Aug 6 2026
Three Card Poker Hole-Card Play: Update #1
Hole-carding 3CP was one of the first advanced plays I was involved with. Back in 2002, when I saw a dealer flash her hole-card in 3CP at my local casino, I was excited and quickly computed optimal strategy and the edge. I thought this was a one-off, that I would not see 3CP hole-cards anywhere else.
Card Counting the Lucky Lucky Blackjack Side Bet
The “Lucky Lucky” (LL) blackjack side bet has payouts based on the player’s two cards and the dealer’s up-card. After the player makes the LL bet, the values of the player’s two cards and dealer’s up card are summed. Hands that total 19, 20 or 21 are winners, with bonuses for suited hands and for the hands 6-7-8 and 7-7-7. All other hands lose. As usual for blackjack, an Ace counts as 1 or 11.
Card Counting the Buster Blackjack Side Bet, 2 Decks
In this post, I discussed card counting the Buster Blackjack (BBJ) side bet in the six-deck case. The player wins the BBJ side bet if the dealer busts. The payout is based on the number of cards in the dealer’s busted hand, with a top payout for an 8+ card dealer busted hand.
Card Counting the Bust It Blackjack Side Bet
In the past few years there has been a proliferation of blackjack side bets based on the theme of the dealer busting. Among these side bets are “Bet the Bust,” “Bust Bonus,” “Bust It,” “Buster Blackjack,” and “Dealer Bust 21.” The market probably has room for one of these to be moderately successful: the winner of that battle is still to be determined.
