1. (a) Cards shall be dealt from a dealing shoe which must be located on the table in a location approved by the Bureau of Casino Compliance in accordance with § 601a.10(g) (relating to approval of table game layouts, signage and equipment). Once the procedures under § 692.5 (relating to shuffle and cut of the cards) have been completed, the stacked cards shall be placed in the dealing shoe by the dealer or by an automated card shuffling device.
2. (b) Each card shall be removed from the dealing shoe with the hand of the dealer that is closest to the dealing shoe and placed on the appropriate area of the layout with the opposite hand. The dealer may deal cards to the two betting positions closest to the dealing shoe with the same hand.
3. (c) After each full batch of cards is placed in the shoe, the dealer shall remove the first card and place it in the discard rack. Each new dealer who comes to the table shall also remove one card and place it in the discard rack before dealing cards to the players.

4. (d) If the cover card appears as the first card in the dealing shoe at the beginning of a round of play or appears during play, the cover card shall be removed and placed to the side and the hand will be completed. The dealer shall then complete the following actions:

   1. (1) Collect and reshuffle the cards by removing the cards remaining in the shoe and placing them in the discard rack to ensure that no cards are missing.
   2. (2) Shuffle the cards so that they are randomly intermixed.

5. (e) After all Double Down Madness Blackjack and Push 22 wagers have been placed, the dealer shall deal the cards as follows:

   1. (1) One card face down to the dealer.
   2. (2) One card face up to each box on the layout in which a Double Down Madness Blackjack wager is contained, starting with the player farthest to the dealer’s left and continuing in a clockwise manner.
   3. (3) A second card face up to the dealer.
6. (f) Immediately after the second card is dealt to the dealer, if the dealer’s face up card is an ace, the dealer shall offer the Insurance wager in accordance with § 692.8 (relating to Insurance wager).

7. (g) If the dealer’s face up card is an ace or a 10 value card, after the procedures in subsection (f) have been completed, if applicable, the dealer shall determine whether the hole card will give the dealer a Blackjack. The dealer shall insert the hole card into the card reader device by moving the card face down on the layout without exposing it to anyone at the table, including the dealer. If the dealer has a Blackjack, additional cards may not be dealt. The following shall then occur:

   1. (1) The dealer collects the player’s Double Down Madness Blackjack wager and Push 22 wager, if applicable.
   2. (2) The dealer shall pay out any Insurance wager, if applicable.

8. (h) If the dealer’s face up card was not an ace or 10 value card, or if the dealer’s hole card did not give the dealer Blackjack, the dealer shall start with the player farthest to the dealer’s left and continue around the table in a clockwise direction and allow each player to indicate their play decision to receive their second card as follows:

   1. (1) If the player’s initial card is not an ace, player may do any of the following:
9. (i) Hit and receive their second card.
10. (ii) Double down in accordance with § 692.9 (relating to double down) and receive their second card.

11. (2) If the player’s initial card is an ace, the player will only receive the second card, and no additional cards. The player may do any of the following:

    1. (i) Hit and receive their final card.
    2. (ii) Double down in accordance with § 692.9 and receive their final card.
    3. (i) If upon dealing a second card to a player, the player has Blackjack, the dealer shall announce and pay the Blackjack in accordance with § 692.10(b) (relating to payout odds) and remove the player’s cards. If a player also placed a Push 22 wager, the dealer shall tuck the player’s cards under the player’s Push 22 wager until it is resolved in accordance with subsection (p).
    4. (j) If a player does not have Blackjack and is not prohibited from additional cards under subsection (l)(2), a player shall indicate whether they wish to stand, hit or double down as permitted under § 692.9. Players may not split pairs or surrender in Double Down Madness.
    5. (k) As each player indicates their decision, the dealer shall deal face upwards whatever additional cards are necessary to effectuate the player’s decision.

    6. (l) A player may elect to draw additional cards whenever their point count total is less than 21, except in the following circumstances:

       1. (1) A player having a hard or soft total of 21 may not draw additional cards.
       2. (2) A player whose initial card was an ace may only hit or double down in accordance with § 692.9 to receive their second/final card.
    7. (m) After the decisions of each player have been implemented and all additional cards have been dealt, the dealer shall turn the hole card facing up.
    8. (n) Except as provided in subsection (o), the dealer shall draw additional cards until the dealer’s hand has a hard total of 17 or more. The dealer hits on soft 17. Any additional cards required to be dealt to the hand of the dealer shall be dealt face up. The dealer shall announce the dealer’s total point count after each additional card is dealt.
    9. (o) If there are no Push 22 wagers on the table, a dealer may not draw additional cards to their hand, regardless of the point count, if the decisions have been made on all players’ hands and the point count of the dealer’s hand will not have an effect on the outcome of the round of play. If there are Push 22 wagers still on the table and all players’ hands are in excess of 21 or have Blackjack, the dealer shall draw additional cards to settle the Push 22 wager.

    10. (p) After all additional cards have been drawn, if the total point count of the dealer’s hand:

        1. (1) Is a 22, the dealer shall return all remaining players’ Double Down Madness Blackjack wagers, including any Double Down wagers as provided in § 692.9, and pay out any Push 22 wagers in accordance with § 692.10(d).
        2. (2) Is not a 22, the dealer shall collect any Push 22 wagers and settle the players’ Double Down Madness Blackjack wagers in accordance with subsections (q)—(s).

    11. (q) A player shall win and be paid in accordance with § 692.10(a) for a Double Down Madness Blackjack wager and an equivalent amount for each Double Down wager, if applicable, if the following occur:

        1. (1) The total point count of the player’s hand is 21 or less and the total point count of the dealer’s hand is in excess of 21 provided that if the total point count of the dealer’s hand is 22, the Double Down Madness wager and any Double Down wagers, if applicable, shall be returned to the player.
        2. (2) The total point count of the player’s hand exceeds the total point count of the dealer’s hand without exceeding 21.
    12. (r) A Double Down Madness Blackjack wager shall tie and be returned, along with any Double Down wagers, if applicable, to the player if the total point count of the player’s hand is the same as the total point count of the dealer’s hand.

    13. (s) A player’s Double Down Madness Blackjack wager shall lose if:

        1. (1) The total point count of the dealer’s hand is 21 or less and the total point count of the player’s hand is in excess of 21.
        2. (2) The total point count of the dealer’s hand exceeds the total point count of the player’s hand without exceeding 21.

    14. (t) The dealer shall collect all losing wagers and pay off all winning wagers in accordance with one of the following procedures designated in the certificate holder’s Rules Submission under § 601a.2 (relating to table games Rules Submissions):

        1. (1) Collect all losing wagers beginning with the player farthest to the dealer’s right and continuing around the table in a counterclockwise direction and then pay off all winning wagers.
        2. (2) Collect each player’s losing wagers and pay off each player’s winning wagers beginning with the player farthest to the dealer’s right and continuing around the table in a counterclockwise direction. The dealer shall place losing wagers directly into the table inventory and may not pay off winning wagers by using value chips collected from a losing wager.
    15. (u) After all wagers have been settled, the dealer shall remove the remaining cards from the table and place them in the discard rack in a manner that permits the reconstruction of each hand in the event of a question or dispute.
    16. (v) Players and spectators may not handle, remove or alter any cards used to play Double Down Madness.

Cross References

This section cited in 58 Pa. Code § 692.5 (relating to shuffle and cut of the cards); and 58 Pa. Code § 692.9 (relating to double down).