Different twists on blackjack come and go in casinos pretty often. Few blackjack variants have the legs of Blackjack Switch or Spanish 21. Unfortunately, most blackjack variants live a life like Down Under Blackjack. This game lasted only a few months at Excalibur in Las Vegas.
Having said that, we’re always looking for new blackjack games to play in casinos. Sometimes a blackjack game will leave casinos in a certain area only to return. This happened recently with Double Exposure blackjack. Friend of the blog John Mehaffey recently found two Double Exposure blackjack games at Circus Circus in Las Vegas.
The only casino in Las Vegas with this game is Circus Circus. The Strat (formerly Straposphere) was the most recent Las Vegas casino with Double Exposure blackjack. This game doesn’t appear to be in many casinos around the country.
Double Exposure Blackjack
The name Double Exposure comes from the fact that both dealer cards are face up. These cards are “exposed” for everyone at the table. This makes the game easier as the players know what the goal of most hands will be.
Players will decide to hit an 18 if they see the dealer has a 20. In general, the strategy for Double Exposure isn’t quite the same as a traditional blackjack game.
As you’d imagine, other Double Exposure rules are altered to ensure the casino still has a healthy house edge. There are different versions of the game that make it slightly difficult to pin down the house edge for Double Exposure.
The house edge for Double Exposure can range from 0.26% to almost 2% depending on the rules. This might be worse than some traditional blackjack games but it’s better than many other casino games. For example, traditional double zero roulette has a house edge of 5.26%
- The big rules changes for Double Exposure include:
- Dealer wins on all ties (unless the player has a natural blackjack.)
- Natural blackjack pays even money (instead of 3:2 or 6:5)
- No Surrender
In addition, this game may have different rules for splitting and doubling. Even with some of these rules, Double Exposure has a lower house edge than many other games in a casino.
Visitors to Circus Circus should note that the casino doesn’t offer any traditional live dealer blackjack games that pay 3:2 for a natural blackjack.
This is surprising as Treasure Island is operated by the same company and offers plenty of blackjack games that pay 3:2 for this hand. When the year began, Treasure Island had 16 blackjack games with a minimum wager under $25 and a 0.46% house edge.
This was by far the best blackjack available under $25 on the Vegas Strip. Due to coronavirus capacity limits, there might be fewer 3:2 blackjack tables open at Treasure Island the next time you visit. Additionally, the minimum bet might be higher than normal.
