House Edge on Ties

I can�t seem to find much info on rules at casinos for Dealer-Player ties involving BJ and 21(non-BJ) or on the resulting house edge with these rules. In Blackjack Attack by Schlesinger, Table 4.1 shows that BJ and 21(non BJ) tie frequencies are 0.22% and 0.52%. What�s not clear is impact of tie rules on house edge. For example, what is the impact on house edge with no peek on dealer 10 up when considering double downs and splits ( > 0.22%/2?). It would seem to be greater than 0.11%. Similarly, if dealer wins tied 21 ( non BJ), is the edge 0.52% or greater due to splits and doubles? It seems I�ve seen some of these rules in play at Indian casinos in SoCal. Any insight is greatly appreciated.

Tyro,

If the dealer does not peek when she has an X showing, you are essentially playing a "no hole card" (NHC) game against the X. Now if the dealer does in fact have a BJ, the outcome of splits and DD's depends on the house rules. The worst case scenario (from the player's viewpoint, that is) is that the dealer wins ALL of the (non-BJ) bets, including splits and DD's: this is typically called "European No Hole Card", or ENHC. Best for the player is for the dealer to take the original bet only (OBO) from each player: in fact, for OBO, you simply use the "normal" BJ strategy.

The Wizard of Odds has a page describing these (and other) rule variations. Click the link below for further information.

Hope this helps!

Dog Hand

Dog Hand,

Thank you for the detailed response and insight, makes sense. With ENHC Wizard shows the impact on house edge at -0.11% which is a significant hit on edge. However, I haven't seen this rule variation reported in Casino rule surveys for SoCal casinos, e.g. CBJN. Is it just that this is very rare or non-existent in SoCal or just unreported?

Many Thanks,
Tyro