floppy3466: Effect of 6 to 5 Payout For Blackjack

[floppy3466]

I just came back from a weekend in Las Vegas. I spent most of my gambling time at Single Deck games at a few different casinos (Casino Royale, Excalibur, Four Queens, Treasure Island). A fairly common rule at the Single Deck games was that the house only paid out 6 to 5 for player blackjacks. How much does this rule increase the house's edge? How does it effect counting systems since an ace/ten rich deck is presumably at least a little less valuable with this rule.

[Parker]

The 6:5 BJ payout is a huge ripoff. If the Gaming Commission were not the lackey of the casinos, these games would be illegal.

The loss of expectation due to the 6:5 payout is HUGE! A typical single deck game has a house advantage of .18%, almost an even game. A 6:5 game with similar rules has a house edge of 1.45%!!

The Excaliber game, with both 6:5 and doubling allowed on 10-11 only, has a whopping 1.84% house advantage.

You are far, far better off playing even the worst eight deck shoe! An 8 deck shoe with the dealer hitting soft 17, double after split not allowed, and no surrender has a house edge of .79%

If you want to play single deck in Las Vegas, stick to the downtown casinos which still have an honest 3:2 BJ payout.

[floppy3466]

Thanks for the information. Man, my intuition sucks. I really lucked out and ended up a little ahead. I got excited when I saw some Single Deck games and thought I would apply some stuff I remembered from a Blackjack book I read years ago. I assumed at first that only weak skills held me back from being a clear winner. Little did I know that if things had gone according to form I would have been straight out slaughtered. Guess some homework is in order if I ever want to give it another go.