SHORTIE Blackjack : a side bet where a slim (weak) hand can win twice (up to 5 times)

Shortie (TM) is a Blackjack side bet that rewards your initially “slim” hand, called shortie.

What exactly is a shortie? When your first 2 cards score lower than 10 (Ace = 1), you have a shortie. For example, if your first 2 cards are [2, 7], [A, A] or [A, 8], you have a shortie; [3, 8], [5, 5] and [A, 9] are not. If you have made the Shortie side bet before the game starts and you have a shortie, you will win a bonus right away. There is more. After you have won the first Shortie payout, this side bet is added to your original Blackjack bet and you could win again.

The first bonus payouts for your Shortie are:

Player’s first 2 cards
equal or lower than 9 Pays
---------------------------------------
Shortie ……………….…….… 3 to 1
A-A, Unsuited ………..…….. 5 to 1
A-A, Suited …………….….. 10 to 1

If your first 2 cards score 10 or higher, your Shortie side bet is lost.

The winning Shortie bet has a second chance to win with “2 to 1“ odds after the first payout. However, you have to earn it this time.

After your Shortie bet has received the first bonus payout, this side bet must remain in the play. This means that neither the player nor the dealer can remove the bet. The bet now becomes part of your Blackjack wager, and you will continue playing Blackjack normally. At the end of the hand, if your Blackjack hand wins, the Shortie bet is paid 2 to 1. If you lose the Blackjack hand, both the main and the Shortie bets will be lost. If you push the Blackjack hand, both bets are pushed.

Here is an example. Let’s say you bet $5 as your main wager and bet $1 on the Shortie side bet. The dealer deals you [A, 8] and shows a [7] up card in his hand. Your Shortie wins $3 right way. Let’s say you stand on 19 (Ace = 11) and the dealer reveals a hole card of [10]. The dealer’s hand ends up with a final score 17. You have now outscored the dealer, so you win $5 (1 to 1) for the main bet and $2 (2 to 1) for the side bet. Overall, your $1 Shortie side bet has made $5.

If you split your original pair, the Shortie bet goes with the first of the two split hands (i.e. the first hand to receive cards from the dealer.) If you double down on your main bet, you can not double down on Shortie. If you surrender your Blackjack play when offered, your Shortie is lost.

I wonder if a very negative count could make this a +ev bet.

Quote: clarkacal

I wonder if a very negative count could make this a +ev bet.

Aces have a high +'ve value too. I am guessing that this would be dealt with a CSM, Internet or, as the OP name suggests, an electronic table.

At Boomtown, Reno, it's a 2-deck hand dealt game, cutting 1/3. At WinnaVegas, 6 decks, hand dealt.

It reminds me a little of the 'Over/Under 13' wager. I'm assuming that because part of the payback is dependent on the player winning the hand, this would have some sort of compensation against a counter who has tracked the low-value cards.

The first bonus payouts for your Shortie are:

Player's first 2 cards score
equal or lower than 9 pays
--------------------------------------------------------------
Shortie ................................................. 3 to 1
A-A, Unsuited ....................................... 5 to 1
A-A, Suited ……………........…................. 10 to 1
A-A, with dealer’s Ace Up
* A-A-A, Unsuited ….....................….. 30 to 1
* A-A-A, Suited …............…........….. 100 to 1
* A-A-A, All Diamonds..................... 200 to 1

There are 5 payout tables approved by the State of Nevada. The most popular one is without A-A-A.


Gee I wonder who that one without the A-A-A is most popular with, the house or the players ? LOL
Seriously looks like it has potential. Till somebody puts jackpots into basic BJ,
Streak was very popular in Blackhawk. Over 20 tables at one time. Then the limits went from $5 to $100. My last visit to Blackhawk only Ameristar had a Streak Table. $25 minimum and no players SIGH

Quote: Switch

It reminds me a little of the 'Over/Under 13' wager. I'm assuming that because part of the payback is dependent on the player winning the hand, this would have some sort of compensation against a counter who has tracked the low-value cards.

is the over/under 13 wager countable? will there be a positive edge if the count is very high or very low?

Quote: SafeGaming

is the over/under 13 wager countable? will there be a positive edge if the count is very high or very low?

Yes, it's been exploited quite heavily in the past.

Quote: Switch

Yes, it's been exploited quite heavily in the past.

what u mean by in the past?

but it has a high house edge around over 8%, may i know whats the strategy?

Is it posted in this forum? I would like to learn how to beat Shortie which claimed to have over 5% house edge.

LOL
"in the past" probably means they have taken it down.

Quote: andysif

LOL
"in the past" probably means they have taken it down.

That's what it means.
Blackjack side bets are an enourmously competitive area of table games, and very few have any dominance, if that word can even be used. The few that have any serious market penetration are products of the big four distributors (Shufflemaster, DEQ, Galaxy Gaming and DEQ).

(1) I think DEQ and DEQ should only be counted as one. (2) I think there are many so-called distributors. I think there is only ONE big distributor, ShuffleMaster. All the rest are not big and are of equal footing: talk to Gaming Networks, Score Gaming, eTable Games. Gaming Entertainment, TCS, etc. They would agree with me.

I mean to say "Gaming Network" instead of the second DEQ. I don't know why I blocked it when I wrote it.

Quote: RoyalBJ

I think there are many so-called distributors. I think there is only ONE big distributor, ShuffleMaster. All the rest are not big and are of equal footing: talk to Gaming Networks, Score Gaming, eTable Games. Gaming Entertainment, TCS, etc. They would agree with me.

Outside of Shufflemaster, DEQ, Gaming network, and Galaxy, the others are shoe-string start-ups with few games out, if any. Games like Die Rich, Scossa Dice, Abuan Gaming, Score Gaming generally have a couple of tables out and an Internet site where if a single table is pulled it is devasting
When I designed and licensed my games, I did not set up a distributorship. I set up a tiny LLC that does NOT distribute directly to casinos. We do design games, but we really just lease to distributors (mainly DEQ), receive royalties, manage our IP, and distribute royalties to our investors.
When I looked at the market, there was no way I could survive this industry without the clout and market penetration without the resources of a big distributor.

I also viewed the role of a game designer as that of an author, who lets the publisher market the game for a lion's share of the revenue.