Blackjack Switch is a variant of blackjack

Blackjack

Blackjack, also known as Twenty-one or Vingt-et-un , is the most widely played casino banking game in the world...

 in which two hands are dealt to each playing position, and the player is initially allowed to exchange ("switch") the top two cards between hands. For example, if the player is dealt 10-5 and 6-10, then the player may switch to transform the two hands into 10-10 and 6-5. Natural

Natural (gambling)

A natural is a term in several gambling games; in each case it refers to one or two specific good outcomes, usually for the player, often involves achieving a particular score in the shortest and fastest manner possible.- Examples :...

 blackjacks are paid 1:1 instead of the standard 3:2, and a dealer

Croupier

A croupier or dealer is someone appointed at a gambling table to assist in the conduct of the game, especially in the distribution of bets and payouts. Croupiers are typically employed by casinos.-Origin of the word:...

 hard 22 pushes all player hands except a natural. The initial bets on the two hands must be identical, although during playing out they may be doubled and split independently. The two wagers are resolved separately.

The switch decision

The correct decision regarding whether to switch is sometimes obvious, particularly when there is the largest difference in advantage. However, bordeline and counter-intuitive cases are relatively common, and switching strategy is hard to summarize. While an often-quoted rule of thumb

Rule of thumb

A rule of thumb is a principle with broad application that is not intended to be strictly accurate or reliable for every situation. It is an easily learned and easily applied procedure for approximately calculating or recalling some value, or for making some determination...

 is to choose the option that forms or preserves the best single hand, this is unreliable; sometimes it is even correct to break up a natural by switching, for instance in the case AT + T[3-8] vs. dealer 7, 8 or 9. The correct switching choice depends on the dealer card in a significant minority of cases. Near-optimal schemes which can be learnt have been developed by several authors: Arnold Snyder

Arnold Snyder

Arnold Snyder is a professional gambler and gambling author. He was elected by professional blackjack players as one of the seven original inductees into the Blackjack Hall of Fame for his record as a blackjack player and his innovations in professional gambling techniques...

 presents a protocol for switching decisions based on four categories of hand, "winner", "push", "loser" and "chance" which he claims reduces the house edge to 0.25% under his ruleset. Cindy Liu presents a scheme based on assigning a point value to the dealt hands and those produced by switching.

Basic strategy after the switch decision

Basic strategy for playing out blackjack switch hands, after the switching decision has been made, is tabulated below, for a game in which the dealer hits soft 17 and peeks for blackjack. Compared to traditional blackjack, in Blackjack Switch there are fewer occasions where doubling or splitting is rewarding, and more occasions where it is correct to hit at the risk of going bust. The differences originate from the push-on-dealer-22 rule.

Player's hand	Dealer's face-up card
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
Hard totals
17-20	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
14-16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
13	H	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
12	H	H	H	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
11	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H
10	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H	H
9	H	H	H	H	D	H	H	H	H	H
5-8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
Soft totals
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A,8, A,9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A,7	S	S	S	D	D	S	S	H	H	H
A,6	H	H	H	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,5	H	H	H	H	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,2-A,4	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
Pairs
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
A, A	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP
10,10	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
9,9	S	S	SP	SP	SP	S	SP	SP	S	S
8,8	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H
7,7	S	SP	SP	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H
6,6	H	H	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H	H
5,5	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H	H
4,4	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
2,2 3,3	H	H	H	SP	SP	SP	H	H	H	H

Key:

S = Stand

H = Hit

D = Double

SP = Split

Side bet

Blackjack Switch tables typically allow a side bet, called Super Match, which rewards pairs, three-of-a-kind, two-pairs or four-of-a-kind among the four initial cards comprising the players two hands. For a 6-deck game, the Super Match bet pays out 1 to 1 if there a pair is present, 5 to 1 for three of a kind, 8 to 1 for two pairs and 40 to 1 for four of a kind. This seems to mitigate the adverse effect on the player of the case where the two top or bottom cards are identical, which robs the player of a meaningful switching decision, although, like most side bets, playing it increases the house edge.

External links

• Wizard of Odds: Blackjack Switch
• Blackjack Switch Decision Calculator