Variations

Well not all the variations. They keep changing. There exist a huge number of variations in Blackjack and this number has been increasing as the number of casinos has expanded, increasing competition and a desire by casinos to attract new customers and differentiate their products. Most new variations are bad for the average player. Some are remarkably bad. However, some provide new opportunities for advantage. About 100 variations are listed in this section. Normally a list of unusual rules would be placed later in a Blackjack book and the beginner may wish to skip this section for now. I placed it near the beginning because I feel it is important to understand the wide variation in rules.

For many of the rules, an advantage is provided, for example, a player advantage of .08. This means that the house edge, normally about .50%, is decreased by .08 to .42%. So for every $100 bet, the average loss for a basic strategy player (non-card counter) will be 42 cents instead of 50 cents. Every penny counts.

Double Down Rules

Ø  Double down on 10, 11 – Almost universal, this rule allows doubling down on two cards totaling 10 or 11 without an Ace. On extremely rare occasions, you might find a casino that only allows double down on 11. These games should be avoided as the penalty is .45-.52.

Ø  Double down on 9 – This Blackjack rule adds two cards totaling nine to the double down opportunities. Player advantage of .09-.15.

Ø  Double down on 8 – This rule adds two cards totaling eight to the double down opportunities. The gain is minimal if one is not counting cards.

Ø  Double down any hard count – This rule adds all other totals without an ace. The gain is minimal even for a card counter.

Ø  Double down on soft count – This fairly common option allows doubling down on any first two cards, even if one of the cards is an ace. This rule has an advantage of .08-.13.

Ø  Soft Double A9 or A8 only – This limits the soft double hands to only soft-20 and soft-19.

 © 2009 Norman Wattenberger