The Lucky Ladies side bet is a worldwide favourite amongst punters and casino operators alike. Not only is it available at land-based gambling establishments all over the globe, but also at a number of online casinos and live dealer blackjack sites. Sep 24, 2012 Just hit the 2 Queen of Hearts in Lucky Ladies at Harrah's Atlantic City last night with a $25 bet and the dealer had Blackjack! Paid out 1000 to 1, for a.
I found a game with a different LL side bet payout structure and I'm trying to calculate the house edge.Payout:
Pair of Queen Hearts - 100 to 1
Matched 20 (suits and cards match)- 25 to 1
Suited 20 - 10 to 1
Any other 20 - 3 to 1Any Queen of Hearts - 2 to 1
Any Queen - 1 to 1
My calculations are as follows:
| Hand | Probability | Payout | EV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pair Qh | .000309 | 100 | .0309 |
| Matched 20 | .004638 | 25 | .11595 |
| Suited 20 | .020777 | 10 | .20777 |
| Any other 20 | .080139 | 3 | .24031 |
| Any Qh | .026713 | 2 | .053426 |
| Any Q | .080139 | 1 | .080139 |
| Loss | .787285 | -1 | -.787285 |
| Total EV | -.05879 |
Can anybody help with this or run a sim? Thanks!
-railer
Payout:
Pair of Queen Hearts - 100 to 1
Matched 20 (suits and cards match)- 25 to 1
Suited 20 - 10 to 1
Any other 20 - 3 to 1
In Between Blackjack Side Bet
Any Queen of Hearts - 2 to 1
Lucky Ladies Blackjack
Any Queen - 1 to 1My calculations are as follows:
| Hand | Probability | Payout | EV |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pair Qh | .000309 | 100 | .0309 |
| Matched 20 | .004638 | 25 | .11595 |
| Suited 20 | .020777 | 10 | .20777 |
| Any other 20 | .080139 | 3 | .24031 |
| Any Qh | .026713 | 2 | .053426 |
| Any Q | .080139 | 1 | .080139 |
| Loss | .787285 | -1 | -.787285 |
| Total EV | -.05879 |
Can anybody help with this or run a sim? Thanks!
-railer
I see that it's dealt from 6 decks
I get a house edge of 5.868%, which is very close to your 5.879%. This is very low compared to other Lucky Ladies pay tables.
Below are my numbers of ways for 6 decks.
| Hand | Payout | Ways |
|---|---|---|
| Pair Qh | 100 | |
| Matched 20 | 25 | |
| Suited 20 | 10 | |
| Any other 20 | 3 | |
| Any Qh | 2 | |
| Any Q | 1 | |
| Loss | -1 | |
| Total |
Interesting to note that the Wizard's table D - 6 decks on his LL page may be incorrect for 'Any other 20'. That's what was driving me nuts..but I think you confirmed that I was on the right track.
Our differences are close enough for me, but may be due to rounding errors?
Not sure why people are saying not to play.. it seems like a great game to me.
ChesterDog, Thanks for your reply. Yes, it is a six-deck game.
Interesting to note that the Wizard's table D - 6 decks on his LL page may be incorrect for 'Any other 20'. That's what was driving me nuts..but I think you confirmed that I was on the right track.
Our differences are close enough for me, but may be due to rounding errors?
Not sure why people are saying not to play.. it seems like a great game to me.
I get the same as ChesterDog. Wizard has a math error on his any 20.
Administrator
I get the same as ChesterDog. Wizard has a math error on his any 20.
Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I just updated my Lucky Ladies page, hopefully correctly.
Lucky Ladies
For as long as gambling in Las Vegas has opened its doors to players; the game of choice for most visitors has been blackjack; and for good reason. Wheel of fortune game answers ps4.
Deceptively simple game play that’s easy to learn, and even master, means the usual barriers of entry for beginners have been broken down entirely. Most of us learned how to play “21” as school children, dealing out two cards to start before hitting or standing in hopes of reaching the golden number.
But even if you’ve never played blackjack before in your life, it only takes a few minutes of observation to get the hang of things. From there, players who want to take the game seriously can study relatively easy to grasp basic strategy charts that unleash the power of perfect play.
