6 5 Blackjack Las Vegas
We moved to Las Vegas in 2010. Within a few months, I had a database of all the blackjack games on the Strip and in downtown Las Vegas. We expanded to larger locals casinos over the years. By 2018, we had every Las Vegas table game in our database from Railroad Pass, to Santa Fe Station, from M Resort up to Aliante Casino.
$5 Blackjack Near the Strip: Take the short walk to Ellis Island, located behind Bally’s and you will find $5 minimum blackjack that pays 3:2. Cheap Blackjack Downtown Las Vegas Downtown Grand: Located just steps away from the Fremont Street Experience, Downtown Grand (formerly Lady Luck) offers $1 blackjack. Rio has 6:5 blackjack out of an 8 deck shoe. So does Ballys, Flamingo and Harrahs. I haven't been to The Quad or Bills recently enough to comment, but the have multi deck 6:5 disease was present when I. 18+ related questions answered; Cromwell – Probably the classiest place to find a $5 game on the Strip. The craps table is affordable in the morning and early afternoons. Bally's – Will, on occasion, actually run a 3:2 $5 blackjack. Answer 1 of 11: So I'm going to be in Vegas come Monday. A friend gave me 20$ to play for her and told me to play blackjack. Seriously I am a total penny and nickel slot player. That's pretty much it. I know HOW to play blackjack.
This experience over the years has helped me create perfect routes for covering areas. That was hampered some this year by the Las Vegas Monorail and two trams being closed due to the pandemic. That created more walking. For example, instead of taking the tram from Excalibur to Mandalay Bay and walking it back, we had to walk both directions this year.
My wife, Kristina Mehaffey, accompanied me on most of the visits for the first time this year. She took pictures for a future Vegas Advantage project and helped me organize and present the data.
How the data is gathered
When I enter a casino, my first thought is what changed from my last visit. This includes if a pit is gone, if one moved, or if there are any new or missing games. This year, I often encountered many missing games.
If I find something, I check it out first. If I do not, I walk around and check out the action without disturbing anyone. Once I have done this, I will find a dealer at an idle table and ask about the blackjack rules. If I hear something new, I will ask a second person.
Some casinos put the rules on the sign. The rules are often uniform throughout an entire company’s Las Vegas portfolio, and I have those memorized.
I repeat this about 80 times during the survey time. Once I have collected the table game data, Kristina enters it into databases. She is a spreadsheet expert, and enjoys playing with all the data. Once she finishes, I write the accompanying content.
Several table game supervisors help make sure our data is accurate at their casino. We also receive updates from players that we investigate. We would like to thank everyone that helps us keep this current and accurate.
This is the first year that we have published the Las Vegas Blackjack Survey on a site we own. It has been a learning experience. Our goal is to make Vegas Advantage the best resource for Las Vegas gambling information. We will move over to other table games like roulette, craps and Pai Gow Poker after the blackjack survey.
This section breaks Las Vegas blackjack games by geographic location. The Strip is in three parts; north, central and south. We also have downtown Las Vegas listings, as well as the locals market broken up into near the Strip and deep in the neighborhoods.
North Las Vegas Strip blackjack
The north part of the Las Vegas Strip runs from Treasure Island and Venetian north to Sahara and Strat. There are several great options for low limit 3:2 blackjack in this area. There are also good high limit games.
Central Las Vegas Strip blackjack
The central part of the Las Vegas Strip starts at Cosmopolitan and Planet Hollywood up to Harrah’s and Mirage. Most of the low limit blackjack in this area is 6:5. However, there are still a couple of $10 and $15 3:2 games in the area. High limit games are among the best in town.
South Las Vegas Strip blackjack
The south end of the Las Vegas Strip includes everything from Mandalay Bay up to Aria on both sides of the road. It takes $25 to get a 3:2 blackjack game in this area at most times. Lower limit games are generally 6:5 ones. Some high limit salons in this area stand on all 17’s, including at double deck blackjack tables.
Downtown Las Vegas blackjack
This section covers the area on and around the Fremont Street Experience. You will find 3:2 blackjack games as low as $5 in this section. There is also a new stand on all 17 blackjack game on Fremont Street. It is at the new Circa casino on the former Las Vegas Club parcel.
Off-Strip blackjack
This section includes 12 casinos near the Las Vegas Strip but not on it. It goes down to M Resort on Las Vegas Blvd, to Orleans to the west, and Tuscany to the east. There are many great low limit games in this section. Blackjack with a 3:2 payout has a $5 minimum at some of these casinos.
Blackjack at Las Vegas locals casinos
Many locals casinos deal 3:2 blackjack games, sometimes as low as $3. The types of casinos in this list range from small classic locals casinos to major resorts. The gambling at these casinos tends to be better than any other part of the Las Vegas gaming market.
Las Vegas blackjack by number of decks
This section shows where to find a specific blackjack game by the number of decks. It includes single deck blackjack, double deck blackjack and six or eight-deck shoes. We also have a section of blackjack variants dealt in Las Vegas, and another with ones that have left the market in the last decade.
Las Vegas Blackjack Survey Blog Posts
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The worst rule change in the history of blackjack is invading the Las Vegas Strip. MGM Grand became the latest casino to drop the payouts on its lower limit blackjack games. Some casinos are paying 6-5 instead of the traditional 3-2 when a player hits a natural blackjack. This adds 1.39% to the house edge.
The rule change started at single deck tables. It has now proliferated all games all the down to eight-deck shoes. There are several reasons why this is occurring.
6 5 Blackjack Las Vegas
The biggest reason for the number of 6-5 blackjack tables on the Las Vegas Strip is because many players are unaware of how it affects the game. These are exactly the types of players casinos want. A card counter or player that understands basic strategy is not going to make the casino any money at a 3-2 blackjack table. The type of player that sits at a 6-5 table has no idea how to play the game. They will simply blow their buy-in standing when they should hit, not doubling down properly, and not splitting at the correct time.
This cuts down on a number of expenses for the casino.
First, the percentage of a casino dedicated to gaming gets smaller every year in Las Vegas. Nightclubs and restaurants are becoming more common. The card counters and expert players may take up 20 percent of the blackjack seats in a casino. Those players and the tables that would accommodate them are now gone. That leaves more room for more slot machines, dining options, and nightclubs.
Pit bosses do not have to monitor the blackjack tables like they used to now that card counters are not at the tables. Counting cards cannot overcome the nearly 2% edge at the game so even if a pit boss suspects a counter there is no reason to back him off. This also leaves surveillance less work to do.
6 Las Vegas
While the house edge is almost two percent at most 6-5 games, the poor play at these tables doubles or triples that number. The expert player would only give up 0.5 percent at a 3-2 table. The house is now taking 10 times the house edge it once did at blackjack.
Players will bust out earlier than they used to, or rebuy sooner. This makes the casino more money per square foot of casino space.
The players at these tables are less likely to ask for comps for multiple reasons. They may not know to ask for free items due to their lack of gambling knowledge displayed by sitting at a 6-5 table to start. The high house edge and poor play will likely not give them the number of hours required to receive free meals and rooms before going bust. This type of player may not last long enough for the cocktail waitress to come around.
6-5 Blackjack Las Vegas
This all started because blackjack players failed to stand up against casinos spread 6-5 blackjack tables. The casinos kept pushing the limits and now nearly half of the blackjack tables on the Strip now pay 6-5 on a natural. Players need to stop supporting 6-5 blackjack if there is any hope of making it go away.