Hot Action Blackjack revisited?

I didn't want to bump a thread that is two years old, but the Hot Action Blackjack game offered now by the California Grand seems quite different from the one discussed in that thread and which the Wizard made his basic strategy for.

Here are the rules from the horse's mouth:

Quote:

At the California Grand Casino, we offer the newer and more player-friendly “Hot Action Blackjack:” blackjack with better action and better odds than Vegas. We add Jokers to the deck for more winning hands and more payouts for players. The Jokers count as 12 or 2. Players win more easily when Jokers appear, and players don’t bust at 22 if the dealer also has a 22.

Players win 4 times their wager if their first two cards are Jokers. (“Natural 24”)
Players win 2 times their wager if their first two cards are suited Aces. (“Natural 22”)
If the Player and the Dealer both have a Natural 24 or Natural 22, the Player still wins.
Players are paid 6:5 for any Blackjack unless the Dealer also has Blackjack.
A Player 22 is not a bust if the Dealer also has a 22.

Most notably, jokers count as 12 or 2 (not just as 2), and there is a push on player-dealer 22. How many jokers are added is not exactly clear. I assume 2 per deck.

The 12/2 jokers and push on 22, I assume, greatly affect the strategy, but I don't know exactly how. Any Wizardly (or otherwise) advice would be appreciated!

I am obviously skeptical of their suggestion that the game is overall more player-friendly than the standard game. (If it's not, could that be actionable false advertising...?)

Edit: my links don't work, maybe this is a restriction on new accounts?

Quote: Voxette

I didn't want to bump a thread that is two years old, but the Hot Action Blackjack game offered now by the California Grand seems quite different from the one discussed in that thread and which the Wizard made his basic strategy for.

Here are the rules from the horse's mouth:



Most notably, jokers count as 12 or 2 (not just as 2), and there is a push on player-dealer 22. How many jokers are added is not exactly clear. I assume 2 per deck.

The 12/2 jokers and push on 22, I assume, greatly affect the strategy, but I don't know exactly how. Any Wizardly (or otherwise) advice would be appreciated!

I am obviously skeptical of their suggestion that the game is overall more player-friendly than the standard game. (If it's not, could that be actionable false advertising...?)

Edit: my links don't work, maybe this is a restriction on new accounts?

Why would you assume more than 1 joker per deck?

The player advantages are the 4-1 on double joker.
And the 2-1 on suited aces.
And the push if you bust with 22 then the dealer does the same.

House advantages are fewer BJ’s due to the added jokers.
And of course paying 6:5 instead of 2:1 for BJ.
Fewer opportunities to split due to the joker.

Remember, the joker 2/12 will help the dealer as well as the player.

I can’t intuitively figure out if the player advantages outweigh the house advantages. Someone with better math skills will be able to do it here, if he/she is so inclined.

The forum doesn’t let you post links for a while.

Welcome to the forum…. Great opening question!

Define player-friendly.
I don't think it has to mean the game has a lower house edge. This game adds extra premium payouts and the jokers add excitement.

Does a Joker/9 hand get the natural 21 bonus?

It's not a very strong reason to think there would be multiple jokers per deck, but my first instinct is 2 per deck because they say "we add jokers to the deck" not "we add a joker to each deck", and decks of cards traditionally come with 2 jokers. But it certainly could be any number.

Quote: billryan

Define player-friendly.
I don't think it has to mean the game has a lower house edge. This game adds extra premium payouts and the jokers add excitement.

That marketing description says "better odds than Vegas". I guess "better odds" is ambiguous to some degree, since perhaps you could interpret it as meaning better odds of getting a 4:1 payout or whatever. I would think the most natural interpretation of "better odds" is "lower overall edge", but I'm not a gambling regulator.

Quote: Dieter

Does a Joker/9 hand get the natural 21 bonus?

That is a very good question. I don't know. I haven't been to this place. I was thinking about going and checking it out, when I saw the game on their website, searched for any strategic analysis, and found the old thread here. But the game in that thread is either different or just described wrong. I actually only tried California-style blackjack for the first time yesterday. I wish there were more out there on when/if you can get an advantage by banking, especially if you're also counting (though I am not a proficient counter myself).

If/when I go, I will update on all the rules including the ordinary surrender/DAS/RSA and the weird stuff.