Best Blackjack Odds In Vegas

There is constant discussion about the poor quality of Las Vegas blackjack games. Most casinos in tourist areas have 6:5 payouts on many of their low-limit games. However, it is still possible to find some of the best blackjack games in the world, even around the Las Vegas Strip. The list below shows the best games in town. These blackjack games are still better than over 95% of what else is out there. You can't go wrong at most of Reno casinos. But Rail City, Alamo, Boomtown, Sands Regency, and Western Village offer the best blackjack odds. Can You Count Cards in Reno? What if you could combine card counting with some of the top blackjack rules anywhere? The topic of this Wizard of Odds Academy video will be on the importance of a blackjack paying 3 to 2 odds in blackjack as opposed to 6 to 5, which is a very common rule variation right now. Here in Las Vegas. You see a lot of players playing 6 to 5 blackjack even at high amounts. Frankly, I have no idea why other than out of a ignorance of math.

Las Vegas is one of the best places to play blackjack in the world. There are plenty of terrible blackjack games to avoid, but if you know where to look, you can find ones that offer a razor thin house edge.

Best Las Vegas Blackjack Game

The best blackjack game in Las Vegas is the single deck game at El Cortez. Stampede slot machine. It is located just east of the Fremont Street Experience in downtown Las Vegas. This is one of the few single deck games in the world that pays 3-2 on a natural blackjack. It also allows double down on any two cards. The dealer hits a soft 17. The house edge on this game is just .16%.
The minimum bet for this great blackjack game is just $5 with a $300 maximum. Players looking to play higher limits will find a $25 table with a $500 maximum.
El Cortez also spreads a decent double deck game, especially for its bet limit. Players can double down on any two cards and after the split. Aces may be resplit. The dealer hits soft 17. This game has an edge of .4%. The minimum bet is just $3 for this game. The maximum is $500.
El Cortez is known as a sweaty blackjack joint. That means the pit bosses are watching the games closely and have been known to ask experienced card counters to leave.

Best Double Deck Blackjack in Las Vegas

The best double deck blackjack game is spread at the M Resort. It is located on the far south end of the valley on Las Vegas Blvd. Players may double on any two cards and after splitting. Aces may be resplit. The dealer stays on all 17's. The game has a $100 minimum bet and $5,000 max. The house edge is .2% in this game.
This exact game may be found on the Las Vegas Strip at several locations with one rule change. Aces may not be resplit. This gives the game a house edge of .26%. Below is a list of locations and bet limits of this great double deck blackjack game. Note that limits may be raised during holidays and weekends.
Mirage: $25-$10,000
Treasure Island: $50-$5,000
MGM Grand: $100-$10,000
Bellagio: $100-$10,000
Aria: $100-$10,000
Mandalay Bay: $100-$10,000

Best Six-Deck Blackjack Game in Las Vegas

The best six-deck blackjack game may be found at a variety of MGM properties and a few smaller casinos. This game allows double down on any two cards, double down after splitting, surrender, and resplit aces. The dealer stays on all 17's in this game. The house edge is .28% with these rules.
The limits below represent minimums found during off peak times. These may be raised during peak weekends and holidays.
MGM Grand: $15-$10,000
Mirage: $25-$5,000
New York New York: $50-$5,000
Luxor: $50-$5,000 (only open on weekends)
Treasure Island: $50-$5,000
Aria: $50-$10,000
Bellagio: $50-$10,000
Mandalay Bay: $100-$10,000
M Resort: $100-$5,000
Cosmopolitan: $200-$5,000

Kevin King is a former professional gambler and casino expert from Las Vegas who now shares his expertise in the form of casino guides and reviews.

Where to cash in on player-friendly blackjack games, and how to avoid the bad ones

by Henry Tamburin

The 6-5 payoff rule increases the house edge by almost 1.4 percent. If you're a $10 bettor, playing a 6-5 game will cost you $3 each time you get a blackjack (and you'll average roughly four blackjacks per hour), which comes to $12 that you are forking over to the casino bosses every hour.

