Bovada blackjack edge
September 16th, 2012 at 11:19:01 PM
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I was wondering about the edge in the "normal" Bovada blackjack game. The base rules are:
-No word on decks, but I'm assuming somewhere between 8 and ∞.
-H17
-Double after split allowed
-Double any
-Aces take one card
-Late surrender
Which according to the calculator gives a BS edge of .58%, BUT - at least in the play money area - they have one very interesting rule: even money is automatic. I don't know if this applies in real money games - I can say it doesn't in the poker room blackjack - and even if it does, it's probably not that bad, but it is kind of a nasty-seeming rule.
My naïve infinite-deck calculation would be 8/169 chance of a player blackjack, 1/13 chance of a dealer ace, -1/13 edge = 1/26 unit expected loss on insurance, for a total expected further loss of .00014 units per hand. So it would raise the edge to about .59%. Is it worse than this?
(Although it may be worth fretting about that extra .00014 now that their welcome bonus has an 80x rollover, making it barely +EV even at that edge, and yes, single- and double-deck are excluded now, even though there's no way to opposite-bet them.)
-No word on decks, but I'm assuming somewhere between 8 and ∞.
-H17
-Double after split allowed
-Double any
-Aces take one card
-Late surrender
Which according to the calculator gives a BS edge of .58%, BUT - at least in the play money area - they have one very interesting rule: even money is automatic. I don't know if this applies in real money games - I can say it doesn't in the poker room blackjack - and even if it does, it's probably not that bad, but it is kind of a nasty-seeming rule.
My naïve infinite-deck calculation would be 8/169 chance of a player blackjack, 1/13 chance of a dealer ace, -1/13 edge = 1/26 unit expected loss on insurance, for a total expected further loss of .00014 units per hand. So it would raise the edge to about .59%. Is it worse than this?
(Although it may be worth fretting about that extra .00014 now that their welcome bonus has an 80x rollover, making it barely +EV even at that edge, and yes, single- and double-deck are excluded now, even though there's no way to opposite-bet them.)
The trick to poker is learning not to beat yourself up for your mistakes too much, and certainly not too little, but just the right amount.
