Blackjack Block Bonus

Blackjack Block Bonus is a side bet based on the player's first two cards and the dealer's up card. It wins if one of the suit of the dealer's card matches the suit of at least one player card and that player card is greater in rank than the dealer's card. The win will depend on details of the other player card involved.

I think I had a page on this side bet a long time ago, but it got lost in a computer crash. So, I just wrote another one. Please click the link and let me know what you think.

The question for the poll is would you bet the Blackjack Block Bonus if playing blackjack anyway? Multiple votes allowed.

Thoughts:


1. I would not play it. Rules are too complicated. If I play a side bet in BJ I want the rules simple, as Lucky Ladies rules are. I do not even like the In-Between bet.

2. On the pay-table you should have it "X-1" not just the simple number. I missed the pay table the first time and had to look for it because without that it did not look like a pay table to me. Might be just me, but you did ask.

3. I did not see it in the article, but can this be beaten or at the least the HE dented by counting? I realize that would be hard, counting down suits. But even if you made the count simple by counting down black or red?

Note that the return tables on the WOO page really only apply to a fresh shoe - the average probability of an ultimate block will decrease with increasing penetration into a shoe.

Example: if you start with a 4-deck shoe and 104 cards are then dealt out:

Ultimate Block prob: 0.001688 (fresh shoe) drops to 0.001142 (average after 50% penetration)

Thus the return on a fresh pristine 4 deck shoe is about -0.052, as stated on the WOO page but increases to an average of greater than -0.075 after 104 cards have been dealt out. (I was lazy and didn't calculate it exactly.)

So, I think that the current write-up understates the house edge because the house edge is always at its smallest value when the shoe is fresh.

Quote: Wizard

Blackjack Block Bonus is a side bet based on the player's first two cards and the dealer's up card. It wins if one of the suit of the dealer's card matches the suit of at least one player card and that player card is greater in rank than the dealer's card. The win will depend on details of the other player card involved.

I think I had a page on this side bet a long time ago, but it got lost in a computer crash. So, I just wrote another one. Please click the link and let me know what you think.

The question for the poll is would you bet the Blackjack Block Bonus if playing blackjack anyway? Multiple votes allowed.

First I Thanks Michael for ticking the time to wrote another one, and upload it again on his website.
More info on Blackjack Block Bonus®:

Blackjack Block Bonus® was my first Blackjack Side-Bet, invented in 2003. (BlackjackBlock.com) http://bit.ly/2WRkigZ
Mathematician for this game was Michael Shackleford (Wizard of Odds) back in 2003. https://buff.ly/2J3T9B5

Installations:
Played Live in: EMEA, Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa, South Africa, ​Egypt, Latvia, Estonia, Ireland...
​Egypt: Caesars Casinos http://bit.ly/2CsnRTc
Ireland: Macau Sporting Club: http://bit.ly/2Q0P8QP
UK Gambling Commission Approved: http://bit.ly/2MXgKEw


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fyi - This side bet was also available in a slightly different form https://wizardofodds.com/games/lucky-draw-baccarat/

Quote: charliepatrick

fyi - This side bet was also available in a slightly different form https://wizardofodds.com/games/lucky-draw-baccarat/

Hi charliepatrick,

What do you mean by (slightly different)?

Quote: charliepatrick

fyi - This side bet was also available in a slightly different form https://wizardofodds.com/games/lucky-draw-baccarat/

Hi charliepatrick,

What do you mean by (slightly different)?

Quote: MrCasinoGames

Hi charliepatrick, What do you mean by (slightly different)?

I was hedging my bets as I couldn't remember whether it was identical or not, but knew I'd seen the same concept before somewhere. I do remember when that game was in Manchester, one of the regular players always made the side bet and frequently won.

Quote: charliepatrick

I was hedging my bets as I couldn't remember whether it was identical or not, but knew I'd seen the same concept before somewhere. I do remember when that game was in Manchester, one of the regular players always made the side bet and frequently won.

