What Is Multi Hand Blackjack

Are you a polished Blackjack player? If so, then this snazzy-looking card game is for you! On Multihand Blackjack, you can play up to four hands at once. And with an eight deck shoe in play, the action never stops. Stand, Hit, Double or Split, this game offers you everything a Blackjack game has to. Multi-Hand Blackjack is one popular variant of standard blackjack. In general, most of the standard blackjack rules apply in the variant. Players play against a dealer and the objective is to get a hand with a higher value than the dealer’s hand, without going over 21. Classic Multi-Hand Blackjack played online is a rewarding casino experience - also less stressful then when played at land-based casinos, as you may feel pressured by the dealer at some points. There’s a lot of luck involved, but also much more strategy then in single-deck games.

austintx

Is it better to play two (or three) hands rather than one?
If every trial were independent of each other, than playing one hand at $200 gives you the same odds as playing two hands at $100. But of course, each hand at blackjack is not independent, particularly when counting cards.
Playing more than one hand seems to better help exploit a card counting strategy, no?

DJTeddyBear

It's better only in the case where there is a more-or-less 50% chance of winning, and you're trying to not lose.
Betting two hands gives you about a 75% chance of not losing both. But it's now about 50% of breaking even, and only 25% for winning.

Superstitions are silly, childish, irrational rituals, born out of fear of the unknown. But how much does it cost to knock on wood? 😁 Note that the same could be said for Religion. I.E. Religion is nothing more than organized superstition. 🤗

Lote

I'm not a counter but from what I've read two hands in blackjack have are slightly correlated for winning and losing. You would reduce variance but not as much as having two hands of blackjack at independent tables. Additionally, in positive counts, the extra blackjack hands would remove cards at a higher rate from the positive count of the deck thereby decreasing the amount of money wagered at a positive count if you are halving your max bet and spreading it to two hands.

austintx

Most tables allow you to bet the table max on both hands. So you can further escalate your bet on positive counts. Also, with positive counts, more of the cards come to you, and not the dealer. Lets say it is just you and the dealer, then half of the cards are initially dealt to you. If you are playing two hands, then 2/3 of the cards are coming to you. So in positive counts, you are actually getting more cards relative to the dealer, which seems like a good thing. You are also getting more in bad counts, but then you are wagering less. To me, the fact that you are pulling more cards in your direction in positive counts, may mean that it is better to play two hands rather than one when counting. Tell me if I am wrong.

DJTeddyBear

FYI: I neglected to consider card counting when I replied. And I had just read your $17,500 win thread.

I don't count, so I can't comment on that part.

austintx

It would seem to make sense to play solo against the dealer, then suddenly play seven hands against the dealer when the count is good. All of the betting strategies (Kelly, etc.) seem to not take into account increasing the number of hands you play -- just increasing the bet size. I am saying, what about varying the number of hands? Why give the dealer 50% of the good cards? Why wouldn't you want to take 7/8ths? Perhaps it would be easier to be discovered as a counter, that is not the point, the point is mathematically if there are a finite number of good cards during a good count, why would you not want more?

teddys

If you don't count, there is no difference to playing two versus one hand other than decreased variance (assuming the amount bet is the same, e.g., 1x$200 vs. 2x$100), because sometimes you'll win one and lose one, resulting in a push. If you do count, there is an advantage to getting more money out on the table in high counts, and most card counters will spread to two hands because they don't like variance either and want a better chance to catch that ten or ace. Other times counters will spread to two hands of low bets to eat up small-value cards when the count is low, but I don't think that's a very common play. Most will just drop out.
I've never been in any casino that lets you play more than two spots.

