Here’s a side bet commonly called “Bust It”, and can be found in Atlantic City among a handful of other casinos around the country. Unlike other side bets, there’s a definite minimum amount you can bet, which is either the table minimum or $25, whichever is lowest. In most other games, the bet can be as low as $1, so this hikes the side-bet stakes a little bit.
Is it worth it? Well, the rules are fairly simple, and you don’t really have to do anything or make any decisions. If the dealer busts on the third card (his first hit, if he hits), the player wins. Right off the bat, I’ll address the hit or stand on soft 17 rule – it doesn’t matter, since either way it’s impossible for the dealer to bust on the third card. And, in case you’re one of the talented card counters out there in the world, you should know the dealer is more likely to bust when the true count is positive (actually pretty high). When the count gets up there, the odds are in favor of playing this side bet. But, as always, be careful if you’re picking and choosing when to play in a single setting. It can be a tell to the casino that you’re counting.
OK, for an eight-deck online blackjackrat, here are the statistical payouts. When we get down to the house edge, you’ll see this one falls in the favorable side for the player. The odds remain in the dealer’s favor, but they’re low enough to trump nearly all other side bets we’ve talked about thus far.
First off, not all busts are a win for the player. He can also win big if the dealer is dealt a suited 888 or three eights of the same color. Suited pays 200:1 on the side bet, but only has a 0.0019 percent chance of hitting. Even worse, the colored payoff shrinks to 50:1 and the odds are still a horrid 0.0075 percent. On to the busts – if a dealer’s bust card is a 6, you win 15:1. A 7 gets you 9:1. An 8 is 7:1. A 9 is 5:1 and a 10 is 3:1. The odds on that last one are 11% that the dealer will bust.
For that eight-deck black jack tournament game, the overall house odds are only 6.8 percent. And this is one of the games where the house odds actually increase as the deck number is reduced. A one-deck game has a house edge of 8.12%.