What are the House Edge and Counting Strategies for these set of Rules?

1. What is the house edge for these rule? What is the correct doubling/splitting basic strategy/variation play (Illustrious 18 counting) since only original bets lost on dealer's blackjack? Do I still double 11 vs A with TC 1? When do I double 11 vs 10?

6 Decks,
S17,
DAS,
Spilt to 4 hands max,
Aces split to 2 hands max,
No hole card,
Surrender any first 2 cards against any dealer upcard except Aces, (I cannot differentiate early/late surrender)
Double on any first 2 cards,
Only original bets lost on dealer's blackjack pertaining to doubles and splits.

2. What is the house edge for rule? Definely no doubling against 10 or A.
6 Decks,
S17,
DAS,
*Spilt to 3 hands max,
*Aces split to 3 hands max,
No hole card,
Surrender any first 2 cards against any dealer upcard except Aces, (I cannot differentiate early/late surrender)
*Double on 9, 10, 11 only
*All bets will be lost on dealer's blackjack pertaining to doubles and splits.

Quote: cesc721

1. What is the house edge for these rule? What is the correct doubling/splitting basic strategy/variation play (Illustrious 18 counting) since only original bets lost on dealer's blackjack? Do I still double 11 vs A with TC 1? When do I double 11 vs 10?

6 Decks,
S17,
DAS,
Spilt to 4 hands max,
Aces split to 2 hands max,
No hole card,
Surrender any first 2 cards against any dealer upcard except Aces, (I cannot differentiate early/late surrender)
Double on any first 2 cards,
Only original bets lost on dealer's blackjack pertaining to doubles and splits.

If your Surrender rule turns out to be Early Surrender vs 10's, - 0.20%. If it turns out to be Late Surrender, - 0.36%. Both are pretty good.

Here's how that's calculated: Setting aside your Surrender rule for now, we start with HE's 0.44%, according to this: http://www.blackjackinfo.com/bjbse.php?numdecks=6+decks&soft17=s17&dbl=all&das=yes&surr=ns&peek=yes

To figure out Early vs Late Surrender, here's the info you need: If you've got 10,5 vs dealer's 10, and Surrender, and dealer's 2nd card turns out to be an Ace, do you still get half your bet back? If the answer's yes, then your casino's got an Early Surrender vs 10's rule, which is pretty sweet and lowers the HE by + 0.24%. If the answer's no, then it's only a Late Surrender rule, less sweet, which lowers the HE by + 0.08%

Since those rules look very, very familiar to me, I'm betting the answer's gonna turn out to be yes, though, so that's what I'll assume for your questions. If I'm wrong and it turns out to be Late Surrender vs 10's, let me know:

1. HE - 0.20%.

2. Correct Basic Strategy is the Card at the above LINK, with the following changes:

a. 16 vs 9 and 10 becomes "RH" (Surrender if possible, otherwise Hit). We can talk about whether 16 v 10 should be Surrender, otherwise Stand, but I don't want to muddy the waters yet.

b. 15 vs 10 becomes RH

c. 14 vs 10 becomes RH

d. 7,7 and 8,8 v 10 become Surrenders


3. Since all doubles and splits are refunded upon dealer BJ's, the effect of your rules is identical to "Yes, dealer peeks for BJ," for all strategy decisions. Therefore:

a. Always double 11 vs 10 (if dealer gets bj, you get the double bet back, and lose the original bet, same as you would if dealer peeked immediately at second card, so the applicable doubling strategy is correct on the card, above).

b. Most of the I-18 plays remain exactly as you have them so yep, you still have to do the weird double 11 v A at + 1.

c. Assuming an Early Surrender v 10's rule, add the following to your I-18: Surrender 13 v 10 at + 3. and Double A,7 v 2 at + 0.5.

Quote:

2. What is the house edge for rule? Definely no doubling against 10 or A.
6 Decks,
S17,
DAS,
*Spilt to 3 hands max,
*Aces split to 3 hands max,
No hole card,
Surrender any first 2 cards against any dealer upcard except Aces, (I cannot differentiate early/late surrender)
*Double on 9, 10, 11 only
*All bets will be lost on dealer's blackjack pertaining to doubles and splits.

These rules are less fun. We start at - 0.55%, calculated here: http://www.blackjackinfo.com/bjbse.php?numdecks=6+decks&soft17=s17&dbl=all&das=yes&surr=ns&peek=no

Then factor in:

+ .08% cuz can resplit Aces
- .09% cuz double on 9 to 11 only
- .01 resplit only to 3 hands

Gets us to: - 0.57%

That'll improve by Early or Late Surrender rule vs. 10's (same test as above to figure out)

So: - 0.49% or - 0.33%

But: I don't know the numbers for not being able to double into a 10, so that will raise these HE's a little. Here's a great list of BJ variations and their effect on HE: https://wizardofodds.com/games/blackjack/rule-variations/