For any game designers out there; I had a thought. When we talk about won or lost hand streaks, we always need to specify if pushes count. What I haven’t seen is a bet based on consecutive pushes. The payouts could be higher, and strategy should be changed depending on number of pushes thus far. Very few players would use the correct strategy. Of course, it’s also countable.
"I don't think outside the box; I think of what I can do with the box." - Henri Matisse
How about "Tie Your Luck", a corruption of "Try Your Luck"? Looks like USPTO doesn't have it listed.
Other than that, thinking how this would work: what would be the mechanics of the game? Would there be markers that the dealer needs to accumulate for the player? I wonder how complex the mechanics would be and how much it would slow the game down. Would it be better to base it off either the total push, or something like the number of player and/or dealer cards drawn when pushing? Such mechanics would be intrinsic to blackjack and would be easier to incorporate as their are fewer moving parts making dealing easy for the croupier, faster than dealing with extra parts for the casino, and less prone to error.
Thoughts?
The problem I would foresee with this interesting proposition is the rarity with which even two consecutive pushes would be paid. Assuming, with normal BS, a push once every 11 hands (9%), I suppose offering, say, 9 to 1 odds would be sufficient for the casino to have a decent edge (9%). But then to get two consecutive pushes, in most cases, would be a 1 in 121 shot. So, at a crowded table, you, personally, wouldn't expect to see this more than once every two hours of play. Again, the casino might offer, say, 100 to 1 odds and would then have a whopping 16.5% edge.
The counter, of course, might do better. In very high counts, 20-20 pushes become much more frequent. A sim would tell us if, at 100 to 1 odds, there would be an edge for the two consecutive pushes payoff. I suspect there might be an edge for the single push.
I think the way to work the bet is to just make one wager and then suspend the payout until the bettor's hand doesn't push. In other words, you don't make a bet for a specific number of consecutive pushes; rather you make the push bet, and you wait for things to play out. If you get the first push, it's recorded (lammer?), but not yet paid, pending the next hand. If you don't push, the lammer is picked up and you get paid 9 to 1. If you push again, the lammer is moved to the 2 position, and you know you've won at least 100 to 1, pending the third hand, and so on.
It could prove successful, because, at the extreme, with a third push, you're looking at a 1 in 1,331 event, so the jackpot-like payout could be, say, 1,000 to 1, which would surely excite the player but would still provide a hefty 24.8% edge to the house. If that were deemed too greedy, it could, of course, be increased.
Finally, as Norm pointed out, in an attempt to push, BS might change. That comes at a price to the main bet, so deviating, and thereby losing e.v. for the main bet, in order to increase the chance of a push, would have to be carefully calculated, to see if the tradeoff is worth it. That, in turn, depends on the multiple that the main bet is of the side bet. Messy math, especially to do on the fly! To be done correctly, one would have to know the loss in e.v. to the main bet, the gain towards getting a push and, again, the multiple one bet is of the other. Not something readily done in the heat of battle at the table. So playing "correctly" might be the greatest of challenges.
Rather interesting!
Don
There was a streak bet in my locale (for wins) on which you could bet on streaks of between 2 and 5 hands. There were 4 circles on which to bet and and you could bet on any combination of them. As each streak level was attained, a lammer was moved from circle to circle representing the current streak and, if there was a bet there, it was paid. If you lost, then all bets were taken. If you pushed, then nothing happened.
Heh. When I read this the first time, I took it to mean that the house edge could be increased!Originally Posted by DSchles
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