Geoff Hall: Blackjack Switch in Vegas

[Geoff Hall]

I am presently in Las Vegas helping with the installation (finally!!!) of 'Blackjack Switch' into The 4 Queens Casino, Downtown.

The game is scheduled to be opened on Friday 5th December at around 11am.

Anyone who is around and wants to meet up then just send me an email, address is on my website below.

I am pleased to say that The 4 Queens have taken an excellent attitude towards the fairness of the game and have opted to put in a version with a very fair house edge, unlike a lot of the new games being introduced.

I would be happy to meet up with anyone who is Downtown and will be around until 13th December.

Best regards

Geoff

Blackjack Switch

[college kid]

I'd like to see some sims and info on how best to play this messed up game. Maybe Micheal Shackleford can tell us just how non-blackjack like this game truly is. That push on 22 is really going to mess with my head! I think "BUST, YES!" whenever I see a dealer 22. Of course this all assumes that I am going to play the game at all in the first place!!!!

> I am presently in Las Vegas helping with the
> installation (finally!!!) of 'Blackjack
> Switch' into The 4 Queens Casino, Downtown.

> The game is scheduled to be opened on Friday
> 5th December at around 11am.

> Anyone who is around and wants to meet up
> then just send me an email, address is on my
> website below.

> I am pleased to say that The 4 Queens have
> taken an excellent attitude towards the
> fairness of the game and have opted to put
> in a version with a very fair house edge,
> unlike a lot of the new games being
> introduced.

> I would be happy to meet up with anyone who
> is Downtown and will be around until 13th
> December.

> Best regards

> Geoff

[Geoff Hall]

> I'd like to see some sims and info on how
> best to play this messed up game. Maybe
> Micheal Shackleford can tell us just how
> non-blackjack like this game truly is. That
> push on 22 is really going to mess with my
> head! I think "BUST, YES!"
> whenever I see a dealer 22. Of course this
> all assumes that I am going to play the game
> at all in the first place!!!!

He already has a very near-perfect strategy on his website although that is for the Internet version. It certainly won't be far off from the land-based version.

The Basic Strategy play is not too far off from regular Blackjack - The Switches ??? - Well, that's where the headaches come in :-)

Best regards

Geoff

http://www.blackjackswitch.com

[Hip Hop]

I hope it catches on and I think it could.

Geoff, are the rules at the four queens the same as those for Playtech? If not what are the differences?

College Kid, I've played a fair bit of it online and as Geoff says below the basic strategy is pretty easy. The switch decisions however will be tough without being able to look at a rather large decision matrix (I use the wiz's). Most of the switch decisions are straight-forward but some of them are surprising (some of the switches against dealer sevens catch me off-guard). It's a fun game and I'm looking forward to making the Four Queen's regret their decision the next time I'm in Las Vegas ;-)

Hip Hop

[Geoff Hall]

> I hope it catches on and I think it could.

> Geoff, are the rules at the four queens the
> same as those for Playtech? If not what are
> the differences?

> Hip Hop

Thanks Hip Hop, I hope that it catches on too :-)

The rules are almost the same as the Internet version, changes are :-

8 Decks will be used
Dealer will have 2 cards i.e. Not ENHC

Changes to the Internet strategy will be very marginal.

Best regards

Geoff

http://www.blackjackswitch.com

[college kid]

Yeah, I did not see the site already had a strategy out. It looks like a very interesting game and I've had a heck of a time playing with the practice downloaded version. The headache really is big with the switching strategy. I can't imagine how messed up it would get trying to count and then modify the switching strategy based on that. I think I'll stick to traditional BJ and maby see if I can't memorize the BS for Switch and use that for some cover! After looking at the odds and seeing how much better it was than I thought it would be, I too hope it catches on!!!

> I hope it catches on and I think it could.

> Geoff, are the rules at the four queens the
> same as those for Playtech? If not what are
> the differences?

> College Kid, I've played a fair bit of it
> online and as Geoff says below the basic
> strategy is pretty easy. The switch
> decisions however will be tough without
> being able to look at a rather large
> decision matrix (I use the wiz's). Most of
> the switch decisions are straight-forward
> but some of them are surprising (some of the
> switches against dealer sevens catch me
> off-guard). It's a fun game and I'm looking
> forward to making the Four Queen's regret
> their decision the next time I'm in Las
> Vegas ;-)

> Hip Hop

[Geoff Hall]

I can't imagine how
> messed up it would get trying to count and
> then modify the switching strategy based on
> that.

And I can't wait to meet the person who has memorized all 10,350 'switching' indices :-)

Seriously, I had thought that some close calls will change according to the count and this means that it adds another element to the game.

