New blackjack options

3 November 2016

By John Grochowski

Blackjack has reigned as the most popular casino table game for more than 50 years. It has a low house edge and even gives skilled players the chance to grab an advantage.

Naturally enough, casinos want to take advantage of that popularity while building in a little more profitability. So every year brings new twists on the basic game and new side bets.

Here are a few I tried out this fall at Global Gaming Expo in Las Vegas.

TRILUX DELUXE BLACKJACK, Shuffle Master

TriLux Deluxe is an optional side bet on your first two cards that can be affected in a good way if the dealer has a blackjack.

Once you have your first two cards, the dealer settles the side bet. It pays 2-1 if you have any 20, 4-1 on two kings, 6-1 on a suited 20, 10-1 on two suited queens, jacks or 10s, 25-1 on two suited kings and 75-1 on two suited kings of spades.

The big bonanza comes if the dealer has a blackjack while you have two kings of spades. That brings a 1,000-1 payoff.

If the dealer does not have a blackjack, you may either collect any TriLux Deluxe winning or have the dealer place any portion of your winnings into a TriLux Deluxe Press circle. That essentially ups the stakes on your blackjack bet. If you beat the dealer, anything in the Press circle pays 1-1, just like your regular blackjack bet. If you lose the hand, you lose anything in the Press circle.

DOUBLE UP BLACKJACK, Score Gaming

Double Up is a betting option after you see your first two cards. To Double Up, you make a bet equal to or less than your blackjack bet. After that, you receive no more cards. Winners are paid even money, just like your main blackjack and double down bets.

Dealt a 20 vs. a dealer’s 6, a player would never want to double down, which brings one more card and about a 12-in-13 chance of busting. You would want to Double Up, which stops your hand at that 20.

However, if player and dealer hands tie, you lose your Double Up bet. Also, any dealer total of 16 stops the game. When the dealer has 16, player 21s are paid even money and all other totals push.

Double Up Blackjack comes with an optional 16 Bonus bet that pays off on dealer totals of 16.

TOSS ONE 21, American Gaming Systems

There are no hits, stands, double downs or pair splits in this blackjack variation. Instead, you start with four cards and choose three to make up your best blackjack hand.

For example, dealt two 10s, a 4 and a 7, you would play one of the 10s along with 4-7 to make up a 21.

You can get a blackjack that pays 3-2 if you have two 10-value cards and an ace.

If you can’t make up a hand of 21 or less, you bust. So if you’re dealt 10-9-8-7, where your lowest possible hand is 24 for 9-8-7, you lose no matter what the dealer has.

The dealer also must make up a three-card hand from four cards and can bust if there is no three-card total of 21 or less.

If the player and dealer have the same three-card total, then the fourth card is used as a tiebreaker. If the fourth card also is tied, the house wins.

That’s a minor component of the house edge. As in basic blackjack, the house edge derives from the risk that the player will bust before the dealer plays his hand.