Lucky Blackjack at Playtech Online Casinos

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Recently Playtech launched an unusual variant of blackjack called Lucky Blackjack. In this variant only the cards of the dealer's hand are dealt. There is no player's hand and therefore no comparison between the player's hand and the dealer's hand. The wagering is done on guessing the value of the dealer's hand.

All the individual card values are as in the normal blackjack game and the valuation of the hand also follows the usual process. Initially the dealer is dealt two cards. If the value of the dealer's hand is less than 17, the dealer keeps drawing cards until the value of the hand exceeds or equals 17, including the soft 17. This allows for the following hand values for the dealer's hand: 17, 18 19, 20 and 21. The dealer will bust if his hand value exceeds 21 and the dealer can also draw a blackjack. Therefore the player can bet on any one or more of the above seven options. If the option on which the player has wagered matches with the actual outcome in the deal then the player wins. He is paid as per the given payout table. Wagering and winning on 17 yields a payout of 5 to 1, on 18 yields a payout of 6 to 1, on 19 yields a payout of 6 to 1, on 20 a payout of 4 to 1, on 21 a payout of 12 to 1, on Bust a payout of 2 to 1 and on Blackjack a payout of 19 to 1.

The procedure of play is extremely simple. The player first clicks on the chip of the desired value to select it. The player then clicks on one or more of the seven betting areas in order to place the wager. By clicking repeatedly on the same betting area players can increase the bet amount by the selected chip value. Every right-click decreases the bet amount in a similar manner. Players can also click “Clear bets” to remove all bets from the table and start over. After the bets are placed the player clicks the Deal button. All the dealer's cards, including the additional cards, are dealt at great speed. The payouts are also simultaneously made. If the player has guessed wrong he loses his bet amount and if he has guessed right he gets paid as per the payout table.

Computer simulations have given the probabilities of the different outcomes of the dealer's hand. Using these and the odds offered it is possible to differentiate the good bets from the bad in Lucky Blackjack. The dealer will bust about 28.4% of the time. For this the correct odds should be 5 to 2. The actual payout offered is only 2 to 1. Therefore this bet has a very high house edge and should be avoided. The house edges for wagering on the dealer having a hand value of 17 or 20 are somewhat lower, but still high enough for the bets to be avoided. The remaining four bets have similar house edges which are comparable with those in online slot games. Therefore players wagering on Lucky Blackjack should bet on the dealer having a hand value of 18, 19, 21 or blackjack.

Lucky Blackjack can be played at all Playtech online casinos. CasinoAdvisor recommends Casino Tropez, Casino Del Rio, Play United and Omni Casino.

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