Hello All,
I am an intermediate player, understand BS well and learning to count. I am from the US but my job has relocated me to a country in the middle of the Indian Ocean called Mauritius. Although majority Hindu population here, they love gambling (especially the horses). They have quite a few casinos here and they offer regular style blackjack and a blackjack variation called VanLak. Both of them have very good playing conditions, but I am unsure which one is better based on different rules and I was hoping that someone could help me to determine which game has the best odds for me and I should pursue. I will first the list the rules for regular blackjack and then for VanLak (you will love them). I have just purchased the Casino BlackJack software from this site and I am loving it but am struggling to input all of the rules for this VanLak game.
Regular BlackJack
6 Decks, Burn 3 Cards at the start of the shoe, penetration varies but about 70%.
BJ pays 3 to 2, Insurance 2 to 1, Double any 9, 10, 11.
Resplit any number of times (have personally split 6 hands before, a couple of times) double on split, again 9, 10, 11.
Dealer Stay all 17's
No Surrender
VanLakHave fune with this one. lol
4 decks, burn 5 cards at start of shoe, penetration about 80-85%. Insurance 2:1, Surrender on the first 2 Cards (but not against an A)
Regular Blackjack (they call it a VanLak) pays 1:1
Suited BJ (they call special VanLak) pays 3:2
Two AA pays 2 to 1
3 7's (777) pays 3:1
5 unbusted cards beats a 21 but not a blackjack 1:1 payout.
Double 9,10, 11 (but I need to check doubling on a A8, A9)
Only split once but can double after split
Dealer stays all 17's
Here's where it gets a little strange
Ace Values: 2 cards Ace value is 1 or 11
3 Cards Ace Value is 1 or 10
>=4 Cards Ace Value is 1
If any player has 5 unbusted cards then dealer must stay with 2 cards at 15 and with 3 cards at 16 (I have not seen this happen yet, so I could be wrong on it, but that is what the rules said).
My initial view is that with all of the extra bonuses and the penetration is that the VanLak game has better odds, however the blackjack payout being 1:1 and only 3:2 on suited hurts the odds I know. Also the other game offers unlimited splits whereas VanLak only allows to split once.
Look forward to hearing if the experts have any comments.
Bob
I am an intermediate player, understand BS well and learning to count. I am from the US but my job has relocated me to a country in the middle of the Indian Ocean called Mauritius. Although majority Hindu population here, they love gambling (especially the horses). They have quite a few casinos here and they offer regular style blackjack and a blackjack variation called VanLak. Both of them have very good playing conditions, but I am unsure which one is better based on different rules and I was hoping that someone could help me to determine which game has the best odds for me and I should pursue. I will first the list the rules for regular blackjack and then for VanLak (you will love them). I have just purchased the Casino BlackJack software from this site and I am loving it but am struggling to input all of the rules for this VanLak game.
Regular BlackJack
6 Decks, Burn 3 Cards at the start of the shoe, penetration varies but about 70%.
BJ pays 3 to 2, Insurance 2 to 1, Double any 9, 10, 11.
Resplit any number of times (have personally split 6 hands before, a couple of times) double on split, again 9, 10, 11.
Dealer Stay all 17's
No Surrender
VanLakHave fune with this one. lol
4 decks, burn 5 cards at start of shoe, penetration about 80-85%. Insurance 2:1, Surrender on the first 2 Cards (but not against an A)
Regular Blackjack (they call it a VanLak) pays 1:1
Suited BJ (they call special VanLak) pays 3:2
Two AA pays 2 to 1
3 7's (777) pays 3:1
5 unbusted cards beats a 21 but not a blackjack 1:1 payout.
Double 9,10, 11 (but I need to check doubling on a A8, A9)
Only split once but can double after split
Dealer stays all 17's
Here's where it gets a little strange
Ace Values: 2 cards Ace value is 1 or 11
3 Cards Ace Value is 1 or 10
>=4 Cards Ace Value is 1
If any player has 5 unbusted cards then dealer must stay with 2 cards at 15 and with 3 cards at 16 (I have not seen this happen yet, so I could be wrong on it, but that is what the rules said).
My initial view is that with all of the extra bonuses and the penetration is that the VanLak game has better odds, however the blackjack payout being 1:1 and only 3:2 on suited hurts the odds I know. Also the other game offers unlimited splits whereas VanLak only allows to split once.
Look forward to hearing if the experts have any comments.
Bob