'Dice, verily, are armed with goads and driving-hooks, deceiving and tormenting, causing grievous woe.' -Rig Veda 10.34.4

FleaStiff

Well, one thing is certain.
You can't go away from the table muttering about that absolute jerk whose ridiculous playing cost you cards that should have been dealt to you. If its you yourself who are making the decisions about the first hand, that second hand is not going to be subject to someone who 'took your cards'.

benbakdoff

If you are playing heads up, halving your max bet and spreading to two hands will result in using 50% more cards while betting 50% more money. I've always considered that a wash and would play one hand. If there are other players at the table, spreading is the way to go in positive counts.
Don't forget to spread right before the cut card comes out to get deeper pen.
As always, be careful and know your casino. These are all red flags.

fabianbranson

Playing multiple hands is worthwhile only if you have an advantage over the casino, from counting cards and because the rules the casino offers are so liberal that the player has an edge 'off the top'. If you do have an edge in the game, playing more than one hand is an excellent way of increasing your betting spread both in online blackjack or in land based casino blackjack while you are still appearing like a gambler, rather than a counter.

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Introduction

I saw Buster Blackjack in Lake Tahoe on July 9, 2016, but I think it has been around for years. The bet wins if the dealer busts. The more cards it takes, the more the player wins. The bet is marketed by AGS.

Rules

The rules to the side bet are quite simple. If the dealer busts, then the player wins according to how many cards were needed to bust. If the dealer does not bust, then the side bet loses. I know of two pay tables, which are shown below. All wins are on a 'to one' basis.

Version 1 Pay Table

Version 2 assumes that if the player gets a blackjack, then the dealer will still play out his hand.

Version 2 Pay Table

Cards	Pays
8+ cards & player BJ	2000
7 cards & player BJ	800
8+ cards & no player BJ	250
7 cards & no player BJ	50
6 cards	18
5 cards	4
3 or 4 cards	2

Pay Table 1 Analysis

The following table shows the probability and return of all possible outcomes, assuming six decks and the dealer hits a soft 17. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 6.21%.

Pay Table 1 — Six Decks — Dealer Hits Soft 17

Event	Pays	Probability	Return
Bust with 8 cards	250	0.000012	0.002986
Bust with 7 cards	50	0.000214	0.010722
Bust with 6 cards	12	0.002638	0.031651
Bust with 5 cards	4	0.020473	0.08189
Bust with 4 cards	2	0.089392	0.178784
Bust with 3 cards	2	0.173032	0.346064
Dealer doesn't bust	-1	0.714241	-0.714241
Total	1.000000	-0.062143

The next table shows the house edge for other number of decks and whether the dealer hits or stands on soft 17.

House Edge Summary

Decks	Stand on Soft 17	Hit on Soft 17
1	8.77%	6.89%
2	8.48%	6.51%
4	8.31%	6.29%
5	8.27%	6.25%
6	8.25%	6.21%
8	8.22%	6.17%

Pay Table 2 Analysis

The following table shows the probability and return of all possible outcomes, assuming six decks and the dealer stands on a soft 17. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 6.20%.

Multi Hand Blackjack Online

Pay Table 2 — Six Decks — Dealer Hits Soft 17

Event	Pays	Probability	Return
8+ cards & player BJ	2000	0.00000037	0.000746886
7 cards & player BJ	800	0.00000786	0.006284453
8+ cards	250	0.00000808	0.002020582
7 cards	50	0.00016478	0.008239127
6 cards	18	0.00231512	0.041672197
5 cards	4	0.01911939	0.076477552
3 or 4 cards	2	0.26030574	0.520611475
No bust	-1	0.71807866	-0.718078658
Total	1.00000000	-0.062026386

Mega Blackjack

Mega Blackjack is a blackjack variant that has special pay tables for the Buster Blackjack bet, as shown below. Note that for pay table 3 the dealer must bust with four or more cards for the side bet to win.

Buster Blackjack Version 3

Event	Pays	Probability	Return
Bust with 8+ cards	250	0.000012	0.002986
Bust with 7 cards	50	0.000214	0.010722
Bust with 6 cards	15	0.002638	0.039564
Bust with 5 cards	10	0.020473	0.204726
Bust with 4 cards	6	0.089392	0.536351
All other	-1	0.887272	-0.887272
Total	1.000000	-0.092923

Version 2 of Buster Blackjack has a pay table that pays for any busted dealer hand of three or more cards. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 13.79%.

