Lucky Ladies Blackjack Odds
- The games do not offer 'real money Lucky Ladies Blackjack Bonus gambling' or an opportunity to win real money or prizes. The games are intended for an adult audience. Practice or success at social casino gaming does not imply future success at 'real money Lucky Ladies Blackjack Bonus gambling' 353. Read our full review.
- Also note that some side bets have a fixed or maximum bet amount, a capped payout or a bet size relative to the main bet. Also, different casinos may have different payout tables for the same side bet. The payouts for Lucky Ladies used on this page are 1000:1, 125:1, 19:1. 'These foolish games are tearing me apart' — Jewel, 1999.
- With the house edge of 24.7% (counted for the six-deck blackjack) the Lucky Ladies side bet will cost you more than any casino game. For every $1,000 placed on this bet, players will lose $247. These figures, of course, are average values, meaning some players will be.
- There are several casinos out there who offer side bets on the blackjack table, and one that we are going to take a look at today is called Lucky Ladies. This is a side bet where you are hoping to see a natural 20 on your first two cards, if you do then the payback comes back at 4:1. The payout increases if the cards are suited (9:1),.
Lucky Ladies is a simple blackjack game from Galaxy Gaming that combines the traditional game of blackjack with a fun side bet. This game has a special card – the Queen of Hearts, also known here as the lucky ladies! If you play the side bet you need to watch out for these lucky characters as they can rewards you with some serious extra wins!
For as long as gambling in Las Vegas has opened its doors to players; the game of choice for most visitors has been blackjack; and for good reason.
Deceptively simple game play that’s easy to learn, and even master, means the usual barriers of entry for beginners have been broken down entirely. Most of us learned how to play “21” as school children, dealing out two cards to start before hitting or standing in hopes of reaching the golden number.
But even if you’ve never played blackjack before in your life, it only takes a few minutes of observation to get the hang of things. From there, players who want to take the game seriously can study relatively easy to grasp basic strategy charts that unleash the power of perfect play.
As a result, blackjack offers one of the best bets in all of Sin City, with basic strategy players enjoying a razor-thin house edge rate of 0.50 percent on average.
Over the decades, blackjack has blossomed from its foundational form to take on several new dimensions. Of course, the worst of these “innovations” has been the shift from 3 to 2 payouts when you land a natural blackjack to the inferior 6 to 5 ratio.
This devilish addition invented by clever casino managers instantly reduces your overall odds of success, turning a $15 payout on a $10 blackjack winner into a measly $12 reward.
With that said, the evolution of blackjack has had plenty of upside for players who like to have a little fun on the side – namely in the form of optional side bets.
Back in my day, the only way to play blackjack in Las Vegas was to bet on the base game, play your hand as shrewdly as you can, and hope to beat the dealer in a race to 21. You’d usually win even money for outdueling the dealer, while natural blackjacks offered the aforementioned premium payouts of either 3 to 2 or 6 to 5.
More recently, however, the introduction of side bets has spiced things up considerably by giving players more than one way to win.
In this second installment of an ongoing series on blackjack side bets – you can head here to learn about the popular “21 + 3” side bet – I’ll introduce you to one of the most iconic side bets ever invented: “Lucky Ladies.”
Introduction to the Lucky Ladies Side Bet
Way back in 1997, at the Mars Hotel and Casino in Spokane, Washington, an enterprising upstart casino game developer named Robert Saucier introduced side bet he dubbed “Horseshoe Blackjack.”
The conceit of the wager was quite simple… players hoped to land a 20 for their starting hand to score additional payouts. And depending on how that 20 was formed – either unsuited or suited, using the exact same rank (10, Jack, Queen, or King), or by matching two Queen of hearts together – those additional payouts could range from 4 to 1 all the way up to a 1,000 to 1 “jackpot” winner.
