7 Card Automatic Win Question...

I am looking at playing a 6 deck game where a 7 card hand is an automatic win, sometimes called a 7 card charlie. In this game the dealer does not take a hole card, but you only lose your original bet if the dealer makes a blackjack (splits and double downs are returned). The game is dealt from a continuous shuffle machine so counting is not an option. I found these tables at that give the correct strategy at the Wizard of Odds site.

Wizard of Odds Automatic Win Charlie Strategy

It says to always hit soft 21 if you just need one more card for the automatic win. Of course this makes sense as you cannot bust and you would rather have a guaranteed win just in case the dealer also gets 21 and pushes you.

I just have one question: Does a blackjack count as a soft 21?

If you have a blackjack and the dealer has an ace I am thinking you should not hit as you get paid 3:2 and the dealer is 9:4 (A,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9):(T,J,Q,,K) against to get the blackjack and push you. (Its dealt from a CSM so the count is never going to be high enough to justify taking insurance/even money)

I know the 7 card automatic win is only worth 0.01%, but I'm playing for comps and I'd like to lose as little as possible (or maybe even get lucky and win???).

Thanks to anyone who can offer advice,

Wheelhed.

Quote: wheelhed

...I just have one question: Does a blackjack count as a soft 21?...

In casinos where you are allowed to hit your blackjacks, then you can count blackjack as soft 21 and hit it or double down. Otherwise, blackjacks always count as blackjacks.

In a shoe game, a player's blackjack vs a dealer's ace has an expected value of about 1.04, which is 1.5 * 9 / ( 9 + 4) . This is better than the expected value of a 7-card charlie, which is 1.00. So, you're right not to hit your blackjacks based on this fact alone. (And, of course, you can't turn every soft 21 into a 7-card charlie, so the EV of a hit blackjack is less than 1.00.)

Even though even money (or insurance) aren't justified, the expected value of blackjack vs dealer's ace based on the original bet would be 1.00 if you took either even money or insurance.

Thanks for the advice ChesterDog,

I figured the same thing, but just wanted a second opinion to be sure I didn't miss anything!

Thanks,

Wheelhed.