Lucky Lucky bets!

Who has them?

I noticed them at Gold Coast, and I played them for hours. Turtleman once mentioned they had the lowest house edge on side bets, and with my experience, I can definitely believe that. You get paid 2:1 if your first two cards and the dealer's top card combined equals 19 or 20 and 3:1 if it's 21. Since these numbers show up often in BJ, it sure makes for a fun time! There are several other 50:1 etc combos and I got one of them twice (too bad I only placed $1).

Lucky Lucky is distinguished from Lucky Ladies (a very different side bet) http://wizardofodds.com/games/blackjack/appendix/8/#luckyladies.

Played this side bet before? Where else is it besides Gold Coast (I hear it's also at Encore)?

 

I always put $1 on Lucky Lucky (the only side bet I make consistently), but honestly believe I'd be better off putting down $5 or more. More than a few times, the side bet was the only thing keeping me in the game! Quite a few players were doing just that, with some betting up to (I think) the max side bet limit of $25. One lucky guy at my table got the suited 6,7,8 for 100:1 and collected $500 on his $5 bet. Strange thing though, the dealer had to call the pit critter over, who then got on the phone to Surveillance before getting the go-ahead to pay off the bet. I've seen many times that amount changing hands without so much as a raised eyebrow, but evidently not at GC on side bets.

A couple of the dealers I spoke with thought they'd be removing Lucky Lucky altogether. Evidently, it's too good a deal compared to other side bets. Sorry, I didn't exactly answer your question and am also interested where to find it.

 

That really sucks because it was the only side bet I bet consistently as well. I won several times, like every other play I won. 21, 20, and 19 show up a lot. I hope they do not get rid of it. I love it a ton!

When did you speak with them? Did they give a time period of elimination? Anxious here lol.

 

Whoops - it appears I'm guilty of spreading a rumor! I arrived on Oct. 28 and heard the "rumor" from two or three dealers before moving to the Orleans on Oct. 30. Maybe it's true and maybe it's not, but nothing I heard seemed very definite and no timetable was mentioned.

I probably initiated the conversation when mentioning one of my silliest betting blunders ever. During my first session of the trip, I was playing Lucky Lucky as usual, and after about a dozen hands noticed I was actually betting Lucky Ladies! I'm sure I threw away at least two 20's (the dealer didn't show an ace) and just hope to hell they weren't suited or the coveted Queen of Hearts. I only had a single beer at the bar before starting BJ, so I don't think I can blame intoxication for this one. I'm sure the same table had Lucky Lucky in August or early September, and I simply neglected to notice the change. Did I ever feel like a dumb ass!

BTW: a few months earlier, it looked like all the GC's Lucky Lucky side bets were replaced with that stupid side bet where you wager how many cards the dealer takes before busting or something like that. The table had a large flat panel display listing the various payoffs and the same kind of silly indicator light where the side bets go. Never played it, and fortunately, it didn't last very long. Let's hope Lucky Lucky survives.

 

Indeeeed! I came back to GC like crazy for that bet lol. I don't know why both bets had to have "Lucky" in them. I think I did a similar thing!

I hope I can at least play it before the year runs out. Fun stuff.

 

Someone blogged (on 5/2/2012) about how the casino can protect themselves against the Lucky Lucky bet! http://www.worldgameprotection.com/the-catwalk/casino-ology/BOSVIEW/Beating-the-Lucky-Lucky-Side-Bet/

It's very true. When I played it (and I played on 3 different occasions on different days), every single person at the table was placing $5 on it!

I guess the simplest form of protection would be to get rid of it.

 

I'm very sorry to report that the rumors about Lucky Lucky's demise at Gold Coast were true. The fun and often profitable side bet has been replaced with Lucky Ladies. Where I always played Lucky Lucky, I seldom fool with Lucky Ladies, at least after a Queen of Hearts appears. I'm sure glad I bet $1 on it yesterday morning, however, as I was dealt two Queen of hearts with the dealer showing an ace up! I was never so happy to see a dealer BJ, which turned a $200 win into $1000! The pit boss asked why I hadn't bet at least $5, while I was just happy to have bet it at all. The game was on hold for probably over 10 minutes before he finally got the go ahead from above to pay me.

Now, where can I find a good BJ game with Lucky Lucky?

 

It's very unlikely that you won on Lucky Ladies and the dealer didn't pay you. First, if it's a face-up shoe game, you'd always get paid because there is it on the table.

If you're playing a hand-held game, you didn't bust your 20, so she'd see it when she went to pay your regular hand, and at minimum make some comment about it. I think they like to pay or take the LL side bet before the hands start getting played, and you're supposed to show it at that point. But any decent dealer would notice if she took your side bet and then you had 20. And all of this could only be a problem if you were playing a hand-held game.

I like Lucky Ladies because counting it goes along with counting the regular game, nothing extra is really required. The count has to be pretty high, but a good estimation is that if the count is high enough to make your max bet, you should drop something on Lucky Ladies as well (lots of 10s left, right??), especially if more than an average number of Q-Hearts are still left, (you can side count those).

I avoided the Lucky Lucky the first time I saw it, (Chicago), but I see it only has a 2.6% house edge, so that's not bad; I'd definitely might try it if I saw it again.

 

I'm not certain I've communicated this properly. but there was never any problem or issues! It's evidently their policy to verify larger payouts - nothing more. It was a face down 2-deck pitch game and the 2 QOH's were immediately recognized. In fact, the dealer called the pit boss over to "particapate" in the checking of her hole card. Again - zero issues - it just took awhile. I've seen the same checking delays before on suited 6,7,8 Lucky Lucky payouts.

 

Part of the value of the Lucky Lucky bet for the casino is that it functions as a hedge.

When you win Lucky Lucky, it's typically in situations where your blackjack hand is bad. For example, 12 v. 9, 13 v. 8, 14 v. 7 etc. Even a 20 v. A is a statistically disadvantaged situation (relative to having 20 against anything else).

So while the house edge on that bet itself may be lower than other prop bets, it functions to normalize the profitability of the game for the house. It's a hedge.

 

It was too good to be true!!!! I knew it.

It's so sad I did not encounter these posts before I left for my trip in December, it would have saved me some grief when I discovered they took it away. lol

I didn't appreciate it enough.

 

Does Lucky Lucky exist any where anymore?

 

The Westward Ho used to have crazy playoffs if you got 6,7,8 of the same suit or three sevens, but these were not side bets. They were kind of like a progressive thing that ran in the BJ pits.

 

Last time I checked the BJ tables on the west side of the property...the ones next the sports book and baccarat/pai gow tables had the lucky ladies bet. All of those tables are 6:5.