Wiki Blackjack Rules

Blackjack Switch is a casino gambling game invented by Geoff Hall and patented in 2009.^[1] It is based on blackjack, but differs in that two hands, rather than one, are dealt to each playing position, and the player is initially allowed to exchange ('switch') the top two cards between hands. Natural blackjacks are paid 1:1 instead of the standard 3:2, and a dealer hard 22 pushes all player hands except a natural.

History[edit]

Blackjack Switch was conceived after Hall - who was a card counter at the time - became frustrated at being dealt 2 weak hands when playing Blackjack that could be improved dramatically if the top two cards were allowed to be switched. Hall then developed this idea and exhibited the game at the G2E conference in Las Vegas in October 2000. Blackjack Switch was installed in Harvey’s Casino in Iowa in February 2001. After this Hall modified the game to include the ‘Push on 22’ rule in 2003. This modification led to the game being installed in Four Queens in December 2003.^[2] The game has since become widely available in offline casinos in Las Vegas and around the world and is offered online only by Playtech casinos. Further games developed by Hall that are found in Las Vegas casinos include Free Bet Blackjack,Zombie Blackjack, and Zappit.^[3]

Play[edit]

Wiki Blackjack Rules Card Game

Blackjack Switch is played with four, six or eight 52-card decks which are shuffled together. The shuffled cards are dealt from a dealing shoe or a shuffling machine.

A semicircular card table with a similar layout to blackjack is used. Each playing position has two betting boxes, rather than one, and the initial wagers in these two boxes must be identical. However, each corresponds to a separate hand; during play they may be doubled and split independently, and are resolved separately.

Play blackjack with a strategy instead of relying on hunches, luck, or guesswork. Blackjack offers a lower house edge than any other game, so if you put some thought into it ahead of time, it's usually your best chance for making money at the casino. Template:About Blackjack, also known as Twenty-one, Vingt-et-un (French for Twenty-one), or Pontoon, is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. The standard game is played with one or more Anglo-American decks containing 52 cards. The basic rules of the game involve adding the value of an initial two card hand in hopes of being dealt a value of twenty-one. If a value of less. Blackjack Rules. To beat the dealer by having a higher card total without going over 21. 2 to 10 = Face Value.

In the initial deal, the dealer puts one card face up on each box of each playing position starting from his left, deals a face-up card to himself, and then a further card to each box left to right. After resolving any side bet, the dealer then consults each player in turn, initially asking them whether they wish to 'switch' their top cards. For example, if the player is dealt 10-5 and 6-10, then the player may switch to transform the two hands into 10-10 and 6-5. After a player has made a decision whether or not to switch, the dealer offers him the chance to hit, stand or double, firstly for the hand on the player's right-hand box, then for the one on the left. As in blackjack, a player hand which exceeds 21 is 'bust'; its cards are removed and its backing wager acquired by the house.

When all players have been consulted, the dealer plays out his hand according to blackjack-style drawing rules, with the difference that a dealer hand of 22 is not a bust but a push (a tie) against any surviving player hand; the only exception is a player blackjack which has not been obtained by switching or splitting.

The small variations in dealer drawing rules between casinos which are found in blackjack are also found in Blackjack Switch, such as whether the dealer must stand or hit on soft 17 (a hand totalling 17 but containing an ace counted as 11. A-6 or A-3-3, for example), whether even money/insurance is offered, whether a player may double after a split, and whether a player may hit split aces.

Strategy[edit]

The strategy of Blackjack Switch covers both the switch decision and the subsequent decisions of whether to stand, double, or draw a further card which are familiar from blackjack strategy.

The switch decision[edit]

The correct decision regarding whether to switch is sometimes obvious, particularly when there is the largest difference in advantage. However, borderline and counter-intuitive cases are relatively common, and switching strategy is hard to summarize. While an often-quoted rule of thumb is to choose the option that forms or preserves the best single hand, this is unreliable; sometimes it is even correct to break up a natural by switching, for instance in the case AT + T[3-8] vs. dealer 7, 8 or 9. The correct switching choice depends on the dealer card in a significant minority of cases. Near-optimal schemes which can be learnt have been developed by several authors: Arnold Snyder presents a protocol for switching decisions based on four categories of hand, 'winner', 'push', 'loser' and 'chance'^[4] which he claims reduces the house edge to 0.25% under his ruleset. Cindy Liu presents a scheme based on assigning a point value to the dealt hands and those produced by switching.^[5]

Basic strategy after the switch decision[edit]

Basic strategy for playing out blackjack switch hands, after the switching decision has been made, is tabulated below, for a game in which the dealer hits soft 17 and peeks for blackjack. Compared to traditional blackjack, in Blackjack Switch there are fewer occasions where doubling or splitting is rewarding, and more occasions where it is correct to hit at the risk of going bust. The differences originate from the push-on-dealer-22 rule.

