Within a casino there can be many tables each with different rules.
The average player haphazardly picks one while the adjacent table offers a much better game. Remember you have to
first hurdle the house edge before you can make any money. ( Note: Online casino generally offer the best games.)
In order to calculate the house edge on a game we need to have a starting point. It is generally the following:
Single deck; double down on any first two cards; one card on split aces; dealer stands on soft 17; no surrender. The approximate edge on this game is -0.02%. We start there and add or subtract the following changes.
Baseline |
-0.02% |
Two decks |
-0.32% |
Four decks |
-0.48% |
Six decks |
-0.53% |
Eight decks |
-0.55% |
Blackjack pays 1 to 1 |
-2.32% |
Blackjack pays 2 to 1 |
+2.32% |
Blackjack pays 6 to 5 |
-1.39% |
Dealer hits soft 17 |
-0.20% |
Resplitting aces |
+0.06% |
No resplitting of any pairs |
-0.03% |
No soft doubling |
-0.11% |
Double down on 10 or 11 only |
-0.21% |
Double down on 11 only |
-0.69% |
Double down on any number of cards |
+0.24% |
Double down after splitting a pair (DAS) |
+0.13% |
Late surrender |
+0.06% |
