When a player surrenders his hand, he gives up half of the initial bet and forfeits the right to play out the hand. When Atlantic City casinos initially opened in the late 1970s, they allowed players to surrender their hands before the dealer checked his hole card (and potential blackjack hand). This surrender is known as early surrender (see best bet # 8 for the late surrender rule). This is a very favorable rule for players (0.6% reduction in the casino's edge). Unfortunately, early surrender is no longer offered in Atlantic City and is rarely offered by casinos in other gambling jurisdictions in the USA (it still is offered in some European and Asian casinos). Most casinos nowadays that allow surrender, offer late surrender (see best rule # 8). Best Rule # 3 - Single-Deck Games Over the years casinos, have migrated to dealing blackjack with six or eight decks of cards. There are several reasons for this, but one of the major reasons is that the casino's edge is increased by about 0.5% compared to a single-deck game (again assuming the playing rules are the same). Fortunately there is a resurgence of single-deck games in Las Vegas casinos and elsewhere. Given a choice, a single-deck game with standard rules is a better bet than a six- or eight-deck game with similar rules. Best Rule # 4 - Doubling on Three or More Cards Historically, casinos allow players the option of doubling down only on their initial two card hand. If you asked for additional cards, the double down option was no longer allowed for that hand. Nowadays, some casinos allow players the option to double down not only on the initial two card hand, but also on three or more cards. This option reduces the casino's edge by about 0.2%. Best Rule # 5 - Double Down Allowed After Pair Splitting (DAS) I am always amazed at the number of players who do not take advantage of DAS when it's offered. If it is, by all means take advantage of this player-favorable rule and double down after you split a pair according to the basic playing strategy. This is a fairly common rule in most casinos and it will lower the casino's edge by about 0.14% when used correctly. Best Rule # 6 - Draw To Split Aces Normally when you split aces, you are given one and only one draw card to each ace. You can't draw additional cards. Some casinos, however, will allow players to draw additional cards to each split ace (like you do when you split any other pairs). This player-favorable rule decreases the casino's edge by 0.14%. It's been a long week on the job for Joe and he's looking forward to a weekend of rest, relaxation, and lots of blackjack. He feels lucky and confident that he's going to win because Lady Luck was not kind to him on his last three casino visits. "The odds have to even out," he figures, so on this trip "I'm due to win." |
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