Microgaming Hi Lo 13 European Blackjack Online

• Published: January 1, 2015
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Many online casino blackjack players prefer side bets to relieve the monotony of continuously playing the base game and therefore software providers have developed attractive variants. One such game is Hi Lo 13 European Blackjack Gold Series from Microgaming. Being a Gold Series table game, the table layout and the casino ambience is classier than in the regular games. Because Hi Lo 13 is a European Blackjack variant, the hole card will not be dealt and the dealer will not check for blackjack up front. Hi Lo 13 European Blackjack is available only as a single hand game.

One of the main advantages of this Microgaming online variant is that it is played with only two decks. This marginally reduces the house edge. The complete rules can be accessed by moving the cursor over the Rules icon on the screen. The brief rules of the base game are as follows. The dealer stands on all 17. The player can double down only on two-card hand values of 9, 10 or 11. The player can split only once to make two hands. Unlike 10 value cards cannot be split. A split ace and 10 value card counts as 21 and not blackjack. The table limits vary from 1 credit to 200 credits. These rules are similar to the usual online blackjack variants.

The Hi Lo 13 part of this online blackjack variant needs to be explained in greater detail. The Hi Lo 13 bets are optional and three of them are available to the player. It is mandatory to play the base game if you want to place the Hi Lo bets. You are permitted to place all three bets simultaneously, but that is not sound gaming strategy. The Hi Lo bets have lower table limits, the minimum being 1 credit and the maximum being 25 credits for each bet. The Hi Lo 13 bets are decided by the first two cards dealt to the player. You can win a Hi Lo bet even if you lose the base game. For these bets the aces are valued at 1 point. The other cards are valued in the normal blackjack manner. The Lo bet wins if the two-card hand value is less than 13. The Hi bet wins if the two-card hand value is more than 13. The Hi and Lo bets pay out at even money. The 13 bet wins if the two-card hand value is exactly 13 and it pays out at 10 to 1.