Las vegas online gambling. As a result, blackjack offers one of the best bets in all of Sin City, with basic strategy players enjoying a razor-thin house edge rate of 0.50 percent on average.
Over the decades, blackjack has blossomed from its foundational form to take on several new dimensions. Of course, the worst of these “innovations” has been the shift from 3 to 2 payouts when you land a natural blackjack to the inferior 6 to 5 ratio.
This devilish addition invented by clever casino managers instantly reduces your overall odds of success, turning a $15 payout on a $10 blackjack winner into a measly $12 reward.
With that said, the evolution of blackjack has had plenty of upside for players who like to have a little fun on the side – namely in the form of optional side bets.
Back in my day, the only way to play blackjack in Las Vegas was to bet on the base game, play your hand as shrewdly as you can, and hope to beat the dealer in a race to 21. You’d usually win even money for outdueling the dealer, while natural blackjacks offered the aforementioned premium payouts of either 3 to 2 or 6 to 5.
More recently, however, the introduction of side bets has spiced things up considerably by giving players more than one way to win.
In this second installment of an ongoing series on blackjack side bets – you can head here to learn about the popular “21 + 3” side bet – I’ll introduce you to one of the most iconic side bets ever invented: “Lucky Ladies.”
Introduction to the Lucky Ladies Side Bet
Way back in 1997, at the Mars Hotel and Casino in Spokane, Washington, an enterprising upstart casino game developer named Robert Saucier introduced side bet he dubbed “Horseshoe Blackjack.”
The conceit of the wager was quite simple… players hoped to land a 20 for their starting hand to score additional payouts. And depending on how that 20 was formed – either unsuited or suited, using the exact same rank (10, Jack, Queen, or King), or by matching two Queen of hearts together – those additional payouts could range from 4 to 1 all the way up to a 1,000 to 1 “jackpot” winner.
As he told Global Gaming Business (GGB) magazine in an 2010 interview, Saucier chose the ill-fated Horseshoe Blackjack label because hitting a 20 was as close as one can get to nailing a natural 21. But Saucier quickly realized that most gamblers couldn’t connect the dots between horseshoes and blackjack, so he soon decided upon a different name – Lucky Ladies:
“Most people didn’t understand that, and Asian players didn’t even know what a horseshoe was. It also became too associated with Binion’s (Horseshoe casino in Downtown Las Vegas).”
The new name was derived from the fact that Lucky Ladies’ topline payout of 1,000 to 1 was triggered by hitting two Queen of hearts in your starting hand.
But like Saucier told GGB, his side bet invention worked wonders for players because finding a 20 on the deal wasn’t really a rarity over the long run:
“You get a 20 every nine and a half hands. That includes Ace-Nine. It’s included as a 20, and as a suited 20, for a 9-1 payoff. That’s enjoyable for the player.”
Saucier went on to parlay the popularity of Lucky Ladies to become chief executive officer of Galaxy Gaming, which eventually rose to become one of the world’s leading casino game developers.
How to Land a Winner on the Lucky Ladies Side Bet
As mentioned already, the goal for Lucky Ladies side bet enthusiasts is to look down at a 20 total on the deal.
When you do, you’ll earn a payout between 4 to 1 and 1,000 to 1 depending on how the 20 total has been formed. Check out the table below to see exactly which combinations of 20 qualify for a Lucky Ladies winner.
