BlackJack Switch

[FMMonty]

I was playing a new game yesterday called blackjack switch

I was wondering, how bad are the odds against the house, anyone know?

The rules of the game are:

1. You must play two boxes with equal stake
2. You have the choice of switching the top cards from box A to box B
3. if the dealer hits 22, both boxes push regardless if the player has gone bust or not, unless the player has black jack where he will get paid even money
4. BlackJack plays even money
5. Dealer does not hit soft 17, no surrender, double anything, split anything and as many times as you wish.

Anyone played this? Know the odds?

Or even perfect strategy play,

[chrisdhal]

BJ Switch at Wizard of Odds

[Homer]

The HA is 0.05%. It's a great game to play (when allowed) for online casino whoring.

[Jeffage]

Really? There's got to be some catch to this bc this game was being spread at some of the smaller places on the strip when I was there 2 weeks ago. I figured it's a gimmick game so it must have a rough house edge. Why would places in LV spread this when the trend is single deck with 6-5 for a Blackjack? Maybe I'm missing something.

Jeff

[Homer]

[ QUOTE ]
Really? There's got to be some catch to this bc this game was being spread at some of the smaller places on the strip when I was there 2 weeks ago. I figured it's a gimmick game so it must have a rough house edge. Why would places in LV spread this when the trend is single deck with 6-5 for a Blackjack? Maybe I'm missing something.

Jeff

[/ QUOTE ]

There are a couple of possibilities. One is that they have altered the rules to gain a greater edge. For example, if they check for BJ before giving the player an opporunity to switch, it increases the HA to 0.20%. They might also not allow doubling after splits, which also increases the HA (though I'm not sure by how much).

Also, the strategy is quite difficult. There is a switching strategy as well as a playing strategy for after the switch (similar to regular blackjack). Almost no one, even good players, will play optimally, and most players will be way off.

-- Homer

[MCS]

[ QUOTE ]
Really? There's got to be some catch to this bc this game was being spread at some of the smaller places on the strip when I was there 2 weeks ago. I figured it's a gimmick game so it must have a rough house edge.

[/ QUOTE ]

Where on the Strip? I'd kinda like to play this [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[ QUOTE ]
Why would places in LV spread this when the trend is single deck with 6-5 for a Blackjack? Maybe I'm missing something.

[/ QUOTE ]

I mean, they offer roulette even though they still have keno. They offer craps even though they still have the Big 6 wheel. I guess they just figure people like variety.

One hope I have is that the public is catching on to the evil 6-5 trick. Though I strongly suspect that's not the case.

[Toonces]

You can play this at Casino Royale. If you get a monthly funsheet, you can actually play this game profitably for awhile, as there is a 2-1 on BJ coupon in there.

I believe the 4 Queens may also have the game.

[joshman1204]

Everyone on here assumes that we are the majority of casino patrons when in reality we make up a very minute fraction of the traffic to any one casino. Most people can sit down a BJ and get the house edge down to about 1% or less with the most basic of strategies but for some reason they dont, why? Because they are are there for entertainment and "free" drinks!! Just because a great player can get this game down to .05% HA does not mean the house edge is .05% , I would be willing to bet that the true house edge on this game or a regular BJ game is closer to 2-3%.

Also from my experince BJ switch is a much harder game to master than BJ so if a casino switches to switch they will have fewer people playing perfect and therefore the HA will be higher than a game with a theoretically higher HA (BJ).