Ø  Dealer wins tied 17, 18 and 19 – This awful rule causes tied 17, 18 and 19 hands to be lost instead of pushed. The rule exists in Swedish casinos and makes Blackjack unplayable in Sweden.

Blackjack Card Handling Variations

Ø  No dealer hole card dealt – (ENHC) With this rule, seen nearly everywhere outside the U.S., the dealer does not receive a second card until after the players have played their hands. With no hole card, the dealer cannot peek to check for Blackjack. Four variations exist describing how bets are handled when the dealer gets a Blackjack:

·         Blackjack Wins All – This lousy rule means that all split hands and DD bets will be lost if the dealer has Blackjack. Unfortunately this is the most common version by far.

·         Original Bets & Busted Only – OBBO means that if you split, the original bet will always be lost and the split hand will be lost if it busts. Double down bets are not lost.

·         Original Bets Only (OBO) – The best version. Only your first bet is lost. DD and Split bets are returned. This is common in Puerto Rico.

·         Busted Bets + 1 (BB+1) – This Australian rule means that you will lose all busted bets, plus one other bet if it exists.

Ø  Double Down dealt face up – More and more casinos are dealing the double down card face up instead of down as this can reduce cheating.

Ø  Dealer shows burn cards – Some casinos discard (burn) one to five cards off of the top of the deck after shuffling (six cards in some Russian casinos). Some of those casinos show them and some do not. In some cases, you can ask a casino to show them when they normally do not, but this can call attention to your play.

Ø  Dealer peeks on 10 – In many casinos, the dealer will peek at the down card to check for Blackjack when the dealer up card is a ten. This option is becoming more common as newly

 © 2009 Norman Wattenberger