Split to Double Blackjack by Galaxy Gaming

Galaxy has a new blackjack variant called Split to Double Blackjack.

The player places two equal bets: One main wager, and one Blackjack Or Bust wager.

The player may never hit their hand. Their options are as follows:
- Split any two cards, they do not need to be a pair (resplits must be a pair)
- Double Down anywhere from 1x to 4x the main wager
- Surrender the first two cards
- Stand

The dealer plays their hand as in normal blackjack.

Any time the dealer busts and the player hasn't already busted, the main wager and Blackjack Or Bust wager pay 1:1. If the player has a winning blackjack, the main wager pays 2:1, and the Blackjack Or Bust wager pays according to a paytable.

Blackjack: 2:1
Suited Blackjack: 5:1
AJ suited in spades or clubs: 20:1

The Galaxy website for this game.
The official rules from the WSGC website.

Would you play this game? Any thoughts as to the house edge or the strategy?

Wow! What an interesting set of rules. Completely different than standard BJ.

- BJ pays 2:1
- player cannot simply hit his hand, he is only allowed to stand, split or double. Splitting and doubling both involve being hit automatically with one card only
- There is DAS, including after splitting aces. Dealer may split any two cards such as 54 vs T into two hands 7 vs 6 and 5 vs 6 (with an additional bet) and hope they make hands they can subsequently double (such as 8-11), which allows their hand to be hit again with the prospect of being improved to 17 -21.
- there is also a required 'BJ or Bust' Bet that pays off as per a payoff table when the player has BJ or the Dealer busts (the more common scenario in which this bet pays off).

The strategy will probably not be "total-dependent" it will depend upon the composition of your first two cards. So a T,2 may be played differently than a 7,5 even though they both are 12.

I just did some quick checking. I think you stand on 98vsT; and SPLIT on T6,97,A5vsT.

Interesting game. I'm not sure how the second bet wins if "the dealer busts and the player doesn't" whether that apllies to all hands, though I can imagine that you probably don't double 12 or more so might never bust.

Only doing a quick look at the dealer's 10, assuming they've already peeked then I get....
(Note: I agree you would split 97 (-1.064) rather than stand (-1.081), but as the EV is less than -1, you late surrender instead. Also at this stage I've ignored the benefit of being able to resplit, so this may swing some close surrender or split decisions).

10	10	Stand
9	1	Stand
10	9	Stand
8	1	Stand
10	8	Stand
9	9	Stand
7	1	Stand
10	7	-Split-
9	8	Stand
6	1	-Split-
10	6	-Split-
9	7	SURR
8	8	SURR
5	1	-Split-
10	5	-Split-
9	6	SURR
8	7	SURR
4	1	-Split-
10	4	-Split-
9	5	SURR
8	6	SURR
7	7	SURR
3	1	-Split-
10	3	-Split-
9	4	SURR
8	5	SURR
7	6	SURR
2	1	-Split-
10	2	-Split-
9	3	SURR
8	4	SURR
7	5	SURR
6	6	SURR
1	1	-Split-
9	2	Dbl x4
8	3	Dbl x4
7	4	Dbl x4
6	5	Dbl x4
8	2	Dbl x1
7	3	Dbl x1
6	4	Dbl x1
5	5	Dbl x1
7	2	SURR
6	3	SURR
5	4	SURR
6	2	SURR
5	3	SURR
4	4	SURR
5	2	SURR
4	3	SURR
4	2	SURR
3	3	SURR
3	2	SURR
2	2	SURR

Quote: Deucekies

AJ suited in spades or clubs: 20:1
link to original post

(trimmed)

This does not match the layout included in the WSGC filing.
A "Super Blackjack" is the Ace of Spades with a black (spades or clubs) Jack.


This sounds like a heck of a ride on the rollercoaster.

This looks like a game that would be fun to try out. I don't know how long I would stay at the table though, whether through choice or variance (wouldn't take but a couple losing 4x doubles to deplete a bankroll). Also, not crazy about a mandatory second wager in blackjack, at least poker derivatives can call it a "blind"....

This game seemed familiar, seems it was created a while back under a different name:

Quote: Dieter

Quote: Deucekies

AJ suited in spades or clubs: 20:1
link to original post

(trimmed)

This does not match the layout included in the WSGC filing.
A "Super Blackjack" is the Ace of Spades with a black (spades or clubs) Jack.

Your eyes are better than mine, sir. Good catch.

Initial ideas on a strategy, note I only looked at whether you double soft 21 if it's after a split. Also sometimes you would have a hand that you'd like to split/surrender, but you can't after a split, so I've given that decision as well. I've also not combined rows at this stage.
R=Surrender if your first two cards.

charliepatrick,

That's a nice job!

I would suggest that you increase all your "s#" numbers by 10. For example, A-K is a soft 21 or a hard 11: it isn't a soft 11. By definition, a soft hand is one containing an Ace that is counted as 11, so a soft total must be a double-digit number.

Also, perhaps you could use different colors for -Split-, Spl/St, Spl/D1, and Spl/D4 cells. For example, since Spl/St involves potentially standing, maybe use a light red (pink?) color, so it resembles the red Stand cells. Similarly, light yellow for Spl/D1 and light green for Spl/D4, and then leave the -Split- cells as blue.

Dog Hand

^ Thanks - I agree. It was just a quick look to see the trends, so there's lots of opportunities for me to tidy it up; e.g. all hard 11s are treated the same, put all the pairs together etc.

As I read it, Rule of Play 3.b.i. says that the player cannot double a dealt natural 21. They are paid at 2:1 (and the cards are presumably swept) before the player can act.

Rule of Play 4.b. suggests it may be possible to double soft 21 after split, if house rules for 21 games do not preclude action on hands totaling 21. This rule also caps the double wager at table max, so the table limit sign may force the player into suboptimal play (similar to some MAP schemes).

If the player cannot double at x4 due to limits, does the strategy still recommend doubling for max, or is a lesser amount preferred?

Nice looking strategy, charliepatrick.
I say let the players come up with their own shorthand symbology and color it in however they fancy. ;)

I understand the original version (Super Blackjack) of the game paid 6 to 1 for Suited Blackjacks and I agree that this would have given a House Edge of about 0.3%. With the current version paying 5 to 1, I suspect it's about 1.38%. (Your chances of a suited BJ, not Super, is about 1.1%)
btw as I read it, the "Blackjack or Bust" bet seems to pay your Blackjack even if the Dealer also has a Blackjack.