Key:

S = Stand

H = Hit

D = Double

SP = Split

Side bet[edit]

Blackjack Switch tables typically allow a side bet, called Super Match, which rewards pairs, three-of-a-kind, two-pairs or four-of-a-kind among the four initial cards comprising the players two hands. For a 6-deck game, the Super Match bet pays out 1 to 1 if there a pair is present, 5 to 1 for three of a kind, 8 to 1 for two pairs and 40 to 1 for four of a kind.^[6] This seems to mitigate the adverse effect on the player of the case where the two top or bottom cards are identical, which robs the player of a meaningful switching decision, although, like most side bets, playing it increases the house edge.

References[edit]

1. ^Norm Wattenberger. 'Modern Blackjack'. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
2. ^ThePOGG (27 November 2012). 'ThePOGG Interviews – Geoff Hall – The creator of Blackjack Switch'.
3. ^Michael Shackleford. 'Blackjack Info Interview with Geoff Hall'. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
4. ^Snyder, Arnold (2006). The Big Book of Blackjack. New York: Cardoza Publishing. pp. 229–45. ISBN1-58042-155-5.
5. ^Shackleford, Michael (May 2011). 'Switching decision'. Retrieved May 8, 2011.
6. ^'Blackjack Switch'. blackjackswitch.com. Archived from the original on February 25, 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-28.

External links[edit]

Chinese Blackjack is also known as 21-point, or ban-luck (Hokkien) or ban-nag (Cantonese) and xì dách (Vietnamese). The game is played in South East Asia which bears similarity to conventional Blackjack. In Malaysia, this variant is known as Kampung (Village) Blackjack, to differentiate from the standard Casino Blackjack, and it grew from the game played in the old days in villages.

Traditionally, most non-hardcore gamblers will play some form of gambling during the Chinese New Year as it is believed the new year brings in fresh new luck, and Chinese Blackjack is one of the most popular games to be played during the new year.

The game uses one or two 52-card deck(s) and is playable by any number of players. One of them is to be a dealer, or they may take turn to be the dealer, e.g. each person deals 3 rounds or 3 winning rounds. In this article, players beside the dealer shall be denoted 'player(s)'.

The game probably evolved from the fact that amongst friends, it is difficult to host a casino rules blackjack that needs a dealer which plays very differently from the players. In casino rules, the cards are opened, and the dealer must play at least until 17 points but must stand once reached, while the players have no limits. This is complicated for a home friendly game, and it appears that the odds are stacked against the dealer. So most friends don't volunteer to be the dealer.

A unique feature is that the dealer is allowed to selectively reveal some players' hands, settle bets with them and then hit again and reveal other players' hands. Another unique feature is a special status given to owning 5 cards unbusted.

Although Chinese Blackjack has some standard rules, unusual house rules are common.

Kampung Blackjack[edit]

In Malaysian kampung blackjack, which is likely to be a derivative of the original Chinese Blackjack, ('Kampung' means village in Malay) the following rules apply:

• All hands including the dealer must reach at least 15 points (reached 'license' or 'passport'), or a penalty applies (usually the offender has to pay all players).
• The maximum number of cards to be drawn is 5 only.
• A burn rule may apply to make things more exciting. Players receiving the initial 2 cards of 15 points may get a new lease of luck by drawing a fresh set of cards by doubling up their original bet. It gets interesting when the dealer does the burn, as all players must then double up as well. Players may choose not to 'burn' with the dealer by forfeiting the bet.
• A Blackjack is one that has 21 points achieved by a ten/picture card + an ace, and usually is paid as 1:2.
• In addition, other special winning conditions apply:
  • Any combination to 21 points (usually paid out as 1:2), drawn to a maximum of 5 cards.
  • Surviving unbusted at 5 cards (usually 1:2 depending on house rules).
  • Unbusted at 5 cards AND 21 (usually 1:3 depending on house rules).
  • Triple 7 21 (usually a big payout from 1:5 to 1:21, depending on house rules).
• Unlike Chinese Blackjack described below, pairs has no winning privileges.
• Players to reveal busted cards (depending on house rules)
• The dealer's turn is always last. He may choose selectively open the hands of the players, and make an immediate payout/collect according to the points he has at hand. After that, he may continue to hit himself to chance if he can get higher points, or bust. This feature gives a perception of 'another lifeline' as the dealer with a bad card like 16 or 17 points can eliminate players with 3 or 4 cards on the likelihood that they have busted, before attempting another attempt to beat players with 2 cards which are likely to be good cards (18 to 21).

