” you might assume that there is now one less Queen and 8 that you could be dealt. But in online blackjack when the next round begins the RNG is pulling from all possible outcomes, meaning there are still four Queens and four 8’s that it could potentially deal you.

Because of the RNG and how it functions in a game of online blackjack, players are pretty much set with the 44% odds of winning a hand of online blackjack.

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Winning in Online Blackjack

On 04.21.11, In Blackjack Odds, By Vivi

When players sit down at their computers and log in to play in an online casino, they want to win. Really that is not all that surprising. I mean, who wants to sit down and play a game with the intent to lose? No one. What does make sense is knowing which online casino game gives players the best shot at winning, and that is online blackjack.

Aside from having the best house edge, which is around 2% to 4% before strategy and 0.5% after using basic strategy, players have the best shot of winning each round out of all the online casinos games.

Now bear in mind that the house still has the edge, even if a player is playing perfect basic strategy, the house still has the edge. And since card counting is ineffective in online blackjack, there is no way to beat the house.

So keeping in mind that the house still has the edge even under the best circumstances, players can expect to win around 48% of the hands they play. And that leaves the house winning 52% of the hands you play. Those percentages are not taking into ties, but ties only happen 9% of the time. Removing them from consideration and you get the 48%-52% split.

All in all the odds for how often a player wins in online blackjack are not too shabby, especially when you compare it to games like online slots and online roulette; their house edges by comparison are awful. Online slots alone carry an average house edge of 14%. Now compare that to that pre-strategy 2% to 4%.

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The Never Bust Blackjack Strategy

On 03.11.11, In Blackjack Odds, By Vivi

I have previously covered a couple of blackjack strategies that hurt a player’s blackjack odds in the past: Mimic the Dealer and Assuming the Dealer has a 10 Hole Card. This week I am going to add another blackjack strategy that is not worth your time or the hit it gives your odds: Never Bust.

While the Never Bust so-called blackjack strategy is not the worst in terms of hits to your blackjack odds, the house edge it results in is no laughing matter. Players who abide by the Never Bust idea of blackjacks strategy will find themselves up against a house edge of 3.91% instead of the 0.5% that they could have had if they had just played according to basic strategy.

So how exactly does the Never Bust idea work?

The basic point behind it is to not hit anything that is a hard 12 or more no matter what the dealer is holding.

The problem with this blackjack strategy philosophy is that players miss out on a bunch of times when they should be hitting—when, according to basic strategy—the best statistical play to make is to hit. In total there are 27 hard hands that players would stand on that have better odds when hitting. Those would be 27 hands in which a blackjack player is choosing the play that is more harmful to their odds.

I believe this so-called blackjack strategy probably found its way into existence through fear of busting and subsequently losing. I believe the idea behind it is that if a player does not bust, then they cannot lose. But it is still perfectly plausible to lose, and a player who plays with this idea of never busting is actually asking to lose more than if they were to take the risk and hit.

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Blackjack Rules: Dealer Standing on Soft 17 vs. Hitting Soft 17

On 01.20.11, In Blackjack Odds, By Vivi

Whether or not a dealer can hit or stand on a soft 17 seems inconsequential to the unknowing blackjack player. But this is why they are unknowing blackjack players, and this is why I am going to explain why that seemingly little rule makes a big difference when it comes to a player’s blackjack odds.

In the most basic and most common form of blackjack, the dealer must stand on all 17s regardless of whether or not an Ace is a part of the dealer’s hand. But here and there players will find blackjack games or blackjack variations that allow the dealer to hit a soft 17, meaning a 17 with an Ace in it.

Allowing the dealer to hit a soft 17 is a problem despite that it does not sound like one. Many players do not think it will hurt them, or that the dealer is likely to bust. This is because they are hung up on the notion of the 17. But if a dealer is allowed to hit a soft 17, the Ace that starts as an 11 is reduced to a 1 and the dealer’s new hand total is 7. This leaves them in a prime position to rebuild a strong hand—much like how a player would.

Because the dealer has a second shot at rebuilding his hand he has an increased shot at beating your hand, especially if you are standing on a hard 17 or on a stiff hand. Naturally it follows that if the dealer’s odd increase, the player’s decreases. How much is that decrease? A player’s blackjack odds will decrease by 0.22% just on that one rule alone.

Because of the 0.22% hit to a player’s odds, blackjack games and blackjack variations that allow the dealer to hit a soft 17 should be avoided since there really is not any way for the player to combat that rule.

