Ultimate 21

Last update: December 27, 2002

Introduction

Ultimate 21 is a simple blackjack variation requiring no skill, except bet selection. I have seen it at the Sahara and Hard Rock casinos in Las Vegas but both have removed it.

Rules

A five deck shoe is used, usually from a continuous shuffler. The dealer will deal four cards and form the best possible blackjack hand that can be composed using any number of the four cards. The player bets in advance what the highest total will be.

For example if the four cards are a 5, queen, 3, and 4 the best total would be 19. The following table shows what each bet pays.

Ultimate 21 Pay Table
Bet	Pays
17 or less	30 to 1
18	25 to 1
19	8 to 1
20	1 to 1
21	3 to 1
Blackjack	4 to 1

House Edge

The next table shows the probability of winning and house edge on each bet.

House Edge in Ultimate 21
Bet	Pays	Probability	House Edge
8 to 17	30 to 1	2.94%	8.78%
18	25 to 1	3.25%	15.41%
19	8 to 1	10.80%	2.84%
20	1 to 1	41.50%	17.00%
21	3 to 1	22.57%	9.72%
blackjack	4 to 1	18.94%	5.32%

So, if you play bet on the 19.

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