Odd Betting Amounts

wwcd

Well-Known Member
I'm playing at a casino, where minimum table is $5, and they have $1 and $2.50 chips. This casino has no half dollar or quarter coins.

I almost always play $5/hand, but sometimes after a blackjack payout, I put that $2.50 chip on top of my $5, for a $7.50 bet. While doing this, I never got a blackjack, but this got me wondering. If I get a blackjack with a $7.50 bet, payout is supposed to be $11.25, but the casino has no way to pay me that amount. They can either pay $11, or $12. I will never settle for the former, as that is against the rule of BJ pays 3:2. So, will the casino pay $12 in this case?

If that is the case, this will eat up into the house edge with no counting or anything. Assuming 0.69% house edge, the expected loss per hour (60 hands/hour assumed) by playing $7.50/hand will be $3.11. During these 60 hands, on average, there will be 2.82 blackjacks, paying $2.12 extra ($0.75/blackjack).

What do you guys think? Have you encountered a situation like this?
 
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Canceler

Well-Known Member
A red, a pink, and 4 whites...

You'll end up getting a $5 chip, a $2.50 chip, and four $1 chips, for a total of $11.50. So you gain a quarter on the deal, about a buck an hour.
 

wwcd

Well-Known Member
Thanks, that makes sense. I totally forgot about that option. However, although very minimal, it eats up into the house edge. Though, I might be better off just sticking to $5/hand to make the total house edge smaller :)
 

Sucker

Well-Known Member
It depends upon the casino. Almost every single casino will round the amount DOWNWARD and pay you $11.00. I HAVE seen houses that will round it UP to $11.50, but this is extremely rare.
 

shadroch

Well-Known Member
Sucker said:
It depends upon the casino. Almost every single casino will round the amount DOWNWARD and pay you $11.00. I HAVE seen houses that will round it UP to $11.50, but this is extremely rare.

My experiances have been the opposite. I don't believe I've ever seen a casino short pay a player intentionally.
 

winr_winr_chicken_dinner!

Well-Known Member
Most places I have played round up in this situation. I remember the Strat put in $2.50 blue chips to make it easier to pay out on $5.00 BJ, so did the Fitz in downtown LV, think there's were pink. Come to think of it, I think the ElCo has some 50 cent chips if I remember right.

Some places still have quarters in the rack, so take advantage of this all you can!
 

assume_R

Well-Known Member
I know this isn't exactly about blackjack, but in craps the strange payout odds will always round down, which is why at a $10 min table, they recommend you bet $12 on some payouts so you don't get screwed over by their rounding down.
 

Meistro

Well-Known Member
The +EV gained here will be lost by the additional time it takes for the dealer to break down your bets every time.
 

Bondy3

Well-Known Member
Meistro said:
The +EV gained here will be lost by the additional time it takes for the dealer to break down your bets every time.
i dont think thats true, you wait alot longer for noobs to make up their mind on weither to hit or stand. dealers are pretty fast
 

shadroch

Well-Known Member
winr_winr_chicken_dinner! said:
Most places I have played round up in this situation. I remember the Strat put in $2.50 blue chips to make it easier to pay out on $5.00 BJ, so did the Fitz in downtown LV, think there's were pink. Come to think of it, I think the ElCo has some 50 cent chips if I remember right.

Some places still have quarters in the rack, so take advantage of this all you can!
While the EC does have fifty cent pink chips, they have recently been using Kennedy halves, as well.
 

DMMx3

Well-Known Member
winr_winr_chicken_dinner! said:
Hey Shad, you think too many people were keeping the fifty cent chips as souvenirs and they are running out?
How much does a 50 cent chip cost to make? I assume it costs the casino less than 50 cents (but have no real idea) meaning the casino would want you keeping it as a souvenir.

I have seen a fifty cent chip only one time -- I think at a Puerto Rican casino. Usually you see US currency to even up the 50 and 25 cent increments.

I saw a 70 cent chip once at a Dominican Republic casino -- actually it was 25 pesos but I think that was approximately 70 cents at the time.
 

