6:5 Tourist Trap: blackjack house edge & basic strategy

The game to avoid. 6 decks on a continuous shuffler, dealer hits soft 17, double any two, but blackjack pays only 6:5. The short payout roughly triples the house edge versus a 3:2 game.

House edge

2.50% per initial bet with perfect basic strategy (win 43.1% / push 8.5% / lose 48.4% of rounds). Derived by seeded Monte Carlo simulation of 300,000 rounds under the exact rules below.

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Table rules

Decks6
Shufflecontinuous shuffling machine (reshuffled every round)
Dealer soft 17dealer hits (H17)
Dealer 22busts normally
Hole cardUS style — dealer peeks for blackjack
Blackjack pays6:5
Free Betnot offered
Double downany two cards
Double after splitallowed
Splittingup to 4 hands; no resplitting aces, one card on split aces
Surrendernot offered

Basic strategy chart

H Hit · S Stand · D Double · P Split · R Surrender. Rows are your hand, columns the dealer upcard (A = Ace).

Hard totals

Hard totals: rows are your hand, columns the dealer upcard
2345678910A
5HHHHHHHHHH
6HHHHHHHHHH
7HHHHHHHHHH
8HHHHHHHHHH
9DHDDDHHHHH
10DDDDDDDDHH
11DDDDDDDDDD
12HHHSSHHHHH
13SSSSSHHHHH
14SSSSSHHHHH
15SSSSSHHHHH
16SSSSSHHHSH
17SSSSSSSSSS
18SSSSSSSSSS
19SSSSSSSSSS
20SSSSSSSSSS

Soft totals

Soft totals: rows are your hand, columns the dealer upcard
2345678910A
A,2HHHHDHHHHH
A,3HHHDDHHHHH
A,4HHHDDHHHHH
A,5HHHDDHHHHH
A,6HDDDDHHHHH
A,7SDSDDSSHSH
A,8SSSSDSSSSS
A,9SSSSSSSSSS

Pairs

Pairs: rows are your hand, columns the dealer upcard
2345678910A
2,2PPPPPPHHHH
3,3PPPPPPPHHH
4,4HHHHPHHHHH
5,5DDDDDDDDHH
6,6PPPPPHHHHH
7,7PPPPPPPHHH
8,8PPPPPPPPPH
9,9PPPPPSPPSS
10,10SSSSSSSSSS
A,APPPPPPPPPP

Dealer outcome odds

Probability of each dealer final result, by upcard:

Dealer final-total probabilities by upcard (BJ = blackjack)
Upcard1718192021BJBust
213.2%13.2%13.3%12.6%11.9%0.0%35.8%
312.6%13.1%12.8%12.2%11.7%0.0%37.7%
412.1%12.9%12.2%11.9%11.5%0.0%39.4%
511.7%12.2%11.9%11.8%10.9%0.0%41.6%
611.5%11.7%11.3%11.1%10.6%0.0%43.8%
737.0%13.9%7.9%7.9%7.2%0.0%26.0%
812.6%35.9%13.0%7.0%7.1%0.0%24.4%
912.2%12.1%34.7%11.9%6.3%0.0%22.8%
1011.1%11.0%11.1%34.2%3.4%7.9%21.3%
A5.7%14.1%14.4%14.2%6.5%31.0%14.2%

Frequently asked questions

What is the house edge at 6:5 Tourist Trap?

With perfect basic strategy the edge is about 2.50% in favour of the house, per initial bet. Derived by Monte Carlo simulation of 300,000 rounds under these exact rules.

Does the dealer hit or stand on soft 17 at 6:5 Tourist Trap?

The dealer hits soft 17 (H17), which adds roughly 0.2% to the house edge compared with standing.

How often does the dealer bust with a 6 showing?

Under these rules the dealer busts 43.8% of the time with a 6 up — the weakest dealer upcard.

How much does the 6:5 blackjack payout cost you?

A natural blackjack pays only 6:5 here instead of the standard 3:2. That single rule adds roughly 1.4% (at 6:5) to the house edge — more than every other rule on the table combined. Prefer a 3:2 game whenever one is available.

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