This post is syndicated by the Las Vegas Advisor for the 888 casino group. Anthony Curtis comments on the 888 article introduced and linked to on this page.
AC says: Blackjack Xchange is one of many carnival, or “carney” games, in the market. You’ve probably never heard of it, but it’s been around a while. The reason it may sound new is because it’s dealt only in online casinos, due to the many rapid calculations necessary to offer the Xchange odds that you’ll read about. The big takeaway here is that there’s no reason outside of pure entertainment to ever make an Xchange, which might lead you to wonder why this game even exists. That question can be asked of many of the blackjack- and poker-derivative games that have worse odds than their traditional counterparts. The reason is that people will play them, either out of ignorance of the disadvantage they face or just because of an attraction to the action provided (video keno, anyone?). Those interested in the psychology, mathematics, and procedure for getting a new game into the casinos can find those details in our book The Essentials of Casino Game Design—From the Cocktail Napkin to the Casino Floor, by Dan Lubin, the only book on the market covering this topic.
This article was written by John Grochowski in association with 888Casino.
Blackjack Xchange
Imagine you’re dealt a stiff hand in blackjack such as 10-5 or 9-7 and the dealer has a 10 or an Ace face up. You’d love to exchange the lower card and take a chance at getting a 10 or Ace instead, wouldn’t you? Would you pay for the privilege?
Conversely, would you accept a fee from the house to exchange the higher card instead? Those are the kinds of situations that arise in Blackjack XChange, now carving out a niche at online casinos.
There are many player-attractive features to XChange, but the defining characteristic is the opportunity to exchange cards.
Mind you, paying the price to XChange doesn’t give you better odds than basic blackjack. At WizardofOdds.com, Michael Shackelford calculates that it’s best to skip the XChange feature and just take advantage of some favorable blackjack rules.
But for those looking for a little intrigue, it’s going to be awfully tempting to XChange when holding 10-6 and take a chance on improving on the 16, perhaps turning a stiff into a winner and maybe even creating a blackjack for a 3-2 payoff.
