Suppose two types of tables in your casino:
Single deck. Double-down after split permitted. Blackjack pays 6:5
Double deck. No DDAS. Blackjack pays the normal 3:2.
All other rules are the same.
Which provides the player with the better advantage? And does it matter if the table is crowded, so the single-deck player only sees two hands between shuffles?
A good site, The Wizard of Odds has this to say:
Thanks for the links, Petey. Good info. Although it doesn’t weigh the difference between single deck and double-deck, it sounds like the 6:5 game is to be avoided like the plague.
Single deck is slightly better, by the numbers, but I’ve found that double deck is better if counting. In a single deck game, the house will only deal a couple of rounds between shuffles (sometimes 3 if there are less than 5 spots played). That means that only about 40-50% of the cards get dealt. With double deck, most places will shuffle at 2/3 to 3/4 of the way through the pack.
I’ve played the 6:5 single deck before, but would I treated the blackjacks as soft 11s (i.e., double down) if the dealer was showing anything other than a 9, 10 or A. The net result was that I won about the same as if I was paid 3:2 on the BJ. (This was based on a very small sample size. I’d be interested in seeing a simulation of this strategy.)