Blackjack Lucky 8
If you’ve played a lot of blackjack, chances are you are familiar with the widespread Lucky Ladies bonus bet. Lucky Ladies is a side bet available in most major casinos, placed in addition to the standard blackjack bet. It pays an added bonus based solely on your initial two cards. There are five possible winning outcomes of this side wager.
Blackjack Lucky 8 Ball
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Lucky Ladies is one of the most popular blackjack side bets ever. It started in Washington state and now can be found in casinos all over the place. The idea is that any player 20-point hand wins something. Firstly you may be awarded instant wins of up to 88x your total-bet, whilst 3-5 lucky 8's will also trigger the Free Games Feature of 8 Free Games. Once awarded the Free Games Feature you will also be asked to bang a gong to reveal the Bonus Multiplier which will either be 2x, 3x, 5x, or 8x.
The Objective and Rules of Lucky Ladies
The Lucky Ladies side bet is a wager made on the first two cards dealt; that they will total 20 points, in any combination. In games which offer this wager, there will be a designated area for such a bet, adjacent to the regular blackjack bet (usually a small, separate circle).
A Lucky Ladies wager, like all side bets, has no association or influence on the main blackjack bet and is entirely based on our first two cards. All other rules which are relevant to the game being played are not affected by the Lucky Ladies wager. If we have placed the Lucky Ladies bet, we only receive a bonus payout if the sum of our first two cards are 20. If they do not total 21, we lose the side bet, but our main wager and the game continues.
How to Play the Side Bet
To place a Lucky Ladies wager, we must first make a standard blackjack bet. If playing with others, it may be permissible to place a Lucky Ladies bet on another player’s hand, without needing to put forward your own standard blackjack bet. The Lucky Ladies wager needs to be at least the minimum amount as advertised on the table. Minimum and maximum wagers will always vary from table to table, so make sure you know what the appropriate amount is before playing. Once the bet is placed, if we draw two cards to the lucky number 20, the bonus payout we receive is determined by the specific cards that make up our total:
- If dealt any two unsuited cards which total 20 points, this holds a payout of 4 to 1.
- Any suited cards totalling 20 is paid out at 9 to 1 odds.
- Any matching cards totalling 20 points (same rank and suit) holds a payout of 19 to 1.
- If we are dealt two Queens of Hearts, we receive a payout of 125 to 1.
- If we are dealt two Queens of Hearts and the dealer draws to blackjack, we are paid out 1000 to 1.
The Lucky Ladies wager is a side bet with a high house edge of 24.71%, and should be made for pure enjoyment value rather than an expectation of consistent winnings. Hitting the coveted Queen or Hearts pair while the dealer simultaneously draws a blackjack is as good a chance as finding a needle in a really, really big haystack (0.0015%), while drawing to 20 with any two cards is around an eight per cent chance. But as with all side wagers, they are entertaining when played every now and then, and hopefully at some point in time, you’ll get some lovely lady luck on your side.
Anyone who has played blackjack even once knows how badly it hurts when you are holding cards with total value of 19 or 20 and the dealer still manages to beat you. It is indeed frustrating, making you wish there was some insurance to save you from losing the game with such promising cards in your hands. Apparently, casino owners are well-aware of the resentment this situation may cause, which is the reason why sly managers have invented the Lucky Lucky blackjack side bet.
Lucky Lucky is like any standard blackjack game, with the exception of offering this particular side bet, beside the standard game. You shouldn’t beat yourself if you haven’t heard of it, since in blackjack terms it’s a relatively new game. It was invented and patented less than a decade ago by Aces Up Gaming. Currently there are only 850 tables with this game available and only in US and Canada. Luckily, now you can also play this game online as well.
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Rules
Lucky Lucky blackjack can be played with different number of decks, but in most cases the cards will be dealt from a six-deck shoe. After making your standard blackjack wager, you can put some coins at the Lucky Lucky side bet circle. Casinos have their limits for this bet which usually go from $1 to $25.
It is important to mention that as it usually goes with side bets, it does not affect your standard blackjack bet to any degree, therefore, your blackjack bet can win and your side bet can lose or vice versa, at the same time.
While you are obliged to make a standard wager in order to keep your place at the blackjack table, the Lucky Lucky bet is optional, so you may use it from time to time or not use it at all. However, if you make this side bet, check the value of your cards, as well as the value of the up card on the dealer’s side. If your first two cards total 19, 20 or 21 you win. If not – you lose, unless your first two cards and the dealer’s up card make a combination of 6-7-8 or 7-7-7.Free Blackjack Games to Play
Lucky Lucky Side Bet Payouts
The most common variation of this game is played with 6 decks and the payouts you see below are for 6 decks only. (There are some casinos that offer 2 decks game and there the Suited 7s is taken of and the house edge is higher.)
- Suited 7-7-7 pays 200 : 1
- Suited 6-7-8 pays 100 : 1
- Unsuited 7-7-7 pays 50 : 1
- Unsuited 6-7-8 pays 30 : 1
- Suited 21 pays 15 : 1
- 21 Total pays 3 : 1
- 20 Total pays 2 to 1
- 19 Total pays 2 to 1
Blackjack Lucky Lucky Odds
Under these rules the house edge is 2.66%. In online version of Lucky Lucky blackjack, the payout for Unsuited 6-7-8 is x25 vs. the original x30. We will review the online game in the last section of this article.
Tips and Strategies
Lucky Lucky Blackjack is a decent side bet by all means. While casinos prefer side bets that pull out the money from the players promising tempting payouts like the Lucky Ladies side bet, this side bet could become your favourite for a good reason. Statistics say that every fourth Lucky Lucky side bet pays back to the players. A house edge of only 2,66% beats many casino games and definitely higher than other popular side bet games, such as Perfect Pairs or 21+3 blackjack.
Lucky Lucky gives you a chance to exercise your gambling skills on the main game with additional excitement and reasonable degree of risk. Naturally, the payout is unavoidably connected with the risk you take, so in most cases your wins will not exceed 2:1 or 3:1. Yet, for some standard blackjack can sometimes become boring since it doesn’t offer huge payouts, unless the casino allows high maximum bet limits. The Lucky Lucky side bet, on the other hand, can bring you massive wins of up to 200:1. Feeling lucky? Go for it!
Lucky Lucky Blackjack Online
Currently there is only one online distributor of this game and that’s Felt Gaming. As we’ve mentioned before, the payout for Unsuited 6-7-8 was lowered from x30 to x25 and therefore the house edge here is 3.9% vs. 2.66% which you will get in land based casinos.
Lucky Lucky Blackjack Online
Blackjack Lucky Ladies Payout
One of the advantages of playing online, is the wider betting limits. The minimum bet is just $/€/£ 0.5, while the maximum bet is $/€/£ 500 per hand (and you can play 3 hands per round). The side bet can go from 0.5 and up to 250.
Blackjack Lucky Lucky
Currently there are only two online casino sites that offer Lucky Lucky blackjack online: Unibet and Betsson. Unfortunately, none of them accept blackjack players from United States.