Blackjack Casino Bet Rules

Special Rules

First, we'll look at traditional blackjack casino games that have unusual rules or side-bets added to them. Then we'll investigate variations on the traditional game that are so different that they must actually be considered different games entirely. Though many, if not most, of the special rules can be beaten with card counting systems, I won't provide any deep mathematical analyses that will help you do so. In the case of most side bets, the dollar-values obtainable are so negligible that it's a waste of time to bother exploiting them.

Side Bets

Some casinos legal offer side bets that can be beaten, but not with traditional blackjack card counting strategies. Generally speaking, if you see a new rule or option on a blackjack table, it's probably not going to work in your favor, and almost certainly won't if you are guessing at the value and the proper strategy. Casinos often introduce options in order to seduce players into making bad decisions. All of the options described in this chapter were introduced for that purpose, but some have proven to have some value to smart players.
From my perspective, the primary value of these side bets is camouflage. The casinos generally regard these as sucker bets, because house edge off the top is much higher than that on the traditional blackjack game, and most of these gimmicks appeal primarily to tourists. For instance, the house edge on the Royal Match side bet is 3.8%. This means that a $5 bet on the Royal Match option costs you 19¢. If you place ten RM bets per hour, the total cost is $1.90 on average. In fact, you may lose more than this, or even win, as the expected result varies significantly. But even if you lose all ten of the RM bets you place, the maximum cost to you is $50 with $5 bets. Players who bet on the Royal Match option always look foolish to casino personnel, so, if you're trying to get away with a count game, occasional RM bets may help disguise your intentions.
Likewise, the Super Sevens bet has a house edge of about II %, which is huge. But the maximum bet allowed on the Super Sevens option is $1, so the total cost per bet is only about II¢. You could place 50 of these bets per hour, and the average cost to you won't be much more than $5.50.
If the maximum bet you place on your regular blackjack hand is only $25 or less, then I wouldn't bother making cam side-bets. Why give anything back to the house when your expected dollar return is so low from the traditional game? But if you're betting up to $50 or $100 or more, then occasional camouflage bets on the weird options will help to disguise you as a typical gambler at fairly low cost.

Over/Under

One of the more popular options (unfortunately not popular enough!) is the over/under bet. This is an optional side bet (actually two separate bets) that your first two cards will total either over or under 13. There is a special area on the table for you to make these bets. Aces always count as I for this bet, and a total of 13 always loses. If you win on an over/under bet, you are paid 2 to 1.
This rule is most often offered on 6 and 8-deck games, and it has little value with a traditional card counting system. Using the Hi-Lo Lite, you would need a true edge of +2 1/2 to just break even on the over bet, or-3 on the under. These advantages will not occur very often in shoe games, unless the penetration is quite deep.
A better counting system for this option is to count the ten-valued cards as -1 and Aces, 2s, 3s, and 4s as + 1. Using this counting system, you would make an over bet at a true edge of + 1 1/2 or greater, and an under bet at -2 or lower. This greatly increases the value of the option.