Wizard of Macau - Blackjack

*** Some mistakes in Lisboa Strategy

Lisboa Strategy
soft 19(4&5 cards) vs 7 = stay
soft 19(4&5 cards) vs 8 = stay
soft 18(3 cards) vs 8 = hit
7,7 vs T = hit
2,2 vs 7 = hit

***

Last update: Sept. 12, 2007

Introduction

To understand the blackjack scene in Macau it is helpful to have an historical background.

Until 2001 Stanley Ho's company SJM held a monopoly on gambling in Macau. When his monopoly expired in 2001 the government initially allowed two more licenses. Each new license holder was to be at least partially owned by a Macau person or company. When one of these partnerships went bad, the gaming authorities in Macau allowed the license to be split into two. When the other two full license holders complained, to be fair, the Macau government allowed each of them a sub-license as well.

So, there are now six owners of gaming licenses in Macau. Each license holder may build as many casinos as he likes, or at least I'm told. In August 2007 I went to Macau to investigate the blackjack rules there. Usually each license holder kept the rules the same within each property and across all its properties, with the Lisboa being an exception. The remainder of this document will explain the blackjack rules for each group, indicate the house edge, and provide the appropriate basic strategy under the given rules.

Lisboa

Although the Lisboa is an SJM property, but the blackjack rules are more liberal than the other SJM properties. Following are the specifics.

• 5 decks.
• Dealer stands on soft 17.
• Player may double only on 11.
• Dealer does not take a hole card. If dealer has blackjack player will lose entire bet, including additional wagers for doubling and splitting.
• Double after a split allowed.
• Player may surrender on any initial two cards, except against a dealer ace. This is equivalent to "early surrender" against a 10, because the player may invoke it before the dealer checks for blackjack.
• The player may choose to win half his bet with any five-card hand, except against a dealer ace, and after splitting.
• A player 7-7-7 in his initial hand will immediately pay 3 to 1. Splitting will void this rule.
• Resplitting aces is allowed.
• Continuous shuffler.

Note: After splitting, if the strategy says H3 or H4, then stand.

The house edge under these rules is a scant 0.01%. Following is the basic strategy under these rules.

SJM, except Lisboa

SJM is a Portugese acronym for Sociedade de Jogo de Macau. This translates to Society of Games of Macau. Stanley Ho is a major shareholder of SJM. The majority of casinos in Macau are SJM properties.

The SJM blackjack rules, except at the Lisboa are as follows. The Lisboa is treated separately above.

• 5 decks.
• Dealer stands on soft 17.
• Player may double only on 11.
• Dealer does not take a hole card. If dealer has blackjack player will lose entire bet, including additional wagers for doubling and splitting.
• Double after a split allowed.
• Player may surrender on any initial two cards, except against a dealer ace. This is equivalent to "early surrender" against a 10, because the player may invoke it before the dealer checks for blackjack.
• A player 7-7-7 in his initial hand will immediately pay 3 to 1. Splitting will void this rule.
• Resplitting aces not allowed.
• Continuous shuffler.

The house edge under these rules is 0.89%. It is this high mainly due to being allowed to double only on 11. Following is the basic strategy under these rules. Note that the 777 bonus does not change the strategy for splitting sevens.

Wynn

As of the last update the only Wynn property in Macau is the Wynn Macau. I hear of talk of plans to build a second property on the Taipa side.

The Wynn blackjack rules are as follows.

• 4 decks.
• Dealer hits on soft 17.
• Player may double on any first two cards.
• Dealer does not take a hole card. If dealer has blackjack player will lose only original wager. Additional wagers made due to double or splitting will be returned.
• Double after a split allowed.
• Player may surrender on any initial two cards, except against a dealer ace. This is equivalent to "early surrender" against a 10, because the player may invoke it before the dealer checks for blackjack.
• Resplitting aces allowed.
• Continuous shuffler.

The house edge under these rules is 0.32%. Following is the basic strategy under these rules.

Sands

As of early August 2007 the only Sands property in Macau is the Sands itself. On August 28 the Sands will open its second property, the Venetian, on the Cotai side.

The Sands blackjack rules are as follows.

• 5 decks.
• Dealer stands on soft 17.
• Player may double on any first two cards.
• Dealer does not take a hole card. If dealer has blackjack player will lose entire bet, including additional wagers for doubling and splitting.
• Double after a split allowed.
• Player may surrender on any initial two cards, except against a dealer ace. This is equivalent to "early surrender" against a 10, because the player may invoke it before the dealer checks for blackjack.
• Resplitting aces not allowed.
• Continuous shuffler.

The house edge under these rules is 0.26%. Following is the basic strategy under these rules.

Galaxy

As of August 2007 the Galaxy properties include the StarWorld, President, and Galaxy Waldo. They also have a huge project under construction on the Taipa side, I believe opening in 2008.

The Galaxy blackjack rules are as follows.

• 6 decks.
• Dealer stands on soft 17.
• Player may double on any first two cards.
• Dealer does not take a hole card. If dealer has blackjack player will lose only original wager. Additional wagers made due to double or splitting will be returned(double only, all splitting lose on dealer blackjack).
• ***the dealer will not take doubles, but will take splits, against a dealer blackjack
• Double after a split allowed.
• Player may surrender on any initial two cards, except against a dealer ace. This is equivalent to "early surrender" against a 10, because the player may invoke it before the dealer checks for blackjack.
• Resplitting aces not allowed.
• Continuous shuffler.

The house edge under these rules is 0.16%. Following is the basic strategy under these rules.

Criticism: I have an unconfirmed report that at the Galaxy itself (in the Waldo Hotel) the player loses all to a dealer blackjack. The same source said at the other Galaxy properties (StarWorld, President) resplitting aces is allowed, and the dealer will not take doubles, but will take splits, against a dealer blackjack. (Sep 7, 07)

Crown

As of August 2007 the only Crown property was the Crown casino, located in the Hyatt.

The Crown blackjack rules are the same as Galaxy's, as follows.

• 6 decks.
• Dealer stands on soft 17.
• Player may double on any first two cards.
• Dealer does not take a hole card. If dealer has blackjack player will lose only original wager. Additional wagers made due to double or splitting will be returned.
• Double after a split allowed.
• Player may surrender on any initial two cards, except against a dealer ace. This is equivalent to "early surrender" against a 10, because the player may invoke it before the dealer checks for blackjack.
• Resplitting aces not allowed.
• Continuous shuffler.

The house edge under these rules is 0.17%. Following is the basic strategy under these rules.

For more information on blackjack, please visit my companion site, Wizard of Odds.