Blackjack Switch

[Hammer050]

Has anyone thought about back counting at the Blackjack Switch games? According to wizardofodds.com, the house edge is only .18% for someone who plays by the perfect "basic strategy" for that game. Might be opportunities to switch your cards and create tons of doubling opportunities in high counts.

[zengrifter]

Originally Posted by Hammer050

Has anyone thought about back counting at the Blackjack Switch games? According to wizardofodds.com, the house edge is only .18% for someone who plays by the perfect "basic strategy" for that game. Might be opportunities to switch your cards and create tons of doubling opportunities in high counts.

I haven't bothered to learn BJSw because every table I've ever encountered had really poor pene. zg

[jimbiggs]

Originally Posted by Hammer050

Has anyone thought about back counting at the Blackjack Switch games? According to wizardofodds.com, the house edge is only .18% for someone who plays by the perfect "basic strategy" for that game. Might be opportunities to switch your cards and create tons of doubling opportunities in high counts.

With blackjacks paying even money, I don't see how the house edge could be that small. Anybody know the actual house edge?

[Automatic Monkey]

Originally Posted by jimbiggs

With blackjacks paying even money, I don't see how the house edge could be that small. Anybody know the actual house edge?

I believe the Wiz has it right. BJ Switch is a game I play whenever I find it. A lot of the northern CA Indian joints have installed a table of it. Had a fun experience at one: played two shoes and basically emptied out the tray. Left the table to play some slots for cover and a break, when I turned back around the dealer was gone and the table locked up. They barely had enough money in the cashier's cage to cash me out. I got the hell out of that place quickly.

Counterintuitively, if BJS is dealt with European No hole card rules it helps the player. That is because the player gets a chance to switch to a natural before the dealer checks for BJ. The Playtech online casinos offer BJS, and they got piggy and were dealing it ENHC for the longest time. This gave a house edge of only 0.08%. But Playtech also offers a cashable comp of 0.1% of all action, so you ended up with a player edge of 0.02% with straight play. They have since changed this.

Normally I use RPC but when playing BJS I use the balanced Zen count, because the devalued ace more accurately represents the value of the ace in this even-money-for-naturals game. Contrary to what other sites tell you, use the same playing strategy you would use for regular BJ. I don't have a good set of numbers for advantage as a function of true count, so I kind of wing it.

[jimbiggs]

Wow, so I'll be on the lookout for a game with good pen. Thanks.

[zengrifter]

Originally Posted by jimbiggs

Wow, so I'll be on the lookout for a game with good pen. Thanks.

BUT, you'll need to learn the strategy - its different and more complex than regBS. zg

[stinkus]

Anyone still interested in this at the bottom of the following link is a strategy for this game as well as a calculator that will tell you when you should and should not switch.
Stinkus

http://wizardofodds.com/blackjack/bj_switch.html

[Automatic Monkey]

Originally Posted by stinkus

Anyone still interested in this at the bottom of the following link is a strategy for this game as well as a calculator that will tell you when you should and should not switch.
Stinkus

http://wizardofodds.com/blackjack/bj_switch.html

For I believe they are making a logical error by considering the push-on-22 rule for hit/stand decisions. For example, they give as Basic Strategy hitting 13 vs. 2. If the dealer gets a 22 there is absolutely nothing you can do to win (other than switch to a natural). It's a push whether you draw and catch an 8 or you stand. If you bust your 13 you lose no matter what the dealer gets. Therefore it defies everything we know about BJ to play it differently than we would any other BJ game.

On the other hand the switch calculator applet is a good thing. I use it for my online BJ Switch play. After you use it for a while, you usually make the right decision on the non-obvious switch plays so it's good practice for table play.