I can just imagine Don coming up with The Illustrious 1,018 to make it easier :-)

Nevertheless, I have not accounted for 'changed switches according to count' when I have run simulations. It could just be that this gives a bigger than anticipated edge to the player although it will be a real task to memorize.

Best regards

Geoff

http://www.blackjackswitch.com

[BJ_Fan]

Geoff,

I have played the downloaded version and love this game!!! Is this a promotional thing at 4 Queens or permanent? Are any other Las Vegas casinos offering it yet?

Thanks!

[coops]

I took a look at the strategy chart on thewizardofodds.com. It has what I believe are some strange plays, for example hitting 12 against anything. That looks like it would be appropriate strategy if player 22s were a push, but not dealer 22.
Does this look strange to anyone else?

[Geoff Hall]

> Geoff,

> I have played the downloaded version and
> love this game!!! Is this a promotional
> thing at 4 Queens or permanent? Are any
> other Las Vegas casinos offering it yet?

> Thanks!

Hi BJ_Fan

Firstly, 'Thanks' for your kind comments.

The 4 Queens are the casino that has agreed to act as the place for the 'Field Trial'. This means that they get the game for 3 months to gauge it's overall success on the casino floor.

During this 3-month period, no other casino in Las Vegas can install the game.

After this period of time is up then the game is presented in front of 2 commissioners meetings, normally 1 in Reno and 1 in Las Vegas, the meetings are roughly 2 weeks apart and I have to be present at both meetings.

This will happen around March next year and if the game is then passed at the meetings, it can then be offered to any casino in Nevada as a fully approved game.

On the downside, if The 4 Queens do not like the game, within the first 3 months, and remove it from their floor, it would then need another casino to agree to 'Field Trial' the game, which would be difficult in those circumstances.

I hope that you make it to The 4 Queens sometime.

Best regards

Geoff

http://www.blackjackswitch.com

[Geoff Hall]

> I took a look at the strategy chart on
> thewizardofodds.com. It has what I believe
> are some strange plays, for example hitting
> 12 against anything. That looks like it
> would be appropriate strategy if player 22s
> were a push, but not dealer 22.
> Does this look strange to anyone else?

Good question !

My assumption is that you are better off trying to improve the hand rather than simply hoping that the dealer 'busts' - a bit like 12 vs 2 in a regular game.

The 'Push on 22' gives just enough to the dealer to take away the normal 'stand and hope for bust' strategy.

Again, another change, for the reasons above, is the 'hit 14' against dealer 2.

12 vs dealer 4 seems a reasonable change as this is a close 'stand' decision in regular Blackjack. Against a dealer 5 & 6, the Blackjack Switch 'Hit' decision must again be a close call as the strategy is to 'Stand' in a 'Dealer Stand Soft 17' version.

Best regards

Geoff

[coops]

>Thanks Geoff, for your response. The problem is that no matter what I get by hitting against the 12, if the dealer ends up with that lousy 22, I'm going to push. There's nothing I can do about it. So why increase my chances of busting and losing the hand before the dealer draws. That's different than the regular bj 12 vs 2 scenario.

Unless I'm misunderstanding something. What happens if I get a 22 against a dealer 22? I assume I lose.

[Geoff Hall]

> Unless I'm misunderstanding something. What
> happens if I get a 22 against a dealer 22? I
> assume I lose.

Yes you do lose if you both get 22.

Going back to the reason for hitting on 12 in Blackjack Switch, look at the marginal play of 12 vs 4 :-

In regular Blackjack if you hit then your EV is approx' -0.214 and if you stand it is -0.211, so you are slightly better off standing.

By hitting your EV is a combination of 'busting' (the downside) compared with making a total higher than the dealers (the upside). Totals between 13-16 will place you back in he 'stand' scenario.

By standing you are hoping that the dealer busts - pure and simple.

So, against a 4 in regular Blackjack, it is correct to stand as the probability of the dealer busting outweighs (slightly) the benefits you get from hitting i.e. making a higher total compared with busting yourself.

Now by making 22 a 'push' for the dealer, you take away some of the player benefit of standing. Although it is a close decision, it is better to now go for the 'hit' scenario because the 'hope the dealer busts' does not now pay back enough EV.

It's also true that you could make a total by hitting and that this is again reduced because the dealer may still push with 22. However, with everything taken into account it is better to hit.

Why do you hit 16 vs 7 in regular Blackjack ?

You know the answer which is because making a total vs busting is better than hoping that the dealer busts.

The 'Push 22' now changes some of the close 'stand' decisions, into 'hit' decisions as the 'dealer busts' is now not such a favourable outcome and therefore loses some of it's EV.

I hope that I have explained it and it was a good question. When I get the Q's and A's page up on my site then I would like to include this one.

Best regards

Geoff

http://www.blackjackswitch.com