Lucky Ladies Side Bet Qualifying Hands
| HAND | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| Paired Queen of Hearts + Dealer BJ | Qh + Qh in player hand + blackjack in dealer hand |
| Paired Queen of Hearts | Qh + Qh |
| Match 20 (Same Rank/Suit) | K of spades + K of spades; 10 of clubs +10 of clubs; etc. |
| Suited 20 | Any two suited cards totaling 20 (Ah + 9h; 10c + Jc; etc.) |
| Unsuited 20 | Any two suited cards totaling 20 (Ah + 9c; 10d + Qs; etc.) |
Now that you know which hands qualify for a Lucky Ladies payoff, let’s get down to the good stuff – how much money you’ll bring back on various winners:
Lucky Ladies Side Bet Payouts
| HAND | PAYOUT |
|---|---|
| Paired Queen of Hearts + Dealer BJ | 1,000 to 1 |
| Paired Queen of Hearts | 125 to 1 |
| Match 20 (Same Rank/Suit) | 19 to 1 |
| Suited 20 | 9 to 1 |
| Unsuited 20 | 4 to 1 |
| Any Non-20 Total | Loss |
As you can see, the holy grail for Lucky Ladies fans is to hit two Queen of hearts in the starting hand, while the dealer goes on to make blackjack. When this jackpot scenario occurs, a $1 bet balloons into a sweet $1,000 score. And if you were bold enough to go with a $10 wager on Lucky Ladies, landing the perfect combo of Qh + Qh + dealer blackjack triggers a $10,000 haul.
From there, the next best outcome for a Lucky Ladies bet is to nail the paired Queen of hearts without the dealer landing blackjack. This is good for a 125 to 1 payout, which is still one of the biggest wins offered in any casino table game.
Next up is a 19 to 1 payout for pairing the exact same card to produce a 20, followed by 9 to 1 on any suited 20, and 4 to 1 on any unsuited 20.
Probabilities and House Edge Rates for the Lucky Ladies Side Bet
Earlier in the page, Lucky Ladies inventor Robert Saucier alluded to the fact that players can expect to hit a 20 total on roughly one in every nine and a half hands dealt. In other words, on 10 percent of deals, you should be scoring at least one payout of 4 to 1 at the minimum.
But by now, astute readers are probably wondering what the blackjack odds and probabilities are for the more specific 20 combos required to pocket the larger payouts.
Well, ask and you shall receive, so check out the table below for a full rundown of *Lucky Ladies combinations, probabilities, and expected return rates*:
*All data referenced below refers to Lucky Ladies side bets which a) use the pay table described above and b) use a six-deck shoe
Lucky Ladies Side Bet Combos, Probabilities, and Expected Return Rates
| HAND | COMBOS | PROBABILITY | EXPECTED RUN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paired Queen of Hearts + Dealer BJ | 135,360 | 0.0015 percent | 0.014563 |
| Paired Queen of Hearts | 2,738,340 | 0.0295 percent | 0.036827 |
| Match 20 (Same Rank/Suit) | 43,105,500 | 0.4638 percent | 0.088115 |
| Suited 20 | 193,112,640 | 2.0777 percent | 0.186990 |
| Unsuited 20 | 744,863,040 | 8.0139 percent | 0.320554 |
| Any Non-20 Total | 8,310,740,400 | 89.4138 percent | -0.894138 |
| Total | 9,294,695,280 | 1.0000 | -0.247089 |
So here’s the thing about the Lucky Ladies side bet… it’s an extremely long longshot.
Sure, as Saucier pointed out, you will land some combination of a 20 total roughly 10 percent of the time. But as the data above makes clear, just over 8 percent of deals will produce an unsuited 20 for the minimal 4 to 1 payout.
From there, approximately 2 percent of deals will land you a suited 20 and a 9 to 1 payout.
How to Hire a Collection Agency. When you started your business, you thought of the product or service you were going to offer and the profits you were going to earn. You probably didn't consider the fact that not everyone pays their bills, and that you might need to hire a debt collection agency. Online casino hired debt collecition company. Whatever you did to stop the transfer of your money to the online gambling company which led to the debt collection agency contacting you, doesn’t matter. The legality of online gambling and online poker was somewhat of a grey area until the Unlawful Internet. May 19, 2016 I was considering calling my credit card company and tell them the truth that it was an online casino transaction that I made, but they charged it under ridiculous merchant names and type of merchant. But, I'm afraid that I might get arrested or fine for breaking the law since my friend told me online casino are illegal. ONLINE Collections leads the nation in debt recovery for our clients. For over 40 years, our collection services have helped businesses across the nation increase their profitability. ONLINE is committed to your success and focused on one simple goal: to eliminate bad debt. Mar 10, 2010 Can an online casino legally collect a debt. I suppose you're questioning the legality of both the online casino doing business here in CA and the ability to collect a debt? Online gaming is allowed in CA under certain circumstances, as are casinos. As for the collection of a debt, this is really a simple contractual matter that, if a.
