Field of Gold BJ side bet

I asked in this thread for the suggestions for the most popular blackjack side bets. One of the suggestions was "Field Gold 21," a wager I had not looked at before. I very quickly realized it had potential for a vulnerability to a card counting methodology. Because of the huge payouts for blackjacks, the hands AA, and because an A counts as the value 1, the edge for this game changes radically with the density of Aces in the shoe. Because of this, I decided to conduct an advantage play analysis.

After determining the EORs, I created a balanced count system that paired A/2 on one side against 9/T/Q/K on the other. I tested this on a six-deck shoe game, with the cut card placed at 52 cards. A simulation of 100M shoes gave about 10.03 hands per shoe (20.2% of the hands overall) with an edge and an average edge of about 6.37% when the wager is made. The counter can earn about 0.639 units per shoe playing heads-up against this wager. This is much stronger than the edge a counter can gain against Lucky Lucky of about 0.470 units per shoe.

I told Stephen How about this. As usual, he got right to work and quickly confirmed and extended my work. He posted his results today on his excellent website www.discountgambling.net. For the double deck game, he states that the wager is made on about 27% of the hands with an average edge of 8.2%. This gives a win rate of about 2.2 units per 100 hands, which is immense.

The main protection these side bets have is the low maximum wager allowed, typically $25. But, even with that prohibition, a player playing heads-up on a fast double deck game could easily earn over $100 per hour against this bet.

I intend that this information will be used to better protect the game -- knowing a vulnerability exists is always the first step to safeguarding a game. Players who play this bet late in the deck or shoe, and come in with a maximum bet, should give pause for casino management to consider the possibilities.

Thanks for the info.

Did you also intend for advantage players to be able to crush this side bet? 'Cause that would be the other upshot of exposing this information, in addition to game protection you mentioned.

If I recall, you are an "independent operator" not on a casino payroll so I assume you don't have a "side" you are on.

It's not like I will be going to wherever this side bet is offered and start betting the max. I'm not an AP in that sense, and my bankroll doesn't allow it anyway, but you can be sure there are others who will do just that.

(By the way, who is the mysterious Stephen How? I read his site regularly. He has more anonymity than the Wizard, certainly. He probably prefers to stay that way, so you don't have to answer that.)

Quote: teddys

Did you also intend for advantage players to be able to crush this side bet? 'Cause that would be the other upshot of exposing this information, in addition to game protection you mentioned.

I am quite sure APs have been beating this bet for years flying completely under the radar. That no longer will be the case. If the past is any indicator, there will be increased scrutiny placed on this wager and some placements will be removed. Ask yourself if you think APs will be happy I made this information public and you can clearly see the side this post favors.

I certainly work for the casino industry at this point in my career. I advise, write, speak and consult on matters such as marketing, hosts, game development, game fairness, table games operations and game protection. However, as an academic for almost 30 years, my first allegiance is always to the truth.

I did make this comment in the other post, but to be consistent...

I've NEVER seen this side bet offered on Double deck (or single deck). I have seen it on a shoe game with 6 decks, but usually the game is on a continuous shuffler. In fact, I rarely see people playing the bet, counting or not. 21+3 is the only "trusted" game in the Midwest, with occasional bets on Lucky Ladies.

I finally wrote the complete version of my work on this bet, which is properly named "Field Gold 21." I posted about it on my blog today.

As usual, outstanding work Eliot! I cover just the basics in my blackjack appendix 8.

Is Buffalo bonus big anywhere besides Colorado. Introduced here in November 2011. Last Wednesday Mardi Gras went from 1 to 4 tables. This is of 8 total BJ tables in a ring that includes BJ Switch.

BJ Switch has gone from 3 tables total in Blackhawk to just one.

Harley Davidson party pit in Fitzerald's has 8 tables, 6 of which have a Harley emblem to place bets upon, but offer the Buffalo side bets of 21 MAGIC and BUST BONUS. Was only in town Wednesday night and Thursday AM , but both side bets were getting action at
$3, $5 and $ 15 BJ tables.

On a side note on my last visit Streak was down to 2 tables at Ameristar, who has 38% of the action in Blackhawk. Wednesday night
of 16 tables open, 6 were poker varieties, 10 were BJ. 6 of the 10 were Streak Blackjack. That's what the lighted signs at table level said.
Cool signs in lighted backgrounds ranging from gold to purple. If you were not familiar, the signs would make you think STREAK was a version of BJ and not a side bet. The next largest casino in Blackhawk is the Lodge. 6 BJ tables open and 2 were Streak.
One at each entrance to the table area.

That's 8 for Stacey Perry and only 1 for an un-named BENEVOLENT DICTATOR. Talk alout David and Goliath LOL


Seriously, anybody seen 21 MAGIC and BUST BONUS elsewhere ??

Quote: Wizard

As usual, outstanding work Eliot! I cover just the basics in my blackjack appendix 8.

Thanks Mike! I used your work to double check my house edge computations at the outset.

Anybody seen the BUFFALO's ?

I always thought Field Of Gold was only offered at Spirit Mountain in Oregon...?

Quote: TIMSPEED

I always thought Field Of Gold was only offered at Spirit Mountain in Oregon...?

It goes by a lot of different names, as I stated earlier... Harrah's St Louis called it iBar side bet. Horseshoe CB calls it Field Bet (with the emphasis on craps) with a 1-25 side bet. Neither place got much action on it, but I've seen it at other casinos too, usually just on a couple random tables. Even at Horseshoe only has three tables of it, while they also have some weird Aces side bet.

Still no Buffalo Bonus sightings ?? Really.

" The Buffalo Blackjack Bonus game has been designed with the state’s special blackjack regulations in mind. As a result the game does not incorporate the Lucky Ladies side bet, but uses the Bust Bonus and 21 Magic side bets instead. The casinos will also be relaxing their table game regulations."


Any idea which regulation Lucky Ladies was in violation of ??

Quote: buzzpaff

Any idea which regulation Lucky Ladies was in violation of ??

If I had to take a guess, it would be one of two: either they didn't purchase the rights for the game from Shufflemaster and were using it as their own, or Colorado has a law that says no game can have a house edge higher than 85% (like slot machines). Lucky Ladies is upwards of 20% though it is countable.

Buzz,

Can you summarize the Buffalo Bonus side bet on the thread I created for it?

I am interested in how it combines the Dealer Bust and Magic 21 side bets (or maybe I misunderstood the Buffalo concept) but can't find details on how the combined bet works.