Lucky Blackjack Rules, Pays and Strategy

How to play Lucky Blackjack, the hypothetically crestfallen offspring of 21 and Baccarat.

If two table game cousins, blackjack and baccarat, were to get together one night after a few too many drinks and produce an illegitimate child, Lucky Blackjack would be the largely unloved result of their inbreeding. That’s about the best way I can describe this game, and as such, it should go without saying that I really don’t recommend playing it.

On the other hand, the purpose of this ultimate blackjack guide is to provide the complete rules and strategies for every single variation of 21 known to land-based and online casinos. Neglecting to document Lucky Blackjack would be an injustice to the gambling community. And besides, those who come across it at Playtech casinos may not realize just how bad the game is. And it is for those players that the following documentation is provided.

How to Play Lucky Blackjack

This is by no means your typical blackjack game. The whole player-vs-dealer concept has been swept aside. There is only one hand dealt in this version, and it doesn’t belong to anyone. If it did, it would belong to the dealer, since house rules are always applied to it.

Basic Rules: One 52-card deck is in use, and the hand will be hit on any total of 16 or below, standing on any 17 or above. There is no doubling, no splitting, and no offering of insurance.

The object of the game is to bet on the outcome of the hand, played out automatically by those house rules (much the way baccarat hands are played out with no decision making on the player’s part).

Lucky 21 Bets, Pays and Odds

There are 7 optional bets in Playtech’s Lucky Blackjack game. Wagering options, payouts and house edge calculations are as follows:

Strategy for Lucky Blackjack

The best advice I can give you is not to play this game at all. The table above depicts a house edge that ranges from, at best, 3.36%, to, at worst, 14.92%. At those odds, you might as well be playing the slot machines or keno. We all know how bad the odds on those games can be.

However, if your better judgment disagrees with mine, and you choose you play Lucky Blackjack anyway, then I would have to suggest sticking to bets on “18 points” only. This bet proffers the best possible theoretical return to player (RTP) of 96.64%, equivalent to a house edge of 3.36%. If you get bored with that one, the bet on Blackjack isn’t too much worse, delivering a 96.53% RTP (3.47% edge).