Introduction

Double Attack Blackjack is a blackjack variation offered at Playtech and Wagerworks casinos. I find the game to be more interesting and enjoyable than traditional blackjack, although game play can be slow. Note that other Wagerworks blackjack variations have a lower house edge and lower variance.

 

Rules and Play

Traditional blackjack rules are used, with the following modifications:

-8 decks of 48 cards are used. 10's are removed from 52-card decks to make the 48 cards.

-After the dealer's first card is dealt (before player cards are visible), the player has the option to double his initial bet ("double attack").

-Blackjack pays 1:1

-Insurance pays 3:1

-The player may double down or surrender on any number of cards.

-The player may surrender after doubling or splitting, as well as at the start of the hand.

 

Variations

Land-based Double Attack blackjack games typically allow resplits to 3-4 hands. Playtech follows standard land-based rules and allows resplits to 4 hands. However, Wagerworks does not permit resplits. Wagerworks double attack blackjack also has non-standard insurance rules. Insurance pays 3:1 instead of 2.5:1.

 

Strategy

Take the option to double your bet ("double attack") when the dealer shows an upcard of 2-8. Do not double your bet when the dealer shows 9-A.

Under Wagerworks rules, insurance pays 3:1, making insurance slightly favorable (unlike traditional blackjack). Buy insurance unless 10-cards (J-K) are visible. So you'd buy insurance on 9/9 vs A, but not on J/8 vs A.

The Wagerworks rule changes influence insurance decisions, but I believe other strategy decisions are the same as land-based double attack rules. The table below shows optimal strategy decisions for double attack blackjack. This table is based on Wizard of Odds' analysis of Double Attack Blackjack, using land-based rules. I have confirmed some of the more unique strategy decisions, such as surrendering on only 17 vs A (except after doubles).

Your Hand	Dealer's Face-up Card
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
5-8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
9	H	H	H	H	D	H	H	H	H	H
10	D	D	D	D	D	D	Dr16	H	H	H
11	D	D	D	D	D	D	Dr16	Dr16	Dr16	Dr17
12	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
13	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
14	H	H	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
15	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
16	S	S	S	S	S	H	H	H	H	H
17	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	R
18+	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A,2	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
A,3	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
A,4	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
A,5	H	H	H	H	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,6	H	H	D	D	D	H	H	H	H	H
A,7	S	S	S	Ds	Ds	S	S	H	H	H
A,8	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A,9	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
2,2	H	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
3,3	H	P	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H
4,4	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
5,5	D	D	D	D	D	D	Dr16	H	H	H
6,6	H	H	P	P	P	H	H	H	H	H
7,7	P	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
8,8	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P
9,9	S	S	P	P	P	S	P	P	S	S
10,10	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A,A	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P*
H	Hit
S	Stand
D	Double if Possible, Otherwise Hit
Dr16	Double if Possible, Otherwise Hit Surrender after Double if total <= 16
Ds	Double if Possible, Otherwise Stand
P	Split (Pair)
P*	Split (Pair), Follow post-double surrender strategy after A/A splits when hit not possible
R	Surrender

 

House Edge

Wizard of Odds lists a house edge of 0.62% under standard (Playtech) rules. I estimate the house edge (defined per initial bet) of Wagerworks to be 0.64%, when using the strategy above. The average bet size is 1.8x the initial bet, making the house edge per unit wagered 0.35% under Playtech rules and 0.36% under Wagerworks rules. The latter value of 0.35% is more appropriate to estimate expected loss over a wagering requirement. The large difference between house edge per initial bet and per unit wagered relates to the many raises for "double attacks."

 

Variance and Bet Size

 

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