Does this BJ rule affect my odds?
December 5th, 2016 at 8:52:23 AM
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In a six-deck shoe game Instead of putting the dealer hole card under the face up card, the dealer waits until everyone has played and pulls his hole card from the shoe last. Does anyone know if this is affecting the odds of the game or if it doesn't matter? This is how all the games are played in Colombia.
December 5th, 2016 at 8:59:09 AM
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Hi gmoney, and welcome to the forums.
Yes, the rule you're describing is commonly referred to as European No Hole Card (ENHC for short). This definitely does affect the house edge, and in many ways. Commonly in these types of games (more popular in Europe than the US) you'll also have "early surrender" as an option, which changes the edge again. Next, some places that play ENHC play you do NOT lose your double downs if say the dealer has a 10, and you double your 11, then the dealer pulls an ace later. SOME places play you DO lose that double down though and again that will definitely affect the edge, and strategy.
For simple starters I'd suggest checking out the Wizards basic house edge calculator here: https://wizardofodds.com/games/blackjack/calculator/
After that, you might want to look up early surrender and things of that nature. Almost everything in a blackjack game affects the house edge, so be sure you know what you're really playing before you play!
Examples:
Early Surrender against dealer Ace takes 0.39% away from the house edge (good for us)... though this is assuming you surrender according to basic strategy!
Early Surrender against dealer 10 takes 0.24% away from the house edge (good for us)... though this is assuming you surrender according to basic strategy!
For a perfect basic strategy chart for your game you can also check out the Wizards basic strategy calculator here: https://wizardofodds.com/games/blackjack/strategy/calculator/
Yes, the rule you're describing is commonly referred to as European No Hole Card (ENHC for short). This definitely does affect the house edge, and in many ways. Commonly in these types of games (more popular in Europe than the US) you'll also have "early surrender" as an option, which changes the edge again. Next, some places that play ENHC play you do NOT lose your double downs if say the dealer has a 10, and you double your 11, then the dealer pulls an ace later. SOME places play you DO lose that double down though and again that will definitely affect the edge, and strategy.
For simple starters I'd suggest checking out the Wizards basic house edge calculator here: https://wizardofodds.com/games/blackjack/calculator/
After that, you might want to look up early surrender and things of that nature. Almost everything in a blackjack game affects the house edge, so be sure you know what you're really playing before you play!
Examples:
Early Surrender against dealer Ace takes 0.39% away from the house edge (good for us)... though this is assuming you surrender according to basic strategy!
Early Surrender against dealer 10 takes 0.24% away from the house edge (good for us)... though this is assuming you surrender according to basic strategy!
For a perfect basic strategy chart for your game you can also check out the Wizards basic strategy calculator here: https://wizardofodds.com/games/blackjack/strategy/calculator/
Last edited by: Romes on Dec 5, 2016
Playing it correctly means you've already won.
December 5th, 2016 at 9:06:40 AM
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Thanks for the response and welcome! And yes, these games are in South America where early surrender is allowed against any card but I am not too sure about the double down rule..
Will definitely check out those links, thanks again for the help!
Will definitely check out those links, thanks again for the help!
