High-Low

[Flip-Flop]

The state owned casinos in Netherlands recently introduced a new game called High-Low and I`m trying to figure out whats the house edge.

Simple game with simple rules:

- Betting options: "High", "Low" and "Tie"
- Number of bettors is unlimitied
- 6 decks of cards
- Dealer deals 2 cards only, one for the "bank" and one for the "player".
- If the "player" card is higher he pays out even money to the players that played "High", if it`s lower even money for the "Low" players.
- Tie pays 10 to 1

Now...the Tie bet is obviously -EV (after the "bank" card is dealt you got 23/311, ~7.4% chance or 12.5 to 1 dog with a 10 to 1 payout) but anyone with half a brain that would play this game will stay away from that bet which leaves High and Low and I can`t see any house edge in those bets.

So is the Tie bet only edge that the house has in this game or am I missing something?
[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

[BruceZ]

[ QUOTE ]
The state owned casinos in Netherlands recently introduced a new game called High-Low and I`m trying to figure out whats the house edge.

Simple game with simple rules:

- Betting options: "High", "Low" and "Tie"
- Number of bettors is unlimitied
- 6 decks of cards
- Dealer deals 2 cards only, one for the "bank" and one for the "player".
- If the "player" card is higher he pays out even money to the players that played "High", if it`s lower even money for the "Low" players.
- Tie pays 10 to 1

Now...the Tie bet is obviously -EV (after the "bank" card is dealt you got 23/311, ~7.4% chance or 12.5 to 1 dog with a 10 to 1 payout) but anyone with half a brain that would play this game will stay away from that bet which leaves High and Low and I can`t see any house edge in those bets.

So is the Tie bet only edge that the house has in this game or am I missing something?
[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

The house edge on the high and low bets comes from the fact that each of these come up less than 50% of the time, due to ties, and they only pay even money. Each of these comes up with probability 50% - 7.4%/2 or about 46.3%, so the house edge on these bets is 7.4%. I'm assuming that the high and low bets lose on a tie. If these were a push, then it would be even money.

This is the same principle that causes the even money bets on red or black in roulette to be -EV, due to the green 0 and 00.

[Flip-Flop]

I knew I forgot to mention something, sorry.
You don`t lose your High or Low bet when its a Tie.
I think that in High-Low game your bet goes in "jail" when tie hits, you can`t cancel or switch your previous bet, it just plays for the next round.
I don`t know if thats what you mean by push.

[Siegmund]

I would assume that this works the same way as "en prison" in European roulette works -- the prisoned bets are lost if they lose on the next spin, and given back *without paying anything* if they win on the next spin. En prison cuts the house edge in half in roulette, but does not eliminate it.

If that's the case for high/low, the house would now be making 3.7%.

A while ago we had a thread about the popular 19th century game Faro, wondering whether it would ever make a comeback in casinos. This thread may be our answer: instead of bringing it back, they have dreamed up an "improved" version with a much larger house edge and an extra sucker bet.

[Flip-Flop]

I understand how roulette edge works, its all pretty basic and we have 2 types of roulette in Netherlands.
- French, where the "en prison" rule apply.
- American (but without the "00") where you lose half of your Red/Black bet when "0" hits.

In this new High-Low game this is not the case though.
The game looks like some kind of simplified Punto-Banko (Bacarrat) version but the difference is that when "Egalite" (Tie) hits in Punto-Banko the "Punto" and the "Banko" bets are returned while in the High-Low game you can`t return your bet it just plays for the next round with a chance to double up.

This makes the the High and the Low bet even money which is very strange and it`s why I started this thread.

Of course there is always a chance that I misunderstood the "jail" rule because I didn`t see it in action.
I just asked the dealer for the rules and payout structures and watched few hands being played.
So I`m not 100% sure that your bet plays normally after a Tie or if its like the French roulette "en prison" thing.

I`ll know next time I go there ( which will take few weeks since I go on a vacation in few days).
Maybe some of the Dutch 2+2ers that lives close to a Holland Casino can check this out and post it. [img]/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]


EDIT: I found the rules explained on their site so it looks like its same like the "en prison" rule, which means you only get your original bet back if you "win" after a tie.
- 3.7% house edge on High and Low.
- 7.4% house edge on Tie.

Oh well...