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Golden 21
Introduction
Golden 21 is a simple blackjack side bet I noticed at the Four Queens in Las Vegas in January, 2015. It pays based on various poker-based hands in the player's first two cards. The side bet is owned by Score Gaming.
Rules
Golden 21 pays according to the player's first two cards as follows:
Pay Table
| Hand | Pays |
|---|---|
| Ace/king suited | 30 to 1 |
| Straight flush | 5 to 1 |
| Pair | 3 to 1 |
| Blackjack | 1.5 to 1 |
| Straight | 1 to 1 |
Analysis
The following table shows my analysis of Golden 21, assuming six decks. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 7.35%.
Golden 21
| Event | Pays | Combinations | Probability | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ace/king suited | 30 | 144 | 0.002968 | 0.089043 |
| Straight flush | 5 | 1,728 | 0.035617 | 0.178086 |
| Pair | 3 | 3,588 | 0.073955 | 0.221865 |
| Blackjack | 1.5 | 2,160 | 0.044521 | 0.066782 |
| Straight | 1 | 5,184 | 0.106851 | 0.106851 |
| All other | -1 | 35,712 | 0.736087 | -0.736087 |
| Total | 48,516 | 1.000000 | -0.073460 |
The next pay table shows the house edge only for various number of decks, assuming the same pay table as above.
House Edge Table
| Decks | House Edge |
|---|---|
| 8 | 7.10% |
| 6 | 7.35% |
| 5 | 7.54% |
| 4 | 7.84% |
| 2 | 9.34% |
| 1 | 12.37% |