Dealer hits S18

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blackjackstudent

Well-Known Member
This is just out of interest guys! Maybe about 10 years ago, casinos introduced a hitting soft 17 rule which has increased its edge over fellow punters that nowadays the majority of blackjack games offered at casinos now employ the hit soft 17 rule which adds another 0.2% to the house edge. The player will now be able to play with an advantage for TC > 2 (if using Hi-Lo system).

Hypothetically, if the casino introduces dealer must hit soft 18, would this increase or decrease the house edge? Theoretically, the dealer would bust more but having said that, the dealer can also improve his total as well.

Food for thought!
 
tribute

tribute

Well-Known Member
One way to DECREASE the house edge would be to insist that all players learn how to play their own soft 18 correctly! I see the A7 misplayed every time I visit the casino.
 
Automatic Monkey

Automatic Monkey

Banned
That would hurt the house edge. The dealer would screw up his hand more than he would improve it if he hit soft 18 all the time.

We hit soft 18 too, but only against 9-A. But we always hit or double soft 17. Very big difference between the two hands just looking at our own basic strategy charts.
 
S

SecurityRisk

Well-Known Member
tribute said:
One way to DECREASE the house edge would be to insist that all players learn how to play their own soft 18 correctly! I see the A7 misplayed every time I visit the casino.
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And I get yell at all the time when I play my soft 18 correctly!
 
tribute

tribute

Well-Known Member
Also, most dealers give you a funny look, or pause, when you signal to hit or double your A7. I find myself poking my finger multiple times on the felt to get my next card.

I once had a dealer call out to the floorperson, "Player hitting on A7" !

I guess this is to alert bosses to an AP, because most ploppies never would mess up an 18. It's a winning hand!
 
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London Colin

Well-Known Member
Even with virtual dealers, you cannot escape the bad advice. One online casino where I play pops up an "Are you sure?" message whenever you hit soft 18, or even soft 17, regardless of the dealer upcard. Whether it's a deliberate attempt to goad people into making the wrong play or just a software screw-up is open to debate.

There is an option to disable the warnings, but I assume it would disable all such warnings, rather than just the specific case that has been triggered. So I leave it enabled so that it can save me from the occasional outbreak of 'fat finger syndrome'. :) ... And then I curse it every time it appears! :mad:
 
Automatic Monkey

Automatic Monkey

Banned
tribute said:
Also, most dealers give you a funny look, or pause, when you signal to hit or double your A7. I find myself poking my finger multiple times on the felt to get my next card.

I once had a dealer call out to the floorperson, "Player hitting on A7" !

I guess this is to alert bosses to an AP, because most ploppies never would mess up an 18. It's a winning hand!
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I've got a pretty rude way of dealing with that when it gets to the point of slowing down the game or drawing unwanted attention...

"Hey, I've got a secret for you, genius. When somebody goes like this [tap for a hit] that means they want a card."

You'll never have to repeat it.
 
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Blue Efficacy

Well-Known Member
You don't want the dealer to be too quick to execute on your signals. There are times i have started to wave off a hand <9 against a dealer 4-6 only to quickly realize I should hit.

When i am taking hits on a-7 or doing an "pdd" negative index play, i simply make sure my hand signal looks very determined. Seems to work for me.
 
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