As he told Global Gaming Business (GGB) magazine in an 2010 interview, Saucier chose the ill-fated Horseshoe Blackjack label because hitting a 20 was as close as one can get to nailing a natural 21. But Saucier quickly realized that most gamblers couldn’t connect the dots between horseshoes and blackjack, so he soon decided upon a different name – Lucky Ladies:
“Most people didn’t understand that, and Asian players didn’t even know what a horseshoe was. It also became too associated with Binion’s (Horseshoe casino in Downtown Las Vegas).”
The new name was derived from the fact that Lucky Ladies’ topline payout of 1,000 to 1 was triggered by hitting two Queen of hearts in your starting hand.
But like Saucier told GGB, his side bet invention worked wonders for players because finding a 20 on the deal wasn’t really a rarity over the long run:
“You get a 20 every nine and a half hands. That includes Ace-Nine. It’s included as a 20, and as a suited 20, for a 9-1 payoff. That’s enjoyable for the player.”
Saucier went on to parlay the popularity of Lucky Ladies to become chief executive officer of Galaxy Gaming, which eventually rose to become one of the world’s leading casino game developers.
How to Land a Winner on the Lucky Ladies Side Bet
As mentioned already, the goal for Lucky Ladies side bet enthusiasts is to look down at a 20 total on the deal.
When you do, you’ll earn a payout between 4 to 1 and 1,000 to 1 depending on how the 20 total has been formed. Check out the table below to see exactly which combinations of 20 qualify for a Lucky Ladies winner.
Lucky Ladies Side Bet Qualifying Hands
| HAND | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| Paired Queen of Hearts + Dealer BJ | Qh + Qh in player hand + blackjack in dealer hand |
| Paired Queen of Hearts | Qh + Qh |
| Match 20 (Same Rank/Suit) | K of spades + K of spades; 10 of clubs +10 of clubs; etc. |
| Suited 20 | Any two suited cards totaling 20 (Ah + 9h; 10c + Jc; etc.) |
| Unsuited 20 | Any two suited cards totaling 20 (Ah + 9c; 10d + Qs; etc.) |
Now that you know which hands qualify for a Lucky Ladies payoff, let’s get down to the good stuff – how much money you’ll bring back on various winners:
Lucky Ladies Side Bet Payouts
| HAND | PAYOUT |
|---|---|
| Paired Queen of Hearts + Dealer BJ | 1,000 to 1 |
| Paired Queen of Hearts | 125 to 1 |
| Match 20 (Same Rank/Suit) | 19 to 1 |
| Suited 20 | 9 to 1 |
| Unsuited 20 | 4 to 1 |
| Any Non-20 Total | Loss |
As you can see, the holy grail for Lucky Ladies fans is to hit two Queen of hearts in the starting hand, while the dealer goes on to make blackjack. When this jackpot scenario occurs, a $1 bet balloons into a sweet $1,000 score. And if you were bold enough to go with a $10 wager on Lucky Ladies, landing the perfect combo of Qh + Qh + dealer blackjack triggers a $10,000 haul.
From there, the next best outcome for a Lucky Ladies bet is to nail the paired Queen of hearts without the dealer landing blackjack. This is good for a 125 to 1 payout, which is still one of the biggest wins offered in any casino table game.
Next up is a 19 to 1 payout for pairing the exact same card to produce a 20, followed by 9 to 1 on any suited 20, and 4 to 1 on any unsuited 20.
Probabilities and House Edge Rates for the Lucky Ladies Side Bet
Earlier in the page, Lucky Ladies inventor Robert Saucier alluded to the fact that players can expect to hit a 20 total on roughly one in every nine and a half hands dealt. In other words, on 10 percent of deals, you should be scoring at least one payout of 4 to 1 at the minimum.
But by now, astute readers are probably wondering what the blackjack odds and probabilities are for the more specific 20 combos required to pocket the larger payouts.
