BJ house edge with UK rules

[gfkostas]

Wizardofodds states that the european BJ has 0.62% house edge while at almost all london casinos leaflets state 0.55%. Who is right here? Am not sure if wizard takes under consideration that you can split as many times as you want in the UK.

 

[GrandMaster]

Wizardofodds states that the european BJ has 0.62% house edge while at almost all london casinos leaflets state 0.55%. Who is right here? Am not sure if wizard takes under consideration that you can split as many times as you want in the UK.

How many decks? 0.62% is for 6 decks, while casinos in the UK tend to use 4 decks, this should account for most of the difference. Unlimited splitting is not a big advantage, being able to split to 4 hands instead of 3 only reduces the house edge by 0.007%, I guess that the effect of being able to split to 5 hands instead of 4 would be in the range of 0.001%. Don't forget that not being able to split 4's adds 0.003% to the house edge.

As a general principle, I would trust the Wizard over any casino in mathematical matters.

 

[Mut3]

About trusting the Wizard more than the casinos:
Just keep in mind that casinos also give out basic strategy with 5-6 errors most of the time. Would you trust them about the house edge they say their game has?

I wouldn't. Not that 0.01% differences in the edge are going to affect you anyway.

 

[gfkostas]

Grandmaster the leaflet states: 0.55% for 6 decks and 0.51% for 4 decks.

 

[caruso]

How many decks? 0.62% is for 6 decks, while casinos in the UK tend to use 4 decks

??

Not at any I've visited - where do you get that from? 4 deck is an extreme rarity. It's either six decks dealt or CSM. I've seen one four deck and heard of another.

 

[GrandMaster]

Grandmaster the leaflet states: 0.55% for 6 decks and 0.51% for 4 decks.

Can you double on any 2 initial cards? The Wizard's calculations assume that you can only double on hard 9-11.

Not at any I've visited - where do you get that from? 4 deck is an extreme rarity. It's either six decks dealt or CSM. I've seen one four deck and heard of another.

4 decks and CSM is what I have seen, too, but the CSM does not affect the house edge.

 

[gfkostas]

Only 2-3 casinos in London use 4decks and that always with the shuffle machine.6 decks is the standard.

GM you can double on 9-11 only.

 

[caruso]

I was curious to know where you'd seen sufficient four deck games to say that our casinos "tend to use 4 decks", since to the best of my knowledge the four deck game is all but non-existent in this country. There are one or two in London, but no more than that and nowhere else as far as I know.

Re. the question: If you include resplit aces you get near enough the published figure of -0.55%. This would account for the discrepancy, and MS wouldn't have taken this into consideration as it's an addition to standard "Euro BJ".

EDIT: Yup, he doesn't list RSA, so that's it.

 

[GrandMaster]

Around here 4 deck CSM is standard, I saw a 6 deck hand-shuffled game once, maybe the CSM was broken.

 

[gfkostas]

Re. the question: If you include resplit aces you get near enough the published figure of -0.55%. This would account for the discrepancy, and MS wouldn't have taken this into consideration as it's an addition to standard "Euro BJ".

EDIT: Yup, he doesn't list RSA, so that's it.

Yup you are right caruso.I forgot about resplitting aces.For your information as far as I remember Hard Rock casino,Gala in bayswater and Napoleons are the only casinos with 4 decks...they are also the only ones with 3 pounds minimum at BJ before 8pm.Gala in tottenham court road used to have a sweet minimum on roulette of 50p but not anymore

 

[jmildstone]

Most forms of blackjack have a house advantage of 0.5% or so, so its more or less inevitable that you will lose out in the long run. Many people dont play perfect basic strategy, which can expedite your losses. Plus the basic strategy can change rather dramatically in accordance with the rules of the particular BJ game ur playing (ie #. of decks, #. of splits allowed, when doubles allowed, surrender, american/european hole card rule, etc), and many people just play on without noting these diferences.