Knockout 52

Introduction

There is no other game Knockout 52 can be easily compared to. Briefly, there is a layout on the table with the 13 ranks in a deck. The dealer will deal one card at a time to each position on the layout. Play stops when a card from the deck matches the rank on the next spot on the layout. If the player goes 13, 26, or 39 cards without a match, then he starts over at the first position. The object is to correctly predict how long it will take for a match to be formed or no match at all.

Rules

1. A single 52-card deck is used.
2. The betting layout shall consist of four rows and 13 columns. The columns shall be labeled ace to king, in that order, from left to right. Each of the four rows shall be referred to as a "round."
3. After betting is closed, the dealer shall deal the first card to the first round. If this card matches the rank on the layout, in this case an ace, then the round will be over and winning bets will be adjudicated.
4. Otherwise, if the first card was not an ace, then the second card will be dealt to the first round. If that card matches the rank on the layout, in this case a 2, then the round will be over and winning bets will be adjudicated.
5. This process of dealing across the first round will continue until a card matches the column heading or none of the 13 cards match their respective column heading.
6. If there are no matches in the first round, the dealer shall deal the 14th card to the A column in the second round. If that card is not an ace, then the dealer shall continue to deal across the second round until he reaches the end of that round or there is a match.
7. If there is no match in the first 26 cards, the dealer will deal across the third round Path in the same manner. If there is no match in the third round, then the dealer will go onto the final fourth round.
8. If the dealer gets through all 52 cards without a match, then there will be said to be “No Match” and bets on No Match will be adjudicated (there can be no other winners in this event).
9. All bets win or lose according to the first match or no match at all.
10. The card that forms a match is known as the "Knockout Card."
11. The following types of bets are available:
    • First Round Ace — The first match will be in the very first card in the first round. Wins pay 10 to 1.
    • 1A — The first match will be in the first round in rank of A to 8. Wins pay 1 to 1.
    • 1A — The first match will be in the first round in rank of 6 to K. Wins pay 2 to 1.
    • Second Round — The first match will be in the second round. Wins pay 3 to 1.
    • Third Round — The first match will be in the third round. Wins pay 10 to 1.
    • Fourth Round — The first match will be in the fourth round. Wins pay 30 to 1.
    • No Match — No matches in all four rounds Wins pay 50 to 1.
    • Red &mash; Knockout card is red. No match is a loss. Wins pay 1 to 1.
    • Black &mash; Knockout card is black. No match is a loss. Wins pay 1 to 1.

 

Knockout 52 layout

Analysis

The following table shows my analysis assuming a single deck of cards. The right column shows the best bet is on round 1 with a house edge of 3.56%.

Following is my analysis based on eight decks of cards under an old set of rules that I believe are no longer followed.

The next table shows the probability of a match after any given number of cards or no match for both one and eight decks.

Methodology

A random simulation was used to analyze this game. For one deck, the simulation included 4,910,000,000 games played. For eight decks, it included 8,899,500,000 games. I feel the probabilities are accurate to five decimal places.

External Links

• Knockout 52 — Official web site
• Discussion about Knockout 52 in my forum at Wizard of Vegas.

Written by: Michael Shackleford