Dear
Mark,
The casino I play in offers Royal Match as a blackjack
side bet. All the blackjack games offered use a shoe.
I am curious as to if this is a good bet, especially
on a shoe game. David H.
The
Royal Match is a side bet in blackjack that is based
on the first two cards dealt to the player. The rules
of this side bet are quite simple, David. If the player's
first two cards are suited, such as a queen and five
of hearts, the player is paid 5 to 2. If the player
has a royal match, (a suited king and queen) the bet
pays 25 to 1. The final outcome of your hand has no
influence, since the player with a matched hand is paid
immediately, before the hand is played out.
The casino's advantage
on a Royal Match bet depends on the number of decks
used. The more decks in play, surprisingly,
the better the odds for the player. If playing on
a six-deck shoe game, the casino advantage is 6.67%.
On an eight-deck game, the house edge is slightly
lower at 6.46%. For the player, things get progressively
worse the fewer decks there in the game. For four
decks, the house advantage is 7.08%, for two decks
it climbs to 8.33%, and to a whopping 10.86% on
a single deck game. One exception is a paytable
I occasionally see on some single deck blackjack
games, where a non-royal match pays 4 to 1, and
a royal match pays 10 to 1. The house edge with
these rules is 3.77%.
Here's the real skinny,
David. I have never seen a side bet offered by the
casino that was a better wager than the basic game
it was on. Gimmicky side bets typically carry a
house edge of at least 3%, and run as high as 76%.
And although, David, the Royal Match wager is a
healthier side bet than most of the side bets offered
by the casino, it's still a bad deal, being over
this columnist's mandated two percent tops casino
advantage. By ignoring the Royal Match offering,
you keep more of your hard-earned money in your
wallet for a longer time.
