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The Game of Double Exposure Blackjack

 

Do you like to play blackjack? You know that it is a big challenge because you have to make decisions and you are somewhat blind when you are doing it. You don't know what is under that dealer's upcard. The "hole card" could be anything, and a lot of players proceed on the assumption that the hole card might be a ten-value card. But why deal with the mystery, right? What if you could see both of the cards that the dealer has? Would that make your playing strategy decisions a lot easier? Sure it would.

You can actually play this version of blackjack at many online casinos. It's called "Double Exposure Blackjack," and it's popular, but comes with a few conditions. The procedure is essentially the same; when the dealer hands you the initial two cards, they also give themselves two cards that you can see. The effect of that should be obvious; you know what your first decision should be. And you will be forced to do some things that might otherwise be considered conventional. For example, if the dealer has a 20 and you are dealt a 17, you handle it differently than you would if you could only see one of the ten-value cards and you were sitting with a 17. The Basic Strategy would dictate that you would stand with that kind of hand, but if you do that here, you're dead. So you must hit.

If no other rules changed in this game, you could find yourself at a tremendous advantage knowing exactly what you are going up against. But in this particular version of blackjack, there are some concessions that you are going to have to make to see both the dealer's cards. For one thing, the dealer is going to win all ties, which would not be the case in regular blackjack. Since that would happen about 8% of the time, you're giving up a lot right there. Also, when you achieve a blackjack in the conventional game, you get paid 3-to-2, but that payout gets reduced to even money in the Double Exposure game. The dealer hits soft 17 in Double Exposure, which will give the house more chances to make hands. And you are going to be restricted as to some of your player options, such as doubling down after splitting (not allowed), and splitting pairs in general (which can be done only once).

As you can see, Double Exposure looks like it gives you a bonus, but have to exercise a little caution when proceeding.

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