No Hole Card Blackjack Variants

In America it is common practice for the dealer to have a hole card – that is, a card in their own hand that is face down on the table for the duration of the hand. For a variety of reasons, different casinos choose to eliminate this hole card. Usually it will be replaced by the dealer drawing his or her second card after all of the other players have gone. So what else is unique about these no hole card blackjack variants? Let's take a look.

European No Hole Card Blackjack Variants

In Europe, the dealer is not allowed to use a hole card. In addition, if the dealer still manages to achieve 21 then the initial bets made by the player are lost along with all additional bets (or side bets) that were on the table. Therefore it is very important to be cognizant of just how much money you have on the table in these European no hole card variants because the game moves swiftly and money changes hands very quickly.

Aruban No Hole Card Blackjack Variants

Aruba is a growing destination for gamblers around the world, and they also utilize a no hole card blackjack variant. In theirs, the dealer chooses their second card after the players have gone. This eliminates the chance of players seeing the hole card as the dealer places it down. While it may seem unnerving to have the dealer choose two cards non-consecutively, rather than pulling the first two out of the deck for himself, this actually does not change the house advantage by a significant amount.

Aruban no hole card blackjack has a key difference from its European counterpart. In Europe, when the dealer wins after a split he receives winnings from both of your hands. However, if the player splits and busts on both hands in Aruba then the dealer only wins the original bet. This is obviously slightly better news for the player, although Aruban no hole card blackjack typically doesn't feature a surrender option.

Conclusion

Blackjack is a wildly popular game and for good reason. The little variations seen around the world are often done to compensate for card counting and lucky breaks for the players. It is important to know the no hole card blackjack variants as they appear around the world because, even though the differences may be slight, they can end up being the difference between a successful hand and a loss.