Apart from the above, the game is similar to the Chinese Blackjack described below.

Dealing[edit]

Wiki Blackjack Rules Poker

Players place their bets. The dealer shuffles the cards thoroughly and to prevent dealer cheating, one player may 'cut the hand' by which a player take a number of cards off from the shuffled deck before dealing begins. The dealer may deal the cards clock or anti-clockwise, and may choose to deal himself first or last. All cards face down. He deals two cards per person and put back the extra cards to the 'cut hand'.

Point counting rules[edit]

• K, Q, J = 10
• 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 = respective face value
• If your total number of cards is 2, then Ace = 11 or 10
• If your total number of cards is 3, then Ace = 10 or 1
• If your total number of cards is 4 or 5, then Ace = 1

Checking for Blackjack[edit]

Each player including the dealer checks his hand for the following special combinations

• Ace + Ace = ban-ban
• Ace + (10/J/Q/K) = ban-luck
• 15 points = free hand
• 7-7-7

Ban-Ban[edit]

If a player receives a ban-ban, he is deemed to have won his bet tripled from the dealer immediately, unless the dealer receives a ban-ban (a tie) or a free hand (an escape).

If the dealer receives a ban-ban, he is deemed to have won all player bets tripled immediately, unless the player receives a ban-ban (a tie) or a free hand (an escape).

Ban-Luck[edit]

If a player receives a ban-luck, he wins his bet doubled from the dealer immediately, unless the dealer has a ban-ban (player loses), or a ban-luck (a tie), or a free hand (an escape).

If the dealer receives a ban-luck, he wins all player bets doubled immediately, unless the player has a ban-ban (dealer loses), or a ban-luck too (a tie), or a free hand (an escape).

A player may instantly reveal their hand as soon as it is dealt to receive their remuneration from the Dealer.^[1][2]

15 Points (No Man's Land)[edit]

If the dealer has a free hand, he may decide to continue or not to continue with the game. If he chooses not to, then the cards shall be collected back, reshuffled and dealt again.

7-7-7 (House Rule)[edit]

If player hits on a pair of 7 and obtains 7 as the third card, player wins his bet 21 fold. If the dealer has a hand of 21 then the deal is canceled off.

The players' turns[edit]

After checking for Blackjack, each player takes turn to make the following decisions, depending on the conditions. The player may add more than one card.

• total < 16, hit (add one card).
• total >= 16 and < 21, hit or stand.
• total = 21, stand.
• total > 21, busts.

If the player has 5 cards on his hands, he must reveal his cards

• number of cards = 5 (5-Dragon), collect win from dealer immediately, double the bet.
• number of cards = 5 and total = 21, collect win from dealer immediately, triple the bet. (House Rule)
• number of cards = 5 and total > 21, lose double the bet to dealer immediately.

The dealer's turn[edit]

After all players are done, the dealer has to make the following decisions, depending on the conditions. The dealer may hit more than one card.

• total < 16, hit (add one card).
• total >= 16 and < 21, hit or reveal some players' hands then hit.
• total = 21, reveal all players' cards.
• total > 21, dealer busts.
• number of cards = 5 (5-Dragon), collect win from players immediately, double all bets.
• number of cards = 5 and total = 21, collect win from players immediately, triple all bets. (House Rule)
• number of cards = 5 and total > 21, lose to players whose hands have not been revealed yet (regardless of whether the player busts or not), double all bets.

If the dealer chooses to reveal a player's hand (only if he has at least 16 points at any time),

If the dealer has not busted

• player busts or total of dealer > total of player, dealer wins the bet (double if dealer has 21 points (House Rule) )
• total of dealer = total of player, tie.
• total of dealer < total of player, player wins, (double if player has 21 points (House Rule) )

If the dealer busts (with less than 5 cards on his hand), the dealer pays all players their bets (double if player has 21 points (House Rule) ) unless the player also busts.

After the dealer has settled with all players, the cards are collected back and a new round begins.

References[edit]

1. ^'Blackjack Card Game'. FreeBlackjackDoc. Retrieved 5 April 2019.
2. ^'How to play Ban-luck (Chinese Blackjack))'. TimeOut. Retrieved 1 February 2019.

External links[edit]