After that, though, things start to get bleak from a statistical perspective. You’ll have less than one-half of one percent chance to hit a matched 20 using the same rank and suit for a 19 to 1 payout. If you’re shooting for the paired Queen of hearts without a dealer blackjack for a cool 125 to 1, you can expect this to occur on two-tenths of one percent of deals.
May 03, 2016 VICTORIA, B.C. (May 3, 2016): After a year of planning and development, View Royal Casino in partnership with Wilson’s Transportation Ltd are excited to announce the launch of the WestShore Express Shuttle scheduled for Thursday, May 5. The WestShore Express Shuttle will provide an affordable and reliable transportation option for passengers travelling from the casino to Victoria’s. Elements Casino Victoria offers everything from watching the game at the pub, to a live show on the weekend, or the chance to win a big jackpot. The next thrill is just around the corner. It’s All Here. No matter what you’re craving, our food and drinks are sure to satisfy. Our four different 19+ dining options are perfect for all occasions from casual lunches to birthday dinners to stagettes! JOIN THE GREAT CANADIAN GAMING TEAM! You are invited to review the jobs and career opportunities here and apply online to work at the Great Canadian location of your choice. If the position you are interested in is not currently posted, please check back periodically and apply directly when the. Great canadian casino shuttle victoria bc.
And finally, the motherload 1,000 to 1 payout for hitting a paired Queen of hearts plus a dealer blackjack will arrive on only one one-hundredth of one percent of all deals.
Add all that up, and the Lucky Ladies side bet offers one of the steepest house edge rates on any casino floor at 24.71 percent.
To put that number into perspective, consider that hitting a “Hard 8” on a single roll of craps only incurs a house edge of 9.09 percent. In fact, the worst bet offered on the craps table, the “Any 7” wager, clocks in with a 16.67 house edge – a full 8 percentage points lower than Lucky Ladies.
This longshot approaches lottery ticket territory in terms of house edge, which is why most experienced blackjack players will advise against splashing chips around on the Lucky Ladies side bet.
Traps to Watch Out for When Playing the Lucky Ladies Side Bet
Aside from the bet itself, which ranks among the worst available in any casino – even keno players have it better – Lucky Ladies can be made even worse when the house gets its hands on the structure.
For example, when you find a “short deck” shoe being used – or any shoe with fewer than six decks – the house edge on Lucky Ladies rises accordingly:
Lucky Ladies Side Bet House Edge (by # of Decks in Shoe)
| # OF DECKS | HOUSE EDGE |
|---|---|
| 2 | 30.05 percent |
| 4 | 26.04 percent |
| 5 | 25.24 percent |
| 6 | 24.71 percent |
You’ll also find the occasional progressive jackpot Lucky Ladies side bet in play. This option works just like any other casino gambling progressive jackpot, with a fraction of each losing bet placed contributing to an escalating kitty. You’ll usually see a running meter listing the available jackpot amount, which tend to seed at $10,000 and rise from there.
Shooting for a progressive jackpot might sound appealing at first glance, but in the case of Lucky Ladies, the addition only manages to boost the house’s edge to 31.20 percent.
Conclusion
Some casino gambles sound too good to be true, and alas, that’s the case when it comes to the Lucky Ladies side bet in blackjack. The wager is one of those massive longshots designed to separate suckers from their bankroll, and in a hurry at that.
As no less of an authority than Saucier admitted, players can expect to earn the minimum payout of 4 to 1 every nine and half hands or so on average. And it doesn’t take a genius to realize that losing 9.5 chips in hopes of bringing back 4 chips in return is a losing proposition over the long run.
Lucky Ladies can be fun to dabble with when you’re feeling, ahem, lucky. But if money matters to you in the slightest, it’s best to stick with basic blackjack while adding in more reasonable side betting options like 21 + 3 and Perfect Pairs.
Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.