Blackjack Switch: rules, switching strategy and house edge

Key facts

In Blackjack Switch you play two equal bets and may swap the second card of each hand. Queensland's rule book sets it up with 6 to 8 decks and the dealer hitting soft 17.
The price of the switch: blackjack pays only 1 to 1, and a dealer total of 22 pushes every hand except a natural blackjack.
In our calculation the right to switch is worth about 9.3% of each bet, and the house edge with 6 decks ends up at about 0.58% of each bet (0.62% with 8 decks).
Switching is right on about 35.5% of deals. Judge it by the two hands together, not by the best single hand you can make.
The optional Super Match bet on pairs in your four cards has a 2.55% house edge with 6 decks and 1.46% with 8, low for a side bet.

Blackjack Switch rules

Blackjack Switch is a two-hand blackjack game in which you may swap the second cards between your hands. Queensland's Casino Gaming Rule, schedule 2(c), is one of the few public rule books for it. Where it does not say otherwise, Queensland's ordinary blackjack rules apply.

Rule	Blackjack Switch in Queensland's rule book
Decks	6 to 8, plus 2 cutting cards
Bets	One equal bet on each of the two switch betting areas of your box
The switch	Swap the second card of your first hand with the second card of your second hand
When	Before you double, split, stand or draw
Blackjack pays	1 to 1
Switched ace and ten	Counts as 21, not blackjack; loses to a dealer blackjack
Dealer draws	To hard 16 or soft 17, so the dealer hits soft 17
Dealer 22	Every hand still in play pushes, except a natural blackjack
Dealer blackjack	Original bets lose; extra double or split money is returned
Doubling	First two cards totalling 9, 10 or 11, under the ordinary Queensland rules
Splitting	Once per hand; aces get one card each
Insurance	2 to 1, one insurance bet per box
Super Match	Optional side bet on pairs in your first four cards

As in all Queensland blackjack, the dealer gets only one card in the first deal, and the second after the players finish.

How the switch works

You see all four of your cards and the dealer's first card before you choose. Say you have 10, 5 and 6, 10 against a dealer 6. Switching the second cards gives you 10, 10 and 6, 5: a 20 and an 11.

Each switch decision compares two pairs of hands, never one hand. In our calculation for 6 decks, per $1 on each hand:

Your deal	Dealer	Keep as dealt	Switch to	Best play
10, 5 and 6, 10	6	15 and 16: minus 0.42	20 and 11: +1.09	Switch
9, 9 and 10, 2	7	18 and 12: +0.09	11 and 19: +0.88	Switch
A, 7 and 10, 9	9	soft 18 and 19: +0.08	soft 20 and 17: +0.22	Switch
10, 6 and 9, 10	10	16 and 19: minus 0.66	20 and 15: minus 0.18	Switch
8, 3 and 10, 8	10	11 and 18: minus 0.30	8, 8 and 13: minus 1.08	Keep
10, 4 and 5, 6	10	14 and 11: minus 0.54	16 and 9: minus 0.85	Keep
10, 2 and 10, A	6	12 and blackjack: +0.79	21 and 12: +0.59	Keep

The last row surprises people. A natural pays only 1 to 1 here, but it still wins straight away unless the dealer also has blackjack, and it still beats a dealer 22. A switched 21 has to survive the dealer's hand, so it is worth less. Keep naturals unless the other hand gains a lot: of all deals that include a natural, switching is better only about 4% of the time in our calculation.

Across every possible deal, switching is the better choice about 35.5% of the time with 6 decks in our calculation.

What the switch is worth, and what it costs

The switch is valuable: compared with playing the same two hands with no option to swap, it adds about 9.3% of each bet in our calculation. Nothing like that is free, and the rule book takes it back three ways:

Blackjack pays 1 to 1. At 3 to 2, a natural earns half a bet more. You get one on about 4.75% of hands, and losing that extra half on each is a large cost.
Dealer 22 pushes. The dealer finishes on exactly 22 on about 7.35% of hands with 6 decks when hitting soft 17. In ordinary blackjack those are wins for every hand that has not busted.
Dealer hits soft 17. That alone costs about 0.2% of each bet in ordinary blackjack.

