Chinese Blackjack House Edge/Dealer Strategy

Hi guys,

I notice theres no discussion/analysis into a Blackjack variant known as Ban-Luck (chinese blackjack). For those who don't know what it is, heres a link to a wikipedia page explaining the rules:

My questions are:

1. What is the house edge conferred simply by the dealer being able to selectively reveal the player's cards before drawing
2. What is the dominant strategy as a dealer?

Quote: frostnerve

Hi guys,

I notice theres no discussion/analysis into a Blackjack variant known as Ban-Luck (chinese blackjack). For those who don't know what it is, heres a link to a wikipedia page explaining the rules:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Blackjack

My questions are:

1. What is the house edge conferred simply by the dealer being able to selectively reveal the player's cards before drawing
2. What is the dominant strategy as a dealer?

So they use one or two decks, but the million dollar question is: Do they just deal one hand, then shuffle? Or do they give what we all know as "penetration" to the game? The rules also seem to contradict themselves... All hands must be 16 points or higher, and players can only take 5 cards... Well what if I take 5 cards and only have 14?

Quote: Romes

Well what if I take 5 cards and only have 14?

5 card unbusted hands would appear to be winners.

Quote: TFA

In addition, other special winning conditions apply:
Surviving unbusted at 5 cards (usually 1:2).

Yup. 5 cards unbusted is an instant win unless busted similar to a 5-card charlie rule.


Game is played only with 1 deck up to 10 players. So i guess penetration would be about 30-50%