Well, ask and you shall receive, so check out the table below for a full rundown of *Lucky Ladies combinations, probabilities, and expected return rates*:
*All data referenced below refers to Lucky Ladies side bets which a) use the pay table described above and b) use a six-deck shoe
Lucky Ladies Side Bet Combos, Probabilities, and Expected Return Rates
| HAND | COMBOS | PROBABILITY | EXPECTED RUN |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paired Queen of Hearts + Dealer BJ | 135,360 | 0.0015 percent | 0.014563 |
| Paired Queen of Hearts | 2,738,340 | 0.0295 percent | 0.036827 |
| Match 20 (Same Rank/Suit) | 43,105,500 | 0.4638 percent | 0.088115 |
| Suited 20 | 193,112,640 | 2.0777 percent | 0.186990 |
| Unsuited 20 | 744,863,040 | 8.0139 percent | 0.320554 |
| Any Non-20 Total | 8,310,740,400 | 89.4138 percent | -0.894138 |
| Total | 9,294,695,280 | 1.0000 | -0.247089 |
So here’s the thing about the Lucky Ladies side bet… it’s an extremely long longshot.
Sure, as Saucier pointed out, you will land some combination of a 20 total roughly 10 percent of the time. But as the data above makes clear, just over 8 percent of deals will produce an unsuited 20 for the minimal 4 to 1 payout.
From there, approximately 2 percent of deals will land you a suited 20 and a 9 to 1 payout.
After that, though, things start to get bleak from a statistical perspective. You’ll have less than one-half of one percent chance to hit a matched 20 using the same rank and suit for a 19 to 1 payout. If you’re shooting for the paired Queen of hearts without a dealer blackjack for a cool 125 to 1, you can expect this to occur on two-tenths of one percent of deals.
And finally, the motherload 1,000 to 1 payout for hitting a paired Queen of hearts plus a dealer blackjack will arrive on only one one-hundredth of one percent of all deals.
Add all that up, and the Lucky Ladies side bet offers one of the steepest house edge rates on any casino floor at 24.71 percent.
To put that number into perspective, consider that hitting a “Hard 8” on a single roll of craps only incurs a house edge of 9.09 percent. In fact, the worst bet offered on the craps table, the “Any 7” wager, clocks in with a 16.67 house edge – a full 8 percentage points lower than Lucky Ladies.
This longshot approaches lottery ticket territory in terms of house edge, which is why most experienced blackjack players will advise against splashing chips around on the Lucky Ladies side bet.
Traps to Watch Out for When Playing the Lucky Ladies Side Bet
Best Las Vegas Blackjack Odds
Aside from the bet itself, which ranks among the worst available in any casino – even keno players have it better – Lucky Ladies can be made even worse when the house gets its hands on the structure.
For example, when you find a “short deck” shoe being used – or any shoe with fewer than six decks – the house edge on Lucky Ladies rises accordingly:
Lucky Ladies Side Bet House Edge (by # of Decks in Shoe)
| # OF DECKS | HOUSE EDGE |
|---|---|
| 2 | 30.05 percent |
| 4 | 26.04 percent |
| 5 | 25.24 percent |
| 6 | 24.71 percent |
You’ll also find the occasional progressive jackpot Lucky Ladies side bet in play. This option works just like any other casino gambling progressive jackpot, with a fraction of each losing bet placed contributing to an escalating kitty. You’ll usually see a running meter listing the available jackpot amount, which tend to seed at $10,000 and rise from there.
Shooting for a progressive jackpot might sound appealing at first glance, but in the case of Lucky Ladies, the addition only manages to boost the house’s edge to 31.20 percent.
Conclusion
Some casino gambles sound too good to be true, and alas, that’s the case when it comes to the Lucky Ladies side bet in blackjack. The wager is one of those massive longshots designed to separate suckers from their bankroll, and in a hurry at that.
As no less of an authority than Saucier admitted, players can expect to earn the minimum payout of 4 to 1 every nine and half hands or so on average. And it doesn’t take a genius to realize that losing 9.5 chips in hopes of bringing back 4 chips in return is a losing proposition over the long run.
Lucky Ladies can be fun to dabble with when you’re feeling, ahem, lucky. But if money matters to you in the slightest, it’s best to stick with basic blackjack while adding in more reasonable side betting options like 21 + 3 and Perfect Pairs.