The result, in our calculation of the Queensland rules with correct switching and play:

Decks	House edge per bet
6	0.58%
8	0.62%

That is very close to ordinary Australian casino blackjack at 0.55% with 6 decks, and cheaper than the dealer hits soft 17 version at 0.77%. Because you must always play two hands, though, the cost per round is double: $25 a hand means $50 of action and about 29 cents average loss a round. Our online blackjack Australia guide lists the other versions on the same basis.

Blackjack Switch strategy after the switch

Once the cards are set, each hand is played on its own, but not with the ordinary chart. The dealer 22 push makes small dealer cards less dangerous to the dealer, so you hit more and split less. Some decisions compared with ordinary Australian blackjack where the dealer hits soft 17, from our 6 deck solver:

Your hand	Dealer shows	Ordinary blackjack	Blackjack Switch
12	4 or 5	Stand	Hit
13	2	Stand	Hit
8, 8	10	Split	Hit
6, 6	2	Split	Hit
9, 9	7	Stand	Stand (splitting is worse still)
12	6	Stand	Stand
14	2	Stand	Stand

Splitting 8s against a 10 stops being worth it, partly because the extra bet can end in a push on a dealer 22 instead of a win. Insurance stays a losing bet. For the ordinary chart these changes are measured against, see our blackjack strategy guide.

Pundit tip: the switches worth looking for are the ones that build a 20, an 11 or a 10. A hand like that is worth more than the damage to the other hand far more often than not, while breaking up a natural rarely is.

The Super Match side bet

Super Match looks at your first four cards, before any switch, and pays on matching ranks. Queensland's pay table and our calculated chances:

Result in your four cards	Pays	Chance, 6 decks	Chance, 8 decks
One pair	1 to 1	35.22%	35.43%
Three of a kind	5 to 1	1.96%	2.01%
Two pairs	8 to 1	1.53%	1.56%
Four of a kind	40 to 1	0.036%	0.038%

That gives a house edge of 2.55% with 6 decks and 1.46% with 8, which is low for a blackjack side bet. It is still several times the cost of the main game. Our blackjack side bets guide ranks it against the others.

Blackjack Switch versus Free Bet Blackjack

Both games use the dealer 22 push to pay for a feature. In Free Bet Blackjack the feature is free doubles and splits, and in our calculation the trade nets out at about 1.44% with 6 decks. In Blackjack Switch the feature is the swap, and the trade nets out at about 0.58%. If you like the dealer 22 style of game, Switch is the cheaper of the two, provided you make the switch decisions well. For the raw chances behind all of these numbers, see blackjack odds.

Where Blackjack Switch is played

Queensland's rule book includes it, so the game can be dealt in that state's casinos when a casino chooses to run it. Online versions exist, but online casino games cannot legally be offered to people in Australia, and ACMA blocks offshore sites that offer them.

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Frequently asked questions

How does Blackjack Switch work?

You place two equal bets and get two hands. Before doing anything else you may swap the second card of the first hand with the second card of the second hand. Then each hand is played as normal blackjack, against a dealer who hits soft 17 and pushes on 22.

What does blackjack pay in Blackjack Switch?

Even money, 1 to 1, in the Queensland rules, instead of the usual 3 to 2. And an ace and ten made by switching counts as 21, not blackjack, so it loses to a dealer blackjack.

What is the house edge in Blackjack Switch?

About 0.58% of each bet with 6 decks and 0.62% with 8 in our calculation of the Queensland rules, assuming you switch and play each hand correctly. Poor switching decisions cost far more than that.

When should you switch in Blackjack Switch?

When the two new hands are worth more together than the two old ones. Making a 20 out of two tens is usually right even if it leaves a weak second hand, but breaking up a natural blackjack usually is not, even though it only pays 1 to 1.

What happens if the dealer gets 22 in Blackjack Switch?

Every hand still in play pushes, including 20 and 21, unless you have a natural blackjack, which still wins. Hands that busted before the dealer played still lose.