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A-2 Blackjack Side Bet
Introduction
The A-2 is a blackjack side bet found on some electronic table games by Interblock. The bet wins if the dealer's up card falls between the player's two initial cards in rank.
Rules
Wins are based on the player's initial two cards and the dealer's up card. To win, these three cards must form a three of a kind or the dealer's up card must fall between the two player cards in rank. The number of ranks between the player's two cards is called the "spread."
- For purposes of the A-2 side bet, cards are ranked per their poker value, with aces HIGH only.
- The pay table is as follows:
- Three of a kind -- Pays 50 to 1
- Winning one-card spread -- Pays 5 to 1
- Winning two-card spread -- Pays 4 to 1
- All other wins -- Pays 1 to 1
Analysis
The following table shows my analysis of the A-2 bet with six decks. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 11.10%.
A-2 -- Six Decks
| Event | Pays | Permutations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three of a kind | 50 | 157872 | 0.005248 | 0.262421 |
| One-card spread | 5 | 304128 | 0.010111 | 0.050553 |
| Two-card spread | 4 | 552960 | 0.018383 | 0.073532 |
| All other spreads | 1 | 7050240 | 0.234384 | 0.234384 |
| Loss | -1 | 22014720 | 0.731874 | -0.731874 |
| Total | 30079920 | 1.000000 | -0.110984 |
The following table shows my analysis of the A-2 bet with six decks. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 10.41%.
A-2 -- Eight Decks
| Event | Pays | Permutations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Three of a kind | 50 | 386880 | 0.005413 | 0.270648 |
| One-card spread | 5 | 720896 | 0.010086 | 0.050431 |
| Two-card spread | 4 | 1310720 | 0.018339 | 0.073355 |
| All other spreads | 1 | 16711680 | 0.233818 | 0.233818 |
| Loss | -1 | 52342784 | 0.732344 | -0.732344 |
| Total | 71472960 | 1.000000 | -0.104092 |