Double Down Madness

I believe this game is on field trial at NYNY and getting placed in Iowa as well.

Quick Summary:
Regular Blackjack rules but player can double down after every card. Play starts with a single card being dealt to players, usual two for dealers. Doubling down does not end play, players can continue to hit or double after. If the first card is an Ace you only get one additional card whether you double or hit. Blackjacks pay 3:2 or 2:1 if suited. For example, if player has an Ace and chooses to double and gets a ten, it is treated as a blackjack, the dealer would stack the double onto the regular bet and pay it 3:2 or 2:1 based on suited or not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ4KFVQvAt8

To be clear about the rules for Double Down Madness:

A dealer 22 will push rather than pay out.

Player is initially dealt only a single card and can see dealer's face up card. Player may double or hit; after drawing to a double you may keep hitting or doubling. However, a player ace on the first card can receive only one additional card, no matter whether the player has doubled or Hit.

Player continues to receive cards and can continue to double or hit on any remaining card. Here, "Double" means to increase your wager by the size of your initial bet. So, if you double on the first card and then double on the second card as well, your total wager is 3 units.

Edit: I am uncertain about splitting pairs. I imagine that if you have doubled on the first card that you may not be able to split after seeing the second card.

Quote: gordonm888

To be clear about the rules for Double Down Madness:

A dealer 22 will push rather than pay out.

Player is initially dealt only a single card and can see dealer's face up card. Player may double or hit; after drawing to a double you may keep hitting or doubling. However, a player ace on the first card can receive only one additional card, no matter whether the player has doubled or Hit.

Player continues to receive cards and can continue to double or hit on any remaining card. Here, "Double" means to increase your wager by the size of your initial bet. So, if you double on the first card and then double on the second card as well, your total wager is 3 units.

Edit: I am uncertain about splitting pairs. I imagine that if you have doubled on the first card that you may not be able to split after seeing the second card.
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Thanks for adding that push 22 bit, forgot to mention the take back. I was curious how splits were handled as well, and if there were a limit on the doubling and how that could play in with a max-aggregate.

can you split aces?
Does the dealer check for BJ? If not do you lose all bets?
Does the dealer win right away with BJ or do you get your 2th card?

Quote: JoeTheDragon

can you split aces?
Does the dealer check for BJ? If not do you lose all bets?
Does the dealer win right away with BJ or do you get your 2th card?
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We don't know these rules until they are explicitly stated. My answers below are based on extrapolating from what they have said and thinking about "game structure."

Split aces: No, I don't think so. They make a point of declaring that you draw one card to an ace and no more. But I agree its unclear.

Dealer BJ: Good question. Dealer is dealt 2 cards at the same time that players are each dealt one card. That would give Dealer the ability to check for BJ at that point, before players are given the option to double - I suspect that might be what they do.

I was absolutely incorrect in what I posted earlier regarding multiple double downs on the same hand. IF you bet $25 as your initial bet and get a 7 versus a dealer 6 you would double down to have a total of $50 wagered; if you then draw a 2 and double down again on your 9 (7+2) you will have $100 wagered. If you then draw another 2 to make 11 you can double down again to have $200 in play!

Also a suited player BJ pays 2:1! Unsuited BJ pays 3:2.

I just wrote up a page on Double Down Madness at WoO. It contains all the rules and my analysis. I plan to make the link live tomorrow.

For now, please be the first to read it. I welcome all comments, questions and corrections.

Thank you.

Wiz,

You wrote: "The game made it's debut...": that should be "its".

Also, perhaps you should clarify the amount bet on double downs: the wager for a DD is the sum of all the previous wagers on the current hand. For example, on a $10 wager the first DD wager is $10, the second DD wager is $10 + $10 = $20, the third DD wager is $10 + $10 + $20 = $40, etc.

Dog Hand

Quote: Wizard

I just wrote up a page on Double Down Madness at WoO. It contains all the rules and my analysis. I plan to make the link live tomorrow.

For now, please be the first to read it. I welcome all comments, questions and corrections.

Thank you.
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These statements didn't align with the strategy chart:

If the player has a 10-point card as his first card, he should always double.
If the player has an ace as his first card, he should always double against a 2 to 10. In addition, the player should double with 10 vs. ace in versions 2 and 3 only.

Thanks for posting this strategy, I was really curious when a player would double with low starting cards.

The OP said that you may draw only one card when your first card is an ace, regardless of whether you have doubled or hit.

Your charts show a strategy for soft 12. It is impossible to draw to a soft 12 in this game, isn't it?

Also, I notice the lack of a pairs splitting table in the strategy section. Is splitting pairs not allowed in this game?

Quote: zbrownson

These statements didn't align with the strategy chart:

If the player has a 10-point card as his first card, he should always double.
If the player has an ace as his first card, he should always double against a 2 to 10. In addition, the player should double with 10 vs. ace in versions 2 and 3 only.

Thanks for posting this strategy, I was really curious when a player would double with low starting cards.
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Thank you. I meant to say the player should double ace vs ace in versions 2 and 3 only.

Quote: gordonm888

Also, I notice the lack of a pairs splitting table in the strategy section. Is splitting pairs not allowed in this game?
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That is correct, no splitting.

I just learned about this game and of course immediately ran to the Wizard's page detailing the game.

But I did notice something that surprised me, versions 2 and 3 have the exact same house edge/element of risk listed on the page?!?!

Why would a game designer offer that? So I wanted to double check that wasn't just a copy and paste typo.

Double Down Madness; Analysis of 6 decks, hit soft 17, Payout table is version 1; push 22 rule

Player's first card is Ace, Dealer has a Ten; checks for BJ and doesn't have it.

Player doubles: on A vs T; Return on this decision is 0.035662025; return on Hit on "A vs T" is 1/2 that.
**************************************************************************************************
When player's first two cards are a hard 11 (9-2, 8-3, 7-4 , or 6-5) vs a Dealer Ten.

After Dealer peeks and confirms no BJ, the player doubles after being dealt two cards that sum to hard 11. The returns I calculate are shown below:

Hand	HIT	DOUBLE
92 vs T	-0.000285331	-0.000570661
83 vs T	-0.00034422	-0.000688441
74 vs T	-0.000357149	-0.000714298
65 vs T	-0.000344368	-0.000688736

If I haven't made a mistake, then doubling a two-card 11 vs T in Double Down Madness appears to be non-optimal. Still error checking to see if I've made a mistake.

Note: the calculated values of return assume with 100% probability that the dealer's upcard is a Ten but takes into account the probability of the player's hands being 92, 83, 74 or 65, as appropriate.

Quote: tringlomane

I just learned about this game and of course immediately ran to the Wizard's page detailing the game.

But I did notice something that surprised me, versions 2 and 3 have the exact same house edge/element of risk listed on the page?!?!

Why would a game designer offer that? So I wanted to double check that wasn't just a copy and paste typo.
link to original post

In both cases, the average BJ pays 3-2, so the house edge should be the same. They might try it both ways on different tables, to see which one does better.

When I saw that players start with one card, all I could think of was Bugs Bunny playing blackjack against Black Jack Shellac.

Bugs: "Hold it!" *looks at card* "Can I stand on one card?"
Jack: "One... card?... Oh, sure! Sure!"