Even Money Blackjack Across Software Providers

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In all land casino games blackjack is known for the 3 to 2 payout. But there are several blackjack variants in online casinos that pay only even money on a blackjack. These games are not a rip off as they may first appear to be. The reduced payout on blackjack is to compensate for some other significant advantage given to the players by tweaking the standard rules. Almost all leading online gaming software providers offer even money blackjack games. They have devised unique and innovative ways by which to offer an advantage to the players. This article discusses some of these games.

WagerWorks is known for its innovativeness in all categories of casino games and has an excellent even money blackjack game called Double Attack. In this game the first card that is dealt after the player places the wager is the dealer’s face up card. Then before the player’s cards are dealt the player has the option to double his wager by placing an equal double attack wager. This gives the player the advantage. Certain dealer’s face up cards are inherently weak because the dealer is very likely to bust with these cards. There is a 50% chance of the next card dealt having a value of 8, 9 or 10. Suppose the dealer’s face up card is a six. The most likely event is that the dealer will draw two cards and bust. As the dealer’s face up card decreases from six to two, the chances of busting decrease but are still high enough to give the player an advantage. Doubling the bet allows him to cash in on this advantage and therefore blackjack pays even money.

The Microgaming even money blackjack game is called Double Exposure. In this game both the dealer’s cards are dealt face up. Hence the player knows the dealer’s two card hand value before he makes his moves. He can fine tune the moves to give an added chance of winning. Against the dealer’s face up card of value 10 the optimum strategy for the player is to stand with a hand value of 17. But in Double Exposure if the dealer has a 10 and an 8 then the player has to hit even with a hand value of 17. Against the dealer’s face up card of value 10 the optimum strategy for the player is to hit with a hand value of 16. But in Double Exposure if the dealer has a 10 and a 6 then the player has to stand even with a hand value of 16. Because the added information increases the player’s chances of winning, blackjack pays even money in Double Exposure.

By far the most exciting and most interactive even money blackjack variant is Blackjack Switch from Playtech. Players have to place equal wagers for two hands and are dealt two hands. Their first option is whether to switch or not. The switch option entails exchanging the second cards of each hand and this can convert two weak hands to two strong hands. Consider the case where one hand is dealt a 10 (first card) and a 5 (second card) and the other hand is dealt a 5 (first card) and a 10 (second card). The hand values of 15 in each hand make them potential losers. By switching the first hand gets a value of 20 and the second hand gets a value of 10, both of which are potential winners. This is an advantage offered and hence the payout on blackjack has been reduced to even money.

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