As much as casinos would like to wean us onto other games, blackjack remains the most popular game in the table pits. Per dollar wagered, the casinos make more money on Caribbean Stud and other relatively new games, but many more dollars are wagered on blackjack.
What´ss a profit-hungry operator to do? Sometimes the choice is to offer something that looks like blackjack, feels like blackjack, but isn´t quite as beatable as blackjack.
At the Global Gaming Expo at the Las Vegas Convention Center, I took a close look at three of the latest wrinkles. All seem like fun, but be careful. All three also increase the house edge above and beyond that on the basic game.
As I passed the Gemaco booth, I picked up a basic strategy card for Extreme 21, developed by Canadian Stook LTD and already being played in Canada, along with a few tribal casinos in the United States. In Extreme 21, player 21s always win, although blackjacks pay only even money, and you can double down on any number of cards.
There is no cutoff at which the dealer must stand. No "hit soft 17/stand on all 17s" variation - the dealer hits until he beats you or busts. There are no pushes. If you have 13 and the dealer has 13, the dealer who draws an Ace doesn´t hit again and risk busting. That Ace gives the dealer a 14 that beats your 13, and the house takes your money.
With more than one player at the table, bets are decided in numerical turn. If you have 13, I have 14 and the dealer shows 13, and the dealer draws an Ace, he takes your money, then hits again to decide my bet.
Bottom line: House edge against a specially adapted basic strategy is 1.16 percent, nearly three times as high as the 0.4 percent or so on a basic no-frills six-deck game. You´re paying for a bit of intrigue.
Another new game, Easy as 1-2-3, takes all the strategy decisions away from the player.
Players start with an ante, then the dealer starts three blackjack hands with a face-up card on each. Players then choose one hand, and match the ante with a bet. The dealer plays out all three hands until they either make 17 or higher, or bust.
Those who bet on the winning hand win even money, or win bonuses on some hands. In the version on display at the expo, bonuses ranged from 2-1 on a blackjack to 15-1 on a blackjack in spades if the other hands also are both blackjacks.
After bets are decided, play continues with the dealer taking away enough cards from each hand so that starting points of 16 or less are left on each hand. First cards dealt are first taken away, so a hand that came up 3, 5, King will have just the 3 taken away, leaving a 15 to start.
Players have pretty good information before they choose their bets, but they´re still betting on one hand against two others. House edge varies, depending on the bonus pay table.
Galaxy Gaming was on hand with Lucky Ladies. Already fairly widely distributed in online casinos and available in a few tribal casinos, Lucky Ladies is a side bet that the player´s first two cards will total 20.
Pay tables vary, but start at 4-1 for any 20 and max out at 1,000-1 for two Queens of hearts against a dealer blackjack, with variable returns in between for suited 20, matched 20 or a Queen of hearts pair.
Stanley Ko´s analysis gives the house edge a range from 18.4 percent to 30 percent, depending on pay table and number of decks in play. Stick with blackjack.