This month, my column is going to accomplish four things:

1. Provide you with a convenient list of casinos that offer a single-deck blackjack game that pays 3-2 for a blackjack (also known as a 'natural')
2. Give you an accurate single-deck basic playing strategy that you can use to play this terrific game
3. Summarize the casinos in and around Las Vegas that offer the abominable 6-5 single-deck games (so you can avoid them)
4. Give you some advice on how you can help eradicate the awful 6-5 games, which have been spreading like a cancer in casinos throughout the U.S.

Note: The information on which casinos offer single-deck games and the corresponding rules and house edges mentioned in this article were obtained from Current Blackjack News (CBJN), with their permission (www.bj21.com). Casinos can change the rules at any time, so check CBJN for the latest rules and playing conditions in casinos across the country.

In the March 2008 issue of Casino Player magazine, I wrote a detailed column about why the 6-5 single-deck game is bad news for players. Without rehashing all the points that I made back then, let me briefly summarize why this game should be avoided like the plague. The 6-5 payoff rule increases the house edge by almost 1.4 percent (no, that's not a typo). If you're a $10 bettor, playing a 6-5 game will cost you $3 each time you get a blackjack (and you'll average roughly four blackjacks per hour), which comes to $12 that you are forking over to the casino bosses every hour.

That is an atrocity, which is why a smart blackjack player would never play this game.

If you talk to casino bosses about their 6-5 games (which I‘ve done), you get this sort of universal response from them: we know players don't like the 6-5 games, but as long as they keep playing them, we'd be crazy not to offer them. In a moment, I will give you some tips on how you can help us eradicate the 6-5 games from casinos everywhere. But first, let me discuss the single-deck game that I am encouraging you to play; namely, the game that pays the traditional 3-2 for a natural. It's available, and I'll show you where.

The house edge against a basic strategy player in a 3-2 single-deck game is a function of the mix of playing rules. The best single-deck games have h17 (dealer hits soft 17), and allow players to resplit aces. The house edge in this game is a meager 0.13%. Free no deposit bonus online mobile casino. Second best is an h17 game without resplit aces (house edge: only 0.18%).

The following chart summarizes the relationship of the rules and the house edge for a basic strategy player in a 3-2 single-deck game. You'd be hard-pressed to find a multi-deck game with these low house edges.

Where would you guess is the most likely place to find a 3-2 single-deck game? If you said Las Vegas, you'd be dead wrong. According to CBJN, there are only four casinos that offer a 3-2 single-deck game in Las Vegas (and unfortunately, 44 casinos in and around Vegas that offer the dastardly 6-5 single-deck games, making Las Vegas the #1 gambling destination with the most 6-5 games).

Table 1 lists the casinos in Las Vegas that offer 3-2 single-deck games. Table 2 is the list of Las Vegas casinos that offer the 6-5 game. Be smart—on your next trip to Vegas, play the juicy 3-2 single-deck game and avoid the terrible 6-5 game in the casinos listed in Table 2.

The areas of the country where the concentration of 3-2 single-deck games is the greatest are Tunica and Vicksburg, MS, and Reno/Lake Tahoe/Wendover, in Nevada. You'll be delighted to find many casinos in these cities that offer the fair 3-2 single-deck game. (See Table 3 for the list of these casinos.)

Now that you know where to find 3-2 single-deck games, you need to learn the basic playing strategy for them. Table 4 summarizes the strategy where the dealer hits soft 17 (which is the case in the majority of casinos that offer a single-deck game). You should become familiar with this playing strategy, because it's slightly different than the basic strategy for multi-deck games. If this is your first time playing a single-deck game, I would also recommend that you bring a strategy card with you to avoid making playing mistakes. It's perfectly legal to refer to a card before you play your hand.

