Blackjack gimmick side bets pad the house edge
The game of blackjack has been around for more than 100 years. It's a darn good game for the player just the way it sits, but the casinos would like to boost their earnings from it. So now you're seeing blackjack games with catchy betting options such as Casino Surrender, Super Sevens, Pair Square, etc.
Some players think these options make the game more fun -- and they might. Other players think they're a good bet -- and they're not! Every one of them were put there with the thought in mind to increase the house profit on blackjack. So where does that leave you -- the player? Let's have a look-see.
Casino Surrender: This option appears on the blackjack layout at a number of Midwest casinos. It was cleverly given a name similar to the player's surrender option, which is actually a good bet for the player but is seldom available.
With Casino Surrender though, whenever the dealer has a 10 up and you've been dealt a two-card 20, she first checks to see if she has blackjack, just like usual. If she doesn't have it, you can elect to take an automatic payment of half your bet right on the spot, before she plays her hand out. This allows you to get around the looming threat that she might have a 10 in the hole and you end up with a push.
It's kind of similar to the "Even Money" settlement when you have blackjack against a dealer's Ace up. Problem is, both Casino Surrender and Even Money are bad bets!
When you bet say, $20 and are dealt 20 against a dealer's playable 10 (no dealer's blackjack), you'll net an average profit of $11.20 if you just let the dealer play her hand out. If you take the Casino Surrender option, she'll pay you a flat $10. What do you want that for? Better to just live and die with your 20s when the dealer has a 10 up.
Super Sevens: This side bet has a smaller round circle next to your regular betting spot, and you make the side bet at the same time as the bet on your hand. You want to see 7s in your hand, and it's better yet if the dealer's up-card is a 7. There are several combinations of "7" that will pay different amounts. If your first card is a 7, your side bet gets paid 3-to-1. A pair of 7s is worth 50-to-1. A pair of suited 7s pays 100-to-1, etc. -- all the way up to 5000-to-1 if you're dealt two suited 7s and the dealer's up-card is a 7 of the same suit. But after everything shakes out, you'll still lose a hefty 12 percent of all the money you gamble on the Super Sevens side bet.
A blackjack player next to me once said the 7s side bet is the only reason he plays blackjack. I'm sure he didn't realize that when he bets $5 on Super Sevens along with $25 on his regular blackjack bet, the house is making an average of 60 cents on his side bet. Yet, the $25 bet on his hand is losing only 12 cents if he knows his proper basic hand-playing strategy.
Pair Square: Here's another cute gimmick. It has a small square right next to your regular betting spot, just about the size of a casino chip. You place your side bet in the square before your hand is dealt, and if it's a pair -- you win the side bet. Payoff odds vary a bit from place to place, but a typical scale is to pay 9-to-1 odds on an unsuited pair and 20-to-1 if the pair is suited. At those odds, the house has an 8.5 percent edge on you with a six-deck shoe.
Compare all that to the house edge on regular blackjack, which varies from only a half percent to around 2.5 percent depending upon how well or how poorly you play. You take it from there.