Buster Blackjack Version 4

Event	Pays	Probability	Return
Bust with 8+ cards	250	0.000012	0.002986
Bust with 7 cards	50	0.000214	0.010722
Bust with 6 cards	15	0.002638	0.039564
Bust with 5 cards	4	0.020473	0.081890
Bust with 4 cards	3	0.089392	0.268175
Bust with 3 cards	1	0.173032	0.173032
All other	-1	0.714240	-0.714240
Total	1.000000	-0.137870

Evolution Gaming

The live dealer studio by Evolution Gaming offers a game called Infinite Blackjack with the following pay table. The other rules are eight decks, dealer stands on soft 17, and the dealer always plays out his hand, even if the player gets blackjack. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 6.18%.

Evolution Gaming Pay Table and Rules

Event	Pays	Probability	Return
Bust with 8+ cards	250	0.000009	0.002216
Bust with 7 cards	100	0.000177	0.017679
Bust with 6 cards	50	0.002337	0.116829
Bust with 5 cards	9	0.019139	0.172254
Bust with 4 cards	2	0.087163	0.174325
Bust with 3 cards	1	0.173015	0.173015
Dealer doesn't bust	-1	0.718160	-0.718160
Total	1.000000	-0.061842

Multi Hand Blackjack

General Dealer Analysis

As long as I took the trouble to analyze this bet, I created a table showing the probability of various dealer events for a six-deck and eight-deck games and whether the dealer hits or stands on a soft 17.

Multi Hand Blackjack online, free

Dealer Probabilities — Six Decks

Event	Stand Soft 17	Hit Soft 17
Dealer blackjack	0.0474894880039574	0.0474894880039574
Total of 17	0.1452452688762730	0.1334589459656700
Total of 18	0.1392577712671790	0.1412046774882130
Total of 19	0.1336847392868550	0.1356816733415020
Total of 20	0.1795273038236620	0.1815306022489940
Total of 21	0.0728740870713831	0.0748744175668735
Bust with 3 cards	0.1730318431697950	0.1730318431697950
Bust with 4 cards	0.0872738945778543	0.0893918097334332
Bust with 5 cards	0.0191193879779139	0.0204725508735587
Bust with 6 cards	0.0023151220619265	0.0026376021859953
Bust with 7 cards	0.0001726381111420	0.0002144441681795
Bust with 8 cards	0.0000082097440626	0.0000115279883244
Bust with 9 cards	0.0000002420252193	0.0000004080497202
Bust with 10 cards	0.0000000039733294	0.0000000090950948
Bust with 11 cards	0.0000000000293970	0.0000000001198596
Bust with 12 cards	0.0000000000000475	0.0000000000008244
Bust with 13 cards	0.0000000000000000	0.0000000000000022
Total	1.0000000000000000	1.0000000000000000

Free Online Multiple Hand Blackjack

Dealer Probabilities — Eight Decks

Event	Stand Soft 17	Hit Soft 17
Total of 17	0.145215	0.133409
Total of 18	0.139318	0.141280
Total of 19	0.133629	0.135630
Total of 20	0.179709	0.181714
Total of 21	0.072838	0.074841
Blackjack	0.047451	0.047451
Bust with 3 cards	0.173015	0.173015
Bust with 4 cards	0.087163	0.089276
Bust with 5 cards	0.019139	0.020491
Bust with 6 cards	0.002337	0.002661
Bust with 7 cards	0.000177	0.000219
Bust with 8 cards	8.60E-06	1.21E-05
Bust with 9 cards	2.63E-07	4.44E-07
Bust with 10 cards	4.58E-09	1.06E-08
Bust with 11 cards	3.76E-11	1.55E-10
Bust with 12 cards	8.35E-14	1.29E-12
Bust with 13 cards	0.00E+00	4.56E-15

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