Suit’Em Up BJ Side Bet @ Venetian, LV

Posted in +EV, blackjack sidebets by stephenhow on May 16, 2013

I saw this blackjack side bet in the Venetian last month, and it looked pretty you-know-what. I forgot to post about it until now. I’m pretty sure they use 8-deck shoes at the Venetian.

Suit’Em Up BJ Side Bet (8 Decks)
Hand	Combinations	Frequency	Payout	Return
Suited Aces	112	0.001297	60	0.077850
Suited BJs	1,024	0.011863	10	0.118628
Suited Pairs	1,344	0.015570	5	0.077850
Suited 11’s	1,024	0.011863	3	0.035589
Other Suited	17,920	0.207560	2	0.415199
nothing	64,896	0.751807	-1	-0.751807
total	86,320	1.000000		-0.026691

Suit’Em Up EORs (8 Decks)
Removed Card	EOR	Balanced Count	Unbalanced Count
Deuce	+0.000767	+1	+1
Trey	+0.000767	+1	+1
Four	+0.000767	+1	+1
Five	+0.000767	+1	+1
Six	+0.000767	+1	+1
Seven	+0.000767	+1	+1
Eight	+0.000767	+1	+1
Nine	+0.000767	+1	+1
Ten	+0.000116	0	+1
Jack	+0.000116	0	0
Queen	+0.000116	0	0
King	+0.000116	0	0
Ace	-0.006601	-8	-8

Using the unbalanced taps, the bet is +EV for RC >= +34 (assuming two decks behind the cut card). This yields 16% betting opportunities, with an average edge of +2.8%/bet. The theoretical max (using full shoe composition, including suits) is 17% opportunities @ +3.0%/bet. It’s not worth much.