Promo Chips on Free Bet BJ

My local casino has a promo in the poker room (where I basically live) where they do "hot seat" drawings and you win $250 in promo chips for use in the casino if your name gets drawn.

These are standard promo chips, single use only (you keep the chip on a push but they take the chip on a win or loss) and can be used on even money bets only (BJ main game (no side bets), Roulette Odd/Even/Black/Red, Baccarat Player/Banker, Pai Gow, Craps Pass/Don't Pass/Come/Don't Come). So the chips are worth a little less than half face value after factoring in house edge.

They do pay you 3:2 on blackjack with these chips (the only payout available that's better than even money). But the casino also offers free bet blackjack, and you can use the chips there. Due to the free bet tokens on splits and doubles, this gives several opportunities to get effective payouts higher than even money, and I figure that this should more than make up for the about double house edge in this game vs regular blackjack. Plus it's more fun to play IMO.

I'm curious to know whether anyone has figured out the value of such a promo chip using the Wizard's free bet basic strategy. The Wizard gives the strategy and the total edge but not how often each higher paying outcome occurs so I can't figure this out without doing the whole strategy analysis over from scratch.

I'm pretty sure that this is the best place to use those chips so I'll use them there anyway, but I'm curious to know the value.

Edit: Follow-up question: When using the promo chips, should I ever deviate from the basic strategy in order to create the chance for a larger payout? I'm thinking, maybe (free) split 5s instead of free doubling to create the chance to get more free bet tokens in play? Possibly only against certain dealer upcards?

Quote: SkinnyTony

…. Edit: Follow-up question: When using the promo chips, should I ever deviate from the basic strategy in order to create the chance for a larger payout? I'm thinking, maybe (free) split 5s instead of free doubling to create the chance to get more free bet tokens in play? Possibly only against certain dealer upcards?
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I’m pretty sure that the rules dictate that you can only double on 55 for free. If you wanna split them, you have to put up the matching chips.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

Quote: SkinnyTony

…. Edit: Follow-up question: When using the promo chips, should I ever deviate from the basic strategy in order to create the chance for a larger payout? I'm thinking, maybe (free) split 5s instead of free doubling to create the chance to get more free bet tokens in play? Possibly only against certain dealer upcards?
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I’m pretty sure that the rules dictate that you can only double on 55 for free. If you wanna split them, you have to put up the matching chips.
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That was the case with an old rule set, but every place I've played it in the last couple of years you could split any matched rank cards except 10 value.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

I’m pretty sure that the rules dictate that you can only double on 55 for free. If you wanna split them, you have to put up the matching chips.

Quote: AutomaticMonkey

That was the case with an old rule set, but every place I've played it in the last couple of years you could split any matched rank cards except 10 value.

Interesting; I didn't know that was ever a rule. FWIW the WoO lists the rule as "Free splits on all pairs except 10s"

Firstly, promo chips are not allowed in free bet Blackjack. If you can double a 55 pair for free, do not split in any circumstances.

Secondly, I find the best use of promo chips is probably on the games that you can surrender.

Quote: aceside

Firstly, promo chips are not allowed in free bet Blackjack. If you can double a 55 pair for free, do not split in any circumstances.

Secondly, I find the best use of promo chips is probably on the games that you can surrender.
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Maybe it's just not allowed at the casinos you go to?

Actually I’m not so sure about Free Bet Blackjack. In the casinos I frequent, promo chips are not allowed at Spanish 21 but allowed at Blackjack. It looks like you really have thought about this.

Also, I was told that the best game to use promo chips is on Baccarat, if these chips are paid even money only. However, I’m still not sure whether I should bet on player or banker. Any thoughts?

Quote: aceside

Actually I’m not so sure about Free Bet Blackjack. In the casinos I frequent, promo chips are not allowed at Spanish 21 but allowed at Blackjack. It looks like you really have thought about this.

Also, I was told that the best game to use promo chips is on Baccarat, if these chips are paid even money only. However, I’m still not sure whether I should bet on player or banker. Any thoughts?
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My first guess is player, but it's easy enough to figure out for sure.

Using the numbers from WoO, and assuming 8 decks, banker wins 45.86% of the time, and player wins 44.62% of the time. Ignoring pushes, that means banker wins 50.69% of resolutions and player wins 49.32%.

You only get paid at 0.95:1 on banker, so a $100 promo chip is worth 95% x $50.69 = $48.16 when bet on banker and $49.32 when bet on player.

Your idea of using them in a blackjack game that allows surrender is a good one. Unfortunately they don't offer surrender on any of the games in my local casino. I would imagine that you would be surrendering a lot (any hand where you are an underdog). Is there a strategy published somewhere?

Wonderful! You just solved a puzzle that has bothered me for several years! I don’t know any surrender strategies.

Quote: aceside

Firstly, promo chips are not allowed in free bet Blackjack. If you can double a 55 pair for free, do not split in any circumstances.

Secondly, I find the best use of promo chips is probably on the games that you can surrender.
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If you are betting pot of gold then split the 5's

I'm not sure what a good ratio between regular bet and the Pot of Gold should be. I'd use $15 regular bet with a $5 Pot of Gold bet (but you can't use promo chips on the Pot of Gold bet). I'd keep the Pot of Gold bet at $5 until I got to a $50 regular bet then raise it to $10. It's a side bet that I'd subtract from my strategy chart. So instead of making a $60 bet, it'd be $50 + $10. With a table maximum of $25 on the Pot of Gold bet, I could do $75 on the regular bet and $25 on the Pot of Gold bet instead of a $100 regular bet. My next higher bet would be $150, so it'd be $125 regular bet + $25 Pot of Gold bet. Above that the ratio goes down as my regular bets get higher and the Pot of Gold bet is limited to $25.

I can't play this game on Draft Kings Demo, they want money.

22 is a push on that game, so you keep your promo chip for the hand if they allow it for regular bets.

I was under the impression that winning hands don't lose the promo chip, you can rebet them. Maybe that is some other type of promo chip. MDawg would know the difference.

I’ve never played Free bet blackjack and PoG side bet, but let me quote Wizard “The player can lower the house edge on the Pot of Gold by splitting fives instead of doubling, at the detriment of the primary wager.” So, it looks like player should split 5’s for more gain from PoG.

However, I’m experienced with promotion chips. When I used them, I always combined money chips and promo chips. When you are more likely to lose, you use promo chips; when you are more likely to win, you use money chips. That means monitoring the win rate all the time.

If you split 5's and draw 6's on each one then double down and win on each, you've got 3 coins from that which pays 30 to 1. If you have $100 regular bet you'll win $400; and with $25 on the PoG bet, you'd get $750 from winning that for a total of $1,150.