Lucky Stiff BJ Side Bet @ 7 Cedars, WA
Paigow Dan told me about the new Lucky Stiff side bet his friend recently placed at the 7 Cedars Casino in WA. It looks fun, because you’re paid 5:1 when your initial 12-16 hard total ends up winning the main hand. Also, blackjack pays even-money on the side bet, and an initial pair of 8-8, 7-7, and 6-6 instantly wins 10:1. Anyways, I ran the bet through my BJ analyzer, to see if it was interesting in any way. I understand that 7 Cedars lets you bet $5 on the main hand, and up to $25 on the side bet. So I ran the analysis for a 5:1 side-to-main ratio on a 6-deck, H17, SP4, SPA4 game. The return showed a house edge of 3.5% of the combined (main+side) wager. The optimal strategy for the 5:1 side-to-main ratio only has a few differences with basic strategy.
Hand | Dealer Upcard | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | A | |
Soft Totals | ||||||||||
soft 21 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
soft 20 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
soft 19 | S | S | S | S | D | S | S | S | S | S |
soft 18 | D | D | D | D | D | S | S | H | H | H |
soft 17 | H | D | D | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
soft 16 | H | H | D | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
soft 15 | H | H | D | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
soft 14 | H | H | H | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
soft 13 | H | H | H | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
Hard Totals | ||||||||||
hard 20 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
hard 19 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
hard 18 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
hard 17 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
hard 16 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | S | H |
hard 15 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | S | H |
hard 14 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | H | H |
hard 13 | S | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | H | H |
hard 12 | H | S | S | S | S | H | H | H | H | H |
hard 11 | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D |
hard 10 | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | H | H |
hard 9 | H | D | D | D | D | H | H | H | H | H |
hard 8 | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H |
hard 7 | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H |
hard 6 | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H |
hard 5 | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H | H |
Pairs | ||||||||||
A-A | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |
10-10 | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S | S |
9-9 | P | P | P | P | P | S | P | P | S | S |
8-8 | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P | P |
7-7 | P | P | P | P | P | P | H | H | H | H |
6-6 | P | P | P | P | P | H | H | H | H | H |
5-5 | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | H | H |
4-4 | H | H | H | P | P | H | H | H | H | H |
3-3 | P | P | P | P | P | P | H | H | H | H |
2-2 | P | P | P | P | P | P | H | H | H | H |
The EORs are fairly small for the 5:1 side-to-main ratio. They’re about only 1/3rd as effective as the EORs for a standard 6-deck shoe main game. So it’s not worth your time to count this side bet. For a single card removed in a 6-deck game, the EORs are as follows:
Card Removed | Return | EOR |
---|---|---|
None | 3.5009% | |
Ace | 3.1324% | 0.3685% |
Deuce | 3.3055% | 0.1954% |
Trey | 3.3723% | 0.1285% |
Four | 3.4423% | 0.0585% |
Five | 3.5247% | -0.0238% |
Six | 4.0443% | -0.5434% |
Seven | 3.7864% | -0.2856% |
Eight | 3.7654% | -0.2845% |
Nine | 3.3903% | 0.1106% |
Ten/Face | 3.4194% | 0.0815% |
This bet looks like fun. If you bet an equal main and side bet (1:1 side-to-main ratio), the house edge is 4.66% on the combined 2 unit bet (2.33% element-of-risk). That’s not too bad for a carnival-like odds. If you make a small side bet 1/5th of your main bet (e.g., a $1 side bet to a $5 main bet), then the house edge on the combined 1.2 unit bet is 1.38%. That’s not bad for a little bit of fun.
Stephen I have some questions about this sidebet, is there an email I can contact you at?
Use the “Contact Me” link on the sidebar.