Blackjack Tips: Unfavorable Rules
Posted on 17. Oct, 2011 by admin in Rules
We’ve talked about blackjack table selection tips before, spotting favorable table rules that can help reduce the house advantage substantially. In this part, we are going to talk about the unfavorable rules used by many casinos to increase the house advantage in the game of blackjack. By knowing these unfavorable rules, you can avoid playing blackjack at tables with high house advantage.
The first rule you must strictly avoid no matter what is the Blackjack Pays 6 to 5 rule. Natural blackjack usually pays 3 to 2 – or even 2 to 1 at some top casinos – while the Blackjack Pays 6 to 5 rule tries to reduce this payout ratio and make natural blackjack even less rewarding. If you can only find blackjack tables with Blackjack Pays 6 to 5 rule at the casino you are visiting, find another casino floor or avoid playing blackjack altogether.
Several casinos also restrict doubling down to hand totals of 10 and 11. If your starting hand is totaling at 9 or any other hand total, you are simply not allowed to double down. This particular rule is very unfavorable towards player and should also be avoided. The house advantage is increased by as much as 0.25% when this rule is in place.
One last table rule you should always try to avoid is the Dealer Hits Soft 17 rule. Blackjack dealer usually stands on 17, including soft 17, yet the Dealer Hits Soft 17 rule allows the dealer to hit on soft 17 in order to increase the house advantage by 0.22%.