Playing Blackjack in Colombia

This 17 rule varies from casino to casino. I don't keep

track of it closely because the rules in Colombia casinos

are so good that IMO the S17/H17 rule makes little difference

for anyone considering where to play.

Also, any casino may change the rule at their discretion.

S17 (dealer stands on all 17's) gives a teeny tiny

advantage to the players on some rounds.

Sites such as BJ21 and Wizard of Odds may provide the exact

tiny fraction-of-one-percent advantage to the player v. S17.

The most important player-favorable rules are

double-any-first-two-cards permitted and

Surrender permitted against a dealer Ace or any other card.

Also, casinos in the Paisa capital offer 3-2 payoffs on

naturals, unlike some 6-5 casinos in some northern countries'

casinos.

cccmedia

Buca BJ update in 2024.

In December (2023) I began my current trip to

Bucaramanga -- my fourth visit to the City of Parks

since 2022 -- which has become my favorite city

to visit in South America.  Even though Buca is

slightly warmer than Medellin, the abundance of

trees in the Expat-friendly sectors creates plenty

of shade in the mid to late afternoons and makes

a ten or 12 minute walk quite delightful.  Longer

walks will expose one to perspiration-inducing

humidity on some days.

---

My main blackjack venue on this trip has been

the Encore Casino in the multi-malls part of

Cabecera.  The game there is still dealt manually

from a dealing shoe -- no CSM or auto-shuffling

machine.  The game usually has some action

going on when I arrive, but there is typically

an opportunity to play two or three spots

simultaneously as I prefer.

Between 3:30 p.m. and 11 p.m., the Encore

has a sometimes-annoying Bingo game

that is announced over a casino loudspeaker

and is offered four times during these hours.

For 25 minutes, Bingo numbers are continually

announced and participating players mark their

Bingo cards accordingly.  The female announcer

today was less annoying than some.  A loud

announcer and a boosted sound system can

be distracting, so I plan to schedule future visits

to avoid Encore's first Bingo game of the day during

the 3:30 to 4:30 window.

On my fiinal round of the session today,

I was dealt a hand featuring a pair of 3's.

The dealer hand was showing a 7.

I split the 3's, then re-split when dealt yet

another three, then doubled down on

two of the new hands which had each

become a two-card ten.  The dealer busted,

making for a delightful path to color up,

cash out and exit.

cccmedia in Bucaramanga, Santander

I visited the casino at Cacique Mall today for the

first time on this Bucaramanga trip.  (Like my new favorite,

the Encore Casino, the Cacique venue goes by

the dealer-hits-soft-17 rule.)

A supervisor at Cacique told me the blackjack

minimum goes from 5000 to 10000 COP at

6 p.m.  The same change occurs at Encore

daily at 5 p.m.

Both Encore and Cacique blackjack are dealt

from a plastic dealer shoe after the cards are

manually shuffled by the dealer.  I noticed that

the same shuffle procedure is followed at

both casinos -- shuffle, shuffle, strip, shuffle,

then burn between 6 and 11 cards following

the player's placing of the cut card depending

on the  face value of the  first burn card

pulled from the shoe.

Ten thousand COP is roughly equivalent to

$2.50 US based on the recent exchange rate.

cccmedia in Buca