Apr 14 2026
Three Card Poker Hole-Card Play
[Note. There is an updated version of this post that you might want to read before/after you read this post: Three Card Poker Hole-Card Play: Update #1 -- It's got all the math that's fit to eat!]
Three Card Poker and the Ace Shuffler Hole-Carding Bias
Back in 1997, during one of my early outings as a blackjack card counter, I saw my first automatic shuffling machine. This one had metal arms that attempted to duplicate the physical act of shuffling like a human might do. As you may expect, the thing was awful at its job. Clumps of cards fell through the process virtually untouched. It was clumsy, sloppy and noisy.
Card Counting the King's Bounty Blackjack Side Bet, 6 Decks
King’s Bounty (KB) is Shuffle Master's answer to Galaxy Gaming's Lucky Ladies (LL) blackjack side bet. Both wagers pay based on the player’s two cards totaling 20. Both side bets have a special payout for a matched pair. In LL, this pair consists of two Queen of Hearts. In KB, this pair consists of two King of Spades.
Card Counting the 20 Pays Blackjack Side Bet
This post considers the blackjack side bet called "20 Pays" (20P). As the name implies, this wager wins whenever the player's first two cards total 20. In that sense, it is similar to both Royal 20s and Lucky Ladies. What makes this side bet unique is that it also pays if the player's first card is a Jack, Queen or King, when the second card is not ten-valued.
