Blackjack Bonus at Canterbury park (MSP)

[Wino67]

Canterbury downes card casino (the poker room with a small regular card casino in the back) is playing blackjack with an interesting promo that on the surface might make it a beatable game but I am having trouble with the math. Hopefully someone here will help me, and since I cant go back any time soon I don't care if everyone descends on the place.

standard hard 17 game 6 deck shoe with good penetration. table limit is 5 to 150 dollars. But here are the twists.

Suited blackjack pays 2-1
777 (21 with 3 7s) pay 2-1
678 pays 2-1
any 6 cards less 21 or less is an automatic win

also 3 black jacks in a row pays 500 dollars
each additional black jack pays 1000 dollars and 25 to every seated player

This prop costs you an additional 50 cents bet infront of your bet for up to each 25 dollars bet. So OBVIOUSLY to reduce the cost of the prop you have to play in 25 dollar increments (about a 2 percent hit at that point) Black jack effectively pays about 1.62 to 1 as a result but I am having trouble figuring out the returns on the others pay outs to figure if the bonus is a net gain or drag on the game if played at 25 dollar increments. The 6 card charlies seam to help when the count is bad as well. On the otherhand, you are capped at a 6 to 1 spread on the count.

Thanks
Wino67

[Thythe]

I used to live near Canterbury so I've played this game also. I don't think anything they offer can overcome the atrocious 50 cent ante that is instantly lost for every hand. The best promo of all those is the suited blackjack pays 2:1. The others don't seem like they'll be adding much back to the player's edge.

[Wino67]

Yeah, if you play it at the table minimum (5 dollars) its terrible. HOWEVER, if you play it at 25 dollars a hand, the 50 cents is the same, but the pay off is 5 times as much....

So its a 2 percent drag on expenses, I just can't figure out the total payoff. You do see 6 card charlies when the decks blows. and while I was playing it paid a 678 to me once.

So I dunno... I have a suspicion that its not so bad (played in increments of 25 dollars). Just can't do that math to prove it

BTW. Catubury downes is my favorite poker room in America. Everyone is SO nice there and you know what they said in rounders about nice guys....

Wino67

[Thythe]

Yeah I love the poker room there, been there dozens of times. Maybe someone will figure out the math on the blackjack game, I was just giving my gut instinct and don't have much of an idea how the extra rules affect it.

[Shoe]

If I get motivated, I could write a simulation to figure it all out, is what you posted the exact rules? Also, is this the Canterbury in minnesota?

[Thythe]

Yeah what he posted is the exact rules. It's probably clear, but it's 50 cents per $25 wagered. So if you wager $100, it's $2 ante to my understanding.

[tek]

Yes, and it's actually been known as Canterbury Park (not Downs) for the past 10 years.

[parttimepro]

From Wizard of Odds:

Suited blackjack pays 2:1 reduces house edge by 0.57%
6-card charlie by 0.16%

I'll estimate for 678 and 777 rules. Assuming infinite deck, and you hit on 13 or 14 2/3rds of the time, this will happen 1 in 1600 hands. You'll get about 1.1 extra bets, so advantage is .0006%.

Blackjacks happen on 4.7% of hands, so the odds of getting three in a row is 0.0106%. You get 40 bets if this happens, so advantage of 0.42%. The subsequent $1000 for additional blackjacks gives an advantage of 0.04%.

All these rule changes result in a 1.19% change in player advantage, which doesn't overcome the 2% ante. Sorry, this is even worse than regular blackjack.

[rogue]

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah what he posted is the exact rules. It's probably clear, but it's 50 cents per $25 wagered. So if you wager $100, it's $2 ante to my understanding.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually it is
$0.50 for $5-25
$1 for $26-$100
$2 for $101-$200
$3 for $201-$300

I tried to work out the odds (not sure if I got it exactly), but I think if you play optimally you can get the edge down to about 0.5% or so. You have to do things like hit a 67 against a dealer 2, 3, or 4 for the 678 promotion.