Share this

Wizard Recommends

  • Up to $12,250 in Bonuses Play
  • $12,500 Welcome Bonus Play
  • 100% Welcome Bonus Play

Ask the Wizard #255

A local Connecticut casino is having a one-day promotion, in the middle of July, where the player can triple down in Blackjack. What would be the appropriate basic strategy and house edge?


I know about it. The Mohegan Sun is running a "triple down" promotion for 24 hours, starting at 6:00 AM on July 15. It is valid on all blackjack and Spanish 21 tables, and the maximum additional wager is $500. Information can be found on both the Mohegan Sun’s promotions page. The newsroom used to have the following statement, but it was removed:

Showing an eleven and looking to double down? On Thursday, July 15th, guests who play Spanish 21 or Blackjack will be eligible to triple down on their bet f.rom 6:00am on July 15th to 5:59am on July 16th. After a player receives their first two cards, they may make an additional wager up to triple the amount of the original wager. All tables will make tripling down available up to a $500.00 maximum bet. Standard double down rules apply.

The removed content indicates that the player may quadruple down, because the total wager would be four times as much as the initial wager. Maybe it was removed because it was a misprint.

I’m told in blackjack they use six decks, stand on a soft 17, allow surrender and double after a split, but don’t allow re-splitting aces. Normally the house edge under those rules would be 0.36%. I’m not sure if the player will be allowed to triple/quadruple after a split. Here is the player edge under various sets of rules:

  • Player may triple down on first two cards, double down after split: 1.39%
  • Player may triple down on first two cards, triple down after split: 1.59%
  • Player may quadruple down on first two cards, double down after split: 3.20%
  • Player may quadruple down on first two cards, quadruple down after split: 3.62%
Following are strategies for triple and quadruple down, assuming each is allowed after a split. If the player may only double after a split, then the player should following the conventional splitting strategy, except if the player can quadruple down, but only double after a split, then the player should quadruple on 4,4 vs. 6.








More of just an update than a question, but as of a few weeks ago, Aria started dealing Let It Ride face up. I see you already addressed the issue of having more information, but it certainly appears that the extra info, especially at a full table, could be an advantage over a standard game. According to the dealer, it was to stop the cards from being bent by players, but by playing for an hour it becomes apparent that they can push a lot more hands out by not having to wait.


According to Beyond Counting (Exhibit CAA) by James Grosjean, if you can see every player card in a 7-player game, and make perfect use of the information, the house edge drops, but not more than the 3.51% house edge. As I state in my Let It Ride page, I would eyeball the table for the cards you need in the two borderline plays, four to an outside straight with no high cards, and four to an inside straight with four high cards. That would be of very marginal help.

Resorts in Atlantic City charges a 25¢ fee to play blackjack for bets of $2 to $5. How does that affect the house edge?


In any game that charges a fee to play, which is common in the California card casinos, the increase in the house edge is f/(f+b), where f is the fee, and b is the bet. In this situation, I define the house edge as the ratio of the expected player loss to the sum of the bet and the fee. So, if your blackjack bet is $2, then the increase is 0.25/2.25 = 11.11%. If you bet $5 then the increase is 0.25/5.25 = 4.76%.

My advice is that if you can’t afford the minimum $10 to avoid the fee, then play video blackjack, or some other game.

There is an article about this at