An innovative betting option known as Casino Surrender, which was recently introduced in the greater Chicago area at the Blue Chip Casino & Hotel in Michigan City, Ind., has the potential to become a standard feature at blackjack tables in casinos nationwide if the early returns are any indication.
Since its debut on two tables at the Stardust in Las Vegas last April, it has expanded to 70 tables at 12 casinos and is currently licensed in the states of Nevada, Indiana and Mississippi. Before the end of the year it'll be on 100 tables at 16 casinos.
Casino Surrender is not be confused with surrender, an old blackjack option with limited availability whereby a player can elect to forfeit half of his bet to the house when he feels his two-card dealt hand is in a position of weakness against the dealer.
The new patented variation turns the tables on the casino by permitting the player to force the dealer to surrender under the following conditions: The player is holding a two-card 20 (10/10 or A/9) and the dealer is showing a 10-value up-card with no ace in the hole.
The reward for the player is the return of his original bet and a win of 50 percent of its value without having to play out the hand while risk having the dealer turn over a 10-value card for a 20 (push), or, worst case scenario, drawing to 21 and beating you.
As you would imagine, there's an upside for the house as well. According to the renowned mathematician and probability expert Mike Shackleford, the "Wizard of Odds" (www.wizardofodds.com), the player always stands to win 55.46 percent to 58.53 percent of his bet playing out a two-card 20.
Shackleford argues that in a typical six-deck game, the player will give up 5.91 percent of his bet with 10/10 and 5.46 percent of his bet with A/9 by opting for Casino Surrender.
But the inherent value of Casino Surrender is more complex according to the its creator, Frank Mugnolo, a 51-year-old Chicago native and president of Bellwood, Illinois based Casino Gaming LLC.
"Casino Surrender is not a 'carnival bet' where players have to make a side wager with a steep house advantage in order to be eligible for a return," Mugnolo argues. "It's an additional option made available at a table where all the standard rules of blackjack apply. Skilled players can actually use it to their advantage under the correct set of circumstances."
Mugnolo had his bet analyzed by Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) of Lakewood, New Jersey. The lab determined that when an expert player determines the count is plus four or higher, using the strategy will increase the player's return by up to 0.2299 percent while the house edge on the overall blackjack game will decrease to as low as 0.9862 and 0.9889 percent on six- and eight-deck games respectively.
But there's value for average players as well. Sure, it's a give-and-take proposition between players and the house, but aside from opting to take even money for a blackjack against a dealer's ace, what other option gives players a guaranteed win without playing out the hand to a decision?