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Increasing Your Blackjack Odds

On 12.17.10, In Blackjack Odds, By Vivi

Blackjack is a casino game in which players can have an impact on the outcome of their hands. They do this by choosing how they play out their hands. With more than one choice in how to play them out, players need to know when to use what play, which is not as hard as it sounds. The choices players make impacts their blackjack odds.

Odds in blackjack are about the opportunities to make money or lose money. If a situation a player is in—her hand vs. the dealer’s up card—is not advantageous, the player can make a play to increase her blackjack odds, or she can make a play to keep from losing as much money.

One such example of how choosing a different play can increase your blackjack odds is doubling down.

Let’s say that you have a hard 10 and the dealer has a 9 showing. This would be a hand that is safe to hit. But it is also a hand that you can almost always double down on, even at table that restrict your double down opportunities hard 10s and hard 11s are usually fine to double down on. Doubling down at an opportune time—a time in which you are in a good position to win—can increase your blackjack odds by 1.6%. This is not a blackjack odds increase to turn your nose up at!

But you still need to know if it is an opportune time to double down or not.

That is actually pretty easy to tell. You need a basic strategy chart. A basic strategy chart is a legal strategy tool to use in casinos and online casinos that gives you every player hand as well as every dealer up card. Where a player hand intersects with a dealer’s up card will be the best statistical play to make in that situation. All you need to do is follow the chart. The chart is legal to use in blackjack because it does not tip the odds in your favor, but it does come close.

Playing every hand according to basic strategy can decrease the house edge and bring it down to 0.5%, which it is the smallest house edge of all the casino games. Again, not a blackjack odds bending to turn your nose up at.

Using blackjack strategy tools can increase your blackjack odds, and increased blackjack odds can mean an increase in the money you win when playing blackjack.

 
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Single Deck Blackjack vs. Multi Deck

On 11.04.10, In Blackjack Odds, By Vivi

Not many novice blackjack players will give the number of decks being used much thought. While this is not a mistake, per say, it does not do well to not understand what the number decks in a game of blackjack can do to your odds.

For example, you walk into a casino and head for the blackjack tables. There is a single deck game and game with six decks. Which table do you play at?

This is when knowing what the number of decks does to your blackjack odds pays off. Based against the common eight deck game, a game of blackjack using six deck only gains you 0.02% to your odds. But a single deck will add 0.48% to your odds.

So in the above example you would want to play at the single deck table.

But not all single deck blackjack games were created equal. You have heard of the single deck games that payout 6-5 on a natural blackjack. These would be the single deck games of blackjack they you do not want to play in.

A 6-5 payout takes 1.39% off of your odds. And not even using only a single deck can compensate for that. The difference is still a loss of 0.91% from your odds.

But if you had not known about the odds on a single deck game of blackjack you would not see just how bad the loss from a 6-5 payout is. There a good many novice players out there that do not give a flying thought to the nuances of blackjack odds; to them the single deck can even out the damage a 6-5 payout does.

But you are going to be smarter than that. And you are going to choose to play in a single deck game of blackjack over a multiple deck game—unless the payout on the single deck game is a 6-5 payout. Well, you will if you value your blackjack odds.

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Payouts and Blackjack Odds

On 10.01.10, In Blackjack Odds, By Vivi

Not many novice blackjack players know just how much the payout of the game affects their blackjack odds.

When it comes to payouts, the majority of players have their mind on their money, and they do not think about the odds. But the truth is that they are so very close to being concerned about odds. This is because the payout ratio for a natural blackjack has a fairly big impact on blackjack odds.

Blackjack odds are based on the player’s opportunity to make a profit or to lose more money than necessary. The better the blackjack payout for a natural two card blackjack, the better the blackjack odds.

This is why some blackjack games and some blackjack variations should not be played—they offer a payout that not only cost money, it also lowers the player’s blackjack odds.

One of the two most common payout deviations in blackjack games is the 6-5 payout. While this payout ratio is not found a lot in online blackjack it can pop up. This change in payout costs the player a loss of close to 17% of what their payout should be. For example, on a $10 wager, a 3-2 blackjack would receive a $15 payout. But a 6-5 blackjack will only receive $12.50. The loss in money is a hit of 1.39% to your blackjack odds.

The other common payout deviation is that 1-1 payout. This one can be found in online blackjack games, but it is found in blackjack variations, usually along with a side bet. This payout causes a 2.27% loss to your blackjack odds. For a $10 wager you would receive $10 for your blackjack, which is a 33% loss of money. Hence the larger hit to your blackjack odds.

The best rule of thumb for novice players is to simply not play in blackjack games that do not offer a 3-2 payout on a natural. It is not worth the hit to your blackjack odds to play in such games.

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