Reason #3 why the Wizard likes Bovada:

Excellent Odds

In my opinion many online casinos are too stingy when setting the odds on their games. They think they will make more money that way but I believe they are misguided, because when players lose too quickly it’s not fun, and those players might not come back.

Bovada is one of the few casinos that understands this. They offer generous odds to let you play longer and get you a better chance of winning. Among their generous offerings are Full-Pay Jacks or Better returning 99.54%, six other video poker games paying over 99%, single-zero roulette, and my favorite, Pick ’em Poker, returning 99.95%!

Kudos to Bovada for not being afraid to give their players a good gamble.

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Ask the Wizard: Blackjack - No Hole Card / No Peek

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I have never seen any tips on blackjack where the dealer is dealt only one card. This seems to be a totally different game than regular blackjack. When you take a hit, you are taking what would be the second card of the dealers hand. A lot of online casinos have this game. Do you have any suggestions as to the best way to play these games? Thank you.
— Darrell from Coos Bay, U.S.

It doesn’t matter which card the dealer takes. What is important is whether the player can lose more than their original wager if the dealer has a blackjack. For example at Starnet casinos if the dealer has a 10 up and the player has an 11 and doubles the dealer can draw and ace afterward for a blackjack and the player will lose both the original bet and the double. To adjust for this European no-peek rule the player should be more conservative about doubling and splitting when the dealer has a potential blackjack. My site has the exact basic strategy to follow for various major brands of online software.

As a dealer from Canada I work at a casino that does not deal the hole card. I have never worked at a casino before this but have played at a lot of them. This is first one here in Canada that I have seen do this. Is this better for the players? Also is there much difference in basic strategy between the two? We use a six-deck shoe and hit on soft 17.
— Jesse from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

I just commented on this in my last newsletter. Two weeks ago I was playing blackjack in Germany where they also do not take a hole card. In this event the player loses the total bet if the dealer gets a blackjack, including the additional money bet after doubling or splitting. Basic strategy changes are to hit 11 against a 10, hit two 8’s against a 10 or ace, and hit two aces against an ace.

I just wanted to make sure that the correct play in the Microgaming single deck game of A,A vs A is to split as shown on your basic strategy card. I’m pretty sure the correct play would be to hit, at least with 4 decks, and it just seems that with all the 10’s left you might lose twice your bet pretty often. Not that I don’t believe you but I just wanted to make verify. Any chance you have the EV of hitting vs splitting on this hand?
— William from Pittsburgh, USA

I’ve been questioned about this several times and continue to maintain that despite losing the total bet the option to draw to split aces overcomes the European no-peek rule, thus splitting is the better play. Based on one deck the expected value of each hand (considering the possibility of a dealer blackjack) is -0.532849 for hitting and -0.223277 for splitting. So splitting is better by about 31% of a unit. Splitting is also better for the 4-deck game, which no Microgaming player should be playing since a 1-deck game with the same rules is available.

I am a part time blackjack player with a lot of success in land based casinos. I am thinking to start playing online but I have a few questions about this. Does a payout percentage of for example 98% mean that you lose 2% anyway regarding good or bad play. In European blackjack with no hole card, if you play last box isn’t it better to leave the little card for the bank or must I hit anyway? sometimes i have my doubs about this. P.S. love your site THANKS
— Andrew from Belgium

Thanks. Payout percentages such as this are historical. For example King Neptune’s casino posts their June 2006 report at www.kingneptunescasino.com/report567.php?bTag=knaff2287. The 96.78% for table games means that in June 2006 the ratio of money returned to money bet was 96.78%. In other words an actual house edge of 3.22%. Your own results will depend on the game rules, your skill (in games of decision making), and luck. In most games the odds are quantifiable so payout reports are not useful. It shouldn’t matter to you how badly other players have played or the mix of games they chose. Where these reports are very useful is in evaluating the slots. No casino that I know of volunteers how loose their slots are theoretically set, but such payout reports gives the user a good idea. If looking at other months you see that King Neptune’s pays about 96% in slots. I also think it is a good sign of a good operation to have return percentages independently verified. It shows the casino has nothing to hide.