BJ Switch, now at Wizard of Odds

[zengrifter]

Late update: November 9, 2002

Introduction
Blackjack switch is a blackjack variant, which allows the player to do what is normally considered as a classic cheating manoeuver, trading cards between two hands. The player must make two bets of equal size and is allowed to switch the second card dealt to each hand. Of course nothing comes free, a dealer 22 results in a push and blackjacks pay even money. Currently the game is played at Playtech Internet casinos, it has had a run at the Taj Majal in Atlantic City, and other land based casinos have plans to offer the game in the near future inlucing the Four Queens in Las Vegas.

click here - (Dead link: http://www.thewizardofodds.com/game/bj_switch.html)

 

[ACE]

Re: BJ Switch - Offered anywhere in LV?

Heading there this and next weekend, any places on or off the Strip currently offering this game?

 

[zengrifter]

NOT YET

 

[Bob]

Blackjack switch

Blackjack Switch is currently offered at the Four Queens Hotel and Casino in downtown Las Vegas.

 

[The Mayor]

Two tables at Casino Royale

The game is growing rapidly in its popularity. It has one of the toughest basic stratgies I have seen. I think it is very beatable by a counting system, but it is not worth the effort to master, IMHO.

 

[Automatic Monkey]

Not that difficult

I've played it. In terms of betting, you can spread just like regular BJ except it's a good idea to derate an Ace due to the 1:1 payoff on naturals. Sounds like a great place for a Zen count. The rule where a dealer 22 is a push (except against a natural, which gets paid right away) has no effect on strategy, at least none that I can see.

The only tricky part is the switch/don't switch decision and that requires knowing the win rates of all the hands vs. dealer upcard and choosing for the maximum sum. Most of the time it's instantly obvious. Even with this added strategy requirement I think it's the most beatable of the BJ derivatives.

 

[The Mayor]

Mostly correct...

Here is a small example:

You hold

9,4
8,5

The dealer shows a 7,8,9 or T, do you switch to get

9,5
8,4

I have no idea. This is not intuitive to me.

One time I saw a player with:

T,8
9,A

The dealer showed a T.

The player did NOT switch. I think that was wrong, but what was "obvious" to me was not obvious to the player. I asked the player why he didn't switch, and he mumbled in caveman speak that I could not understand.

--Mayor

 

[Automatic Monkey]

Good question

That sure is a tough one. Would you rather have a 12 and a 14 or two 13's? That's one that might depend on subtleties like the count, does your count treat 9's as a high card, and such. Doesn't sound like a huge difference. But my intuition would say that chances of busting on both hands being 13 are 25/169, and the chances of busting on both the 12 and the 14 are 24/169, so I would play the 12 and the 14.

Switching yourself into a natural when the dealer shows a ten card is obvious to any good player, but how about:

A,6
T,T

with dealer showing 6? Count was getting high (but not high enough to split the T's) so I played them as they lay and got ploppy heat for opting for the DD soft 17 and not giving myself the natural and the stiff. It's a slight advantage I found out later, at the time it was an educated estimate but it turned out correct.