New Side Bet

Im a blackjack dealer at a casino that recently added a new side bet to some of their blackjack tables. It's called "House Money." It's very simple. The bet is based on the initial two cards the player is dealt. The payouts are as follows:

Straight: pays 1:1
Pair: pays 3:1
Straight flush: pays 4:1
Ace/King suited: pays 9:1

The unique thing about this side bet is that if you win on it, you are allowed to add the winnings to your bet on the blackjack hand. You may add the entire amount, or any portion of it that you wish.

For example, if you are betting $15 on your hand and $5 on the side bet, and you are dealt a king/queen suited, you have a straight flush and get paid 9:1 ($45) and you can add the $45 or any portion of it to your hand, which is a 20. Or if you had an ace/king suited with the same bet amounts as the previous example, you're allowed to put the $50 ($45 side bet win + $5 side bet) on your blackjack and you would get paid 3:2 on that as well. Meaning your initial $15 bet on the hand would then turn into a $65 blackjack, paying you $97.50 overall.

To me, it seems like this must swing the edge in the favor of the player, because if you have an advantageous hand, you can add a significant amount of money to your bet, and if you don't have a good hand you can opt to put none of it on your bet. Very often players get a straight or a pair with 20 so this seems to me like an amazing bet for the player. I was wondering if you could crunch the numbers and figure out what this does for the player. Is this as good as it seems?

Also, the dealer checks for blackjack before the side bet is added to the hand. Meaning that if you win the side bet and the dealer has a BJ, you are paid the winnings as you would on any other side bet. It's a 6 deck blackjack game and the dealer hits on soft 17. The side bet min/max is $1-$100 and the player can parlay any amount of the winnings up to 10% over the table maximum.

Anybody heard of this side bet before? Thoughts?

This bet has been around for a while. If you google "house money blackjack" you'll find some info, including links to Stephen How's website. He did the initial math report.

Thanks. I hadn't heard of this side bet prior to my casino adding it. As a dealer who has been dealing the game since we got it about 6 months ago, I just don't see how this isn't hugely profitable for a player who uses perfect basic strategy and only parlays the winnings on advantageous hands... but if the numbers say so then there's no arguing with it.

Quote: Ryan24

I just don't see how this isn't hugely profitable for a player who uses perfect basic strategy and only parlays the winnings on advantageous hands... but if the numbers say so then there's no arguing with it.

Well, the numbers say it only has a 2.6% house advantage with proper play, pretty low for a side bet IMHO.

Quote: Ryan24

Thanks. I hadn't heard of this side bet prior to my casino adding it. As a dealer who has been dealing the game since we got it about 6 months ago, I just don't see how this isn't hugely profitable for a player who uses perfect basic strategy and only parlays the winnings on advantageous hands... but if the numbers say so then there's no arguing with it.

I don't think there are that many bet-winning hands where the expected value is positive. For example, the AK Suited hands are all blackjacks, so you can't press those, and what is the expected value on a 6-7 or 7-8?

Quote: ThatDonGuy

... For example, the AK Suited hands are all blackjacks, so you can't press those.

You CAN add the House Money winnings to your BJ bet and get paid.

At least that was the rule when I first saw the bet in a demo by its creator, Roger Snow.

Here is my review from 2012:
https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/gaming-business/game-inventors/10116-house-money-friggin-fantastic/

Yes. Even when you are dealt an ace-king suited, you may (and will) add the entire win to your bet. See my example in original post

Quote: Ryan24

Yes. Even when you are dealt an ace-king suited, you may (and will) add the entire win to your bet. See my example in original post

To pile on in agreement, I know of several places that have had this bet for many years. It is not player advantageous =).

Quote: Romes

To pile on in agreement, I know of several places that have had this bet for many years. It is not player advantageous =).

We had a dealer once allow you to stack on ALL blackjacks. Not just A, K

Is that not allowed as any unsuited AK is still a straight and a "stackable" win on House Money? I believe a straight pays 1-1, but a $5 wager becomes $10 which then wins 3:2 (hopefully) on the BJ for a nice 4-1 pay based on the original $5 HM wager. Still not Player Advantage as this is built into the 2-3% HE of the side bet.

Quote: Paradigm

Is that not allowed as any unsuited AK is still a straight and a "stackable" win on House Money? I believe a straight pays 1-1, but a $5 wager becomes $10 which then wins 3:2 (hopefully) on the BJ for a nice 4-1 pay based on the original $5 HM wager. Still not Player Advantage as this is built into the 2-3% HE of the side bet.

You are indeed allowed to press an unsuited A/K onto the bet. What he was saying above is that his dealer made a mistake and treated non-straight blackjacks (such as ace/jack) as straights I assume, and then allowed them to be pressed also for the 3:2 payout

This dealer was paying the full 9:1 on ANY blackjack instead of just A,K suited. Sorry I didn't clarify that.