FLASH1296

Well-Known Member
High quality chips (clay/plastic) cost about .35 each, or so they say.

A lot of casinos have switched to the newer cheaper all plastic chips which are light and do not have a good feel to them, e.g. Borgata in A,C.
 

wwcd

Well-Known Member
winr_winr_chicken_dinner! said:
Hey Shad, you think too many people were keeping the fifty cent chips as souvenirs and they are running out?
Another casino I went had Kennedy halves, and one guy playing at the table wanted to buy a roll of those (10 half dollar coins wrapped in paper). He asked the dealer whether he could buy one of those, she asked the pit, pit nodded and he put the $5 on the table and got his roll of half dollars :)

The casino in my original question doesn't carry these though. The lowest they have is $1 chip. By the way, I was playing there yesterday, and someone on the table did exactly what I mentioned (bet $7.50, and got a blackjack). Dealer paid her $11 ($5+$5+$1), hence short paying her by a quarter. The lady seemed fine with it, still having the smile from getting the blackjack. I wanted to bring this up to table's attention, but then said what the hell. I personally wouldn't have settled for a short pay though.
 

Canceler

Well-Known Member
wwcd said:
By the way, I was playing there yesterday, and someone on the table did exactly what I mentioned (bet $7.50, and got a blackjack). Dealer paid her $11 ($5+$5+$1), hence short paying her by a quarter.
My first thought: What a ripoff!

My second thought: We could view it as a tax on people who slow the game down by betting screwball amounts. Maybe that's not so bad! :devil:
 

wwcd

Well-Known Member
Canceler said:
My first thought: What a ripoff!

My second thought: We could view it as a tax on people who slow the game down by betting screwball amounts. Maybe that's not so bad! :devil:
Lol, I personally like to slow the game down, as I'm a BS player :) I like the excitement, cheering etc. at the table, while playing my humble BS game, for a 0.69% house edge.

In one instance, at this very same casino, dealer hit a hard 17, with a 3, to get a 20! She was initially showing a 4, so I stood at 14. I had lost the hand already, but the guy next to me had a 17. Dealer beat everyone with her 20, and completed the collection of everyone's chips. I then pointed out, and the pit came in, lots of discussions, contacting the surveillance etc. Finally surveillance results came in, and they said I get squat, since I had a 14 (which was fine, I knew I lost the hand already). The others also had losing hands, the guy next to me got his $10 back, since he had a push.

I kinda felt good, like a hero of the table, while slowing down the game :) Thinking about it, maybe I should've brought up the quarter short-pay as well. It feels good when players watch out for each other. Someone helped me out at a Let It Ride table, when the dealer showed a queen, to match mine for a 1:1 payout. She proceeded to collect my $5, while the guy next to me jumped out of his seat, to warn her, so I got back $5 more, instead of losing $5. I was distracted with some cocktail waitress :cool2:
 

Sucker

Well-Known Member
sucker said:
It depends upon the casino. Almost every single casino will round the amount DOWNWARD and pay you $11.00. I HAVE seen houses that will round it UP to $11.50, but this is extremely rare.
shadroch said:
My experiances have been the opposite. I don't believe I've ever seen a casino short pay a player intentionally.
Since the time of this posting, I've decided to double check my facts. I specifically asked this question to 10 different pit bosses at 10 different Las Vegas strip clubs. Every single one of them said that the rule at THEIR club was to round DOWN, and short the player the 25 cents. A couple of them even explained why: Las Vegas is FULL of bottom feeders who would start to go around and ONLY bet $7.50 every hand. In my experience with Vegas; I'd have to agree with him 100% about these people.

I didn't even poll any downtown clubs; I can almost GUARANTEE what the answer would be on Fremont Street.
 

DrEntropy

Active Member
Sucker said:
Las Vegas is FULL of bottom feeders who would start to go around and ONLY bet $7.50 every hand. In my experience with Vegas; I'd have to agree with him 100% about these people..
I wonder about off strip? But I am sure they would round down as well, no reason to pay out extra! In fact I have never seen any game round up. This extra bit of income from rounding down is called "Breakage" in the horse business...
 
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