Hi charliepatrick,

Blackjack Block Bonus® (Blackjack Side-Bet) and the Block Bonus (Side-bet for Lucky Draw Baccarat®) they are the same game.
I invented Both the Blackjack Block Bonus® (Side-bet) and the Lucky Draw Baccarat® (New Baccarat Game).

Quote: gordonm888

Note that the return tables on the WOO page really only apply to a fresh shoe - the average probability of an ultimate block will decrease with increasing penetration into a shoe.

Example: if you start with a 4-deck shoe and 104 cards are then dealt out:

Ultimate Block prob: 0.001688 (fresh shoe) drops to 0.001142 (average after 50% penetration)

Thus the return on a fresh pristine 4 deck shoe is about -0.052, as stated on the WOO page but increases to an average of greater than -0.075 after 104 cards have been dealt out. (I was lazy and didn't calculate it exactly.)

So, I think that the current write-up understates the house edge because the house edge is always at its smallest value when the shoe is fresh.

As another example consider the house edge for the Block bet when you have a two deck game. The Wizard's calculated return for the Block Bet on a 2-deck game (as shown on the WOO page) is -0.054255, but this includes a return of +0.068532 for the Ultimate Block scenario - which is a scenario in which the player is dealt two cards of the same rank and suit. However, as the first and 2nd round of hands are dealt from the two deck shoe, the number of rank and suit combinations that will continue to have two cards will become smaller, and usually the return on the Ultimate Block scenario will plummet from +0.068532 to a value fast approaching 0.02 or less (Even down towards zero!) Statistically, I think the return on the Block Bet for a two deck game will average closer to -0.07 to -0.08 rather than the -0.054255 that the WOO page shows.

Here's hoping that Mike reads this post and responds. I just think it defeats the whole purpose of the WOO site to quote a house edge to 5 significant digits when the calculated value is wrong (because it only applies to the first deal from a fresh shoe) and when the average house edge over a playing session is almost always significantly larger. I think the WOO article could be improved -at a minimum, with the addition of some clarifying language.

Quote: MrCasinoGames

Hi charliepatrick,

Blackjack Block Bonus® (Blackjack Side-Bet) and the Block Bonus (Side-bet for Lucky Draw Baccarat®) they are the same game.
I invented Both the Blackjack Block Bonus® (Side-bet) and the Lucky Draw Baccarat® (New Baccarat Game).

Here is a link to Lucky Draw Baccarat® Discussion at Wizard of Vegas (Back in 2015): http://bit.ly/2uLBJne

Quote: MrCasinoGames

Quote: Wizard

Blackjack Block Bonus is a side bet based on the player's first two cards and the dealer's up card. It wins if one of the suit of the dealer's card matches the suit of at least one player card and that player card is greater in rank than the dealer's card. The win will depend on details of the other player card involved.

I think I had a page on this side bet a long time ago, but it got lost in a computer crash. So, I just wrote another one. Please click the link and let me know what you think.

The question for the poll is would you bet the Blackjack Block Bonus if playing blackjack anyway? Multiple votes allowed.

First I Thanks Michael for ticking the time to wrote another one, and upload it again on his website.
More info on Blackjack Block Bonus®:

Blackjack Block Bonus® was my first Blackjack Side-Bet, invented in 2003. (BlackjackBlock.com) http://bit.ly/2WRkigZ
Mathematician for this game was Michael Shackleford (Wizard of Odds) back in 2003. https://buff.ly/2J3T9B5

Installations:
Played Live in: EMEA, Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa, South Africa, ​Egypt, Latvia, Estonia, Ireland...
​Egypt: Caesars Casinos http://bit.ly/2CsnRTc
Ireland: Macau Sporting Club: http://bit.ly/2Q0P8QP
UK Gambling Commission Approved: http://bit.ly/2MXgKEw

​

A couple of Images of Casinos that uses Blackjack Block® Since 2003 (Doing Great).