Double Exposure Blackjack

Double Exposure blackjack was very popular in the 1980s and can still be found in a few casinos. In this blackjack variation, the dealer shows both his cards, instead of the classic one card up and one card down. In a traditional game of blackjack, this rule of knowing the dealer’s exact hand would give the basic strategy player a huge edge. For example, if you were dealt a stiff hand, such as a 16, against a dealers up-card which is a 10. Basic strategy says you should hit. But in Double Exposure, allows you to see the dealer’s entire hand which is also stiff. Your strategy changes from hitting to standing and leave the dealer with the higher chance of breaking because he must hit 16 or less. Unfortunately there is a catch in this game. Typically when both hands are the same (a push) no money changes hands. However in Double Exposure Blackjack the dealer wins all ties. This works out to about a 9 percent house edge. Imagine yourself with a 19 against the dealer’s 19; what do you do? You have to hit, if you stand, you lose the tie bet. Hitting with a 19 presents you with an extremely small chance of getting the ace or deuce. Even though this game is very appealing to the recreational player, there is no way you can realistically beat it. I recommend that you avoid it.

Multiple Action Blackjack

This is one of my favorite variations of blackjack. In this game, you are playing your dealt hand against two or three different dealer hands. The dealer’s hand all use the same up card. In some online casino’s like Golden Palace (goldenpalace.com) Multiple Action Blackjack has the player, playing three different hands against the dealers one hand. Both the online and land based casino games begin with the players placing either two or three bets on three betting circles in front of each player’s seat. Let’s say the dealer deals himself a 5 while you’re sitting with a 15. Basic strategy says you should stand. After all of the players make their decisions, the dealer completes this hand. Let’s say he breaks. This is Hand 1, and the dealer pays off the players left in the game (those who have not broken and lost). Now comes Hand 2. You play your same hand, but the dealer must deal himself a new hand starting with that same 5 up-card. This hand is completed and then a third hand is dealt in the same way, with you keeping your same hand and the dealer dealing another hand to that 5 up-card. Going back to your hand of 15, if you hit that 15, let’s say against a 10 up-card, you lose all three bets and now must wait for the round of three hands to be completed and another to begin.

In the game at GoldenPalace.com you play three individual hands just like you were three different players. You play the first hand, followed by the second and third. Once you have made all the decisions for the three hands the dealer turns over their hand and then determines which if any of your three hands are winners.