Free Bet Blackjack - Updates

Quote: THESWEENEY

.....and the game has been complemented with the addition of an elegant and simple new side bet.

Do Tell...

It's basically a side wager to allow you to bet on the dealer ending up with a total of 22.

There are 3 payouts depending if the 22 is:-

Regular 8/1 (US) 10/1(UK)
Same color 20/1 (US) 17/1(UK)
Same suit 50/1 (US) 35/1 (UK)

The difference in payouts is due to the UK rules being 'Stand Soft 17' and the US rules being 'Hit Soft 17' as this slightly increases the chance of a dealer 22.

I never knew that was a US/UK thing. I always though it was more of a difference between low limit and high limit tables...

What are current US rules on splitting 4's and/or 5's, might I ask ?

At the risk of sounding like a pedant, is there any particular reason why you chose to have 'the dealer' showing a seven on the rack card? Personally I'd have opted for a six as I think, at a glance, it excites and appeals to the layman more than the former.

On a side note, I think you should run a caption competition for the picture at the top of the Wizard's WOO Free Bet Blackjack page, awarding a gold coin to the winner.

http://wizardofodds.com/games/free-bet-blackjack/

I have several good suggestions. Alas, none of them are printable!

Quote: Buzzard

What are current US rules on splitting 4's and/or 5's, might I ask ?

Pretty sure you can split them if you want, but the FREE BET is not provided - you have to front your own money.

Yeah, I will be splitting them 5's with my own money . LOL

Quote: Buzzard

What are current US rules on splitting 4's and/or 5's, might I ask ?

The Vegas rules will be that you can Free Split on 4's and 5's but you should Free Double 5, 5 instead.

Quote: THESWEENEY

At the risk of sounding like a pedant, is there any particular reason why you chose to have 'the dealer' showing a seven on the rack card? Personally I'd have opted for a six as I think, at a glance, it excites and appeals to the layman more than the former.

On a side note, I think you should run a caption competition for the picture at the top of the Wizard's WOO Free Bet Blackjack page, awarding a gold coin to the winner.

http://wizardofodds.com/games/free-bet-blackjack/

I have several good suggestions. Alas, none of them are printable!

I like that idea, may follow up on that. The picture is very good but I can imagine some x-rated captions being sent in.

I'm re-designing the rack cards and I agree with your suggestion and my well change the dealer up-card if I continue to use that particular example.

Quote: Switch

It's basically a side wager to allow you to bet on the dealer ending up with a total of 22.

There are 3 payouts depending if the 22 is:-

Regular 8/1 (US) 10/1(UK)
Same color 20/1 (US) 17/1(UK)
Same suit 50/1 (US) 35/1 (UK)

The difference in payouts is due to the UK rules being 'Stand Soft 17' and the US rules being 'Hit Soft 17' as this slightly increases the chance of a dealer 22.

I approximated a hefty house edge on this side bet for the US version. What do you get?

My concern is that this bet is countable if the edge is too low. A significant edge is necessary to make it safe from APs. On the other hand, too high of an edge will make it unfriendly to players.

Clearly, the bet moves towards the player as Aces are removed from the deck. It moves away from the player as 2's are removed from the deck. The 6 is the next most important card. I computed the full EOR's but won't fully analyze it until it goes live.

I'd be careful on this one, Geoff.