Table 1

Las Vegas Casinos That Offer

3-2 Single-Deck Games

h17 = dealer hits soft 17

d10 = double down only on two-card ten or eleven

rsa = aces may be resplit

Note: I've had friends in the past play the single-deck games at Binion's and Four Queens, and they claimed they had a good time. However, Al Rogers, manager at bj21.com, had this to say about the single-deck games at both casinos: 'Anyone showing the slightest degree of brain usage at reasonable stakes will not be allowed to play the 3-2 single-deck games at either casino.'

Table 2

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Las Vegas Area Casinos That Offer

6-5 Single-Deck Games

Best Blackjack Odds In Las Vegas

*Binion's and Four Queens offer 3-2 and 6-5 single-deck games, which is why they appear in both Tables 1 and 2.

Table 3

MS and Laughlin/Reno/Wendover, NV Casinos

With 3-2 Single-Deck Games

Note: The Isle Casino in Biloxi, MS, and L'Auberge du Lac casino in Lake Charles, LA also offer 3-2 single-deck blackjack games.

Table 4

Single-Deck Basic Strategy

Dealer Hits Soft 17, No DAS

Note: Hard hands are hands that either don't contain an ace, or if one (or more) aces are present in the hand, they count as 1 (e.g., 10-7; 8-4-Ace-4; 3-Ace-Ace-10).

Soft hands are hands that contain an ace counted as 11 (e.g., Ace-7; 3-4-Ace; Ace-7-Ace).

If the rules do not allow doubling on soft hands, then you should always hit soft hands from 13 through 17, and always stand with soft 19 through 21. Likewise, if you are not allowed to double down on hard 8 through 11, then hit.

stand if dealer has 2, 7, or 8A-8Double if dealer has 6; otherwise standA-9; A-10Always stand Pairs 2sSplit if dealer has 3 through 7; otherwise hit3sSplit if dealer has 4 through 7; otherwise hit4sNever split; double if dealer has 5 or 6; otherwise hit5sNever split; double if dealer has 9 or less; otherwise hit6sSplit if dealer has 2 through 6; otherwise hit7sSplit if dealer has 2 through 7; stand if dealer has a 10; hit if dealer has 8, 9, or ace8sAlways split9sSplit if dealer has 2 through 6, and 8 or 9; stand if dealer has 7, 10, or ace.10sNever split; always standAcesAlways split

If the 6-5 game continues to proliferate, it will ultimately ruin blackjack. Here's what you can do to help eradicate this game.

1. Refuse to play any 6-5 blackjack games. Instead, only play blackjack games that pay 3-2 for a natural.
2. If you come across a 6-5 game, voice your displeasure to a casino supervisor, your casino host, and even the casino manager (better yet, email the casino manager). Be sure to also tell them you are taking your business to casinos that don't offer this wretched game.
3. Warn your friends and family members who play blackjack about this outrageous game, and do not play it.

I can promise you this: If enough players say NO to 6-5 blackjack games, casinos will eliminate them. Collectively, we can make a difference.

Tamburin's Tip of the Month

The 6-5 rule isn't just confined to single-deck games. For example, as I was writing this article, the Las Vegas Advisor reported that the new Margaritaville casino (located inside the Flamingo casino in Las Vegas) opened with eight-deck games with h17, and almost all of them pay 6-5 for a natural. Even though the rules allow you to double down after pair splitting, resplit aces, and surrender, collectively these player-friendly rules are not nearly enough to offset the dreaded 6-5 rule, resulting in a ridiculously high house edge of 1.85% against a basic strategy player. Whats the newest mac operating system. Therefore, even if you play a multi-deck game, it pays to double-check the payout for a natural to be sure it's 3-2.

Best Odds Of Winning In Vegas

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Henry Tamburin is the editor of Blackjack Insider Newsletter (www.bjinsider.com), Lead Instructor for the Golden Touch Blackjack Course (www.goldentouchblackjack.com), and host of www.smartgaming.com. For a free three-month subscription to his blackjack newsletter, go to www.bjinsider.com/freetrial.com. To receive his free Casino Gambling Catalog, call 1-888-353-3234 or visit www.smartgaming.com. https://site-3910951-8170-5631.mystrikingly.com/blog/los-vegas-slot-machines.