For years, Golden Nugget has required players to make a Bonus Spin side bet at all blackjack games under $25. This rule puts Golden Nugget in the top two spots for the worst Las Vegas blackjack games. Based on Vegas Advantage’s calculations, one game holds almost 9% at the minimum bet, including the forced $2 Bonus Spin bet with an estimated 23% house edge. At one point, the downtown casino held the top three spots.
Golden Nugget’s pai gow poker and Top Card Flush now require a $5 side bet
In December, a friend of Vegas Advantage said that the pai gow poker table required a $5 side bet. Earlier in January, we visited the property and discovered that the tip was accurate. We also found the same mandatory side bet at the Top Card Flush table.
The required pai gow poker side bet is not the typical one with a seven-card straight flush progressive meter. The mandatory side bet is a lottery game. It triggers when the player is dealt a hand with five or more suited cards. When that happens, a virtual wheel spins. The outcome is not representative of the spots on the wheel. It is weighted to the lower payouts like a slot machine wheel.
Golden Nugget held a promotion to give away the previous progressive. It ran from December 15, 2024, to December 22, 2024. This pdf has the rules.
Players may make a pai gow poker side bet that includes payouts based on strength. This is optional in addition to the mandatory $5 side bet and the posted flat bet minimum.
Top Card Flush, a game based on the same concept as High Card Flush and I Luv Suits, has the same mandatory $5 Bonus Spin progressive side bet. The typical side bets are still available.
Mandatory side bets exponentially increase the house edge
When the mandatory Bonus Spin side bets launched at Golden Nugget around 2019, Vegas Advantage estimated the house edge to be 23%. Nobody has ever corrected that, so the assumption is that it is that high or worse. It is a safe assumption that the pai gow poker and Top Card Flush are in the same ballpark.
Pai gow poker house edge
The $5 side bet holds $1.15 per hand at a 23% hold. The pai gow game is the no-commission version. Its house edge is 2.5%. That holds $0.375 at $15, $0.50 at $20, $0.625 at $25, and $1.25 at $50, assuming the player uses perfect strategy.
The list below shows the overall estimated house edge at Golden Nugget pai gow poker. The dollar amount combines the flat bet and the mandatory $5 side bet combined, so the $20 line is $15 for the main bet and $5 for the Bonus Spin one.
- $20: 7.63%
- $25: 6.6%
- $30: 5.92%
- $55: 4.36%
No other Las Vegas pai gow poker game requires a side bet to get dealt a hand. The list below shows the house advantages of the three common game versions dealt in the Las Vegas market.
- Dealer Open: 1.81%
- Face Up: 1.82%
- Fortune (5% commission): 2.72%
- Fortune (player-banker): 1.42%
Top Card Flush house edge
Top Card Flush plays like High Card Flush and I Luv Suits. The goal is to get dealt the most suited cards out of the seven dealt. The house receives a hand. The player wins by raising and having more suited cards than the dealer. The strongest flush wins if the player and house have the same number of suited cards.
The posted minimum bet at Golden Nugget is $5. The $5 side bet holds $1.15. The element of risk, which is the house edge when accounting for raises, is 1.54%, according to the Wizard of Odds. This means every $5 flat bet theoretically loses $0.077. It’s a little more complicated than that, but it’s the simplest way to compute the overall hold.
Golden Nugget’s Top Card Flush is worse than all but one other Las Vegas table game
The dollar amounts below include the minimum bet and the required $5 Bonus Spin side bet with the assumed 23% hold.
- $10: 12.28%
- $15: 8.69%
- $20: 6.91%
- $25: 5.83%
- $30: 5.12%
At the $10 minimum bet, which includes the $5 forced side bet, Top Card Flush is the second-worst Las Vegas table game when making the minimum bet.
Big Wheel, also found at Golden Nugget, holds 11.11% up to 24.07%, depending on the number, making it worse than Top Card Flush on six of the seven available bets.
Six worst Las Vegas table games based on house edge
Golden Nugget deals the six worst Las Vegas table games. It exclusively deals four. Big Wheel and triple zero roulette are found at other Las Vegas casinos.
The list below shows the house edge of the six worst Las Vegas table games. The percentage is the house advantage when the expected minimum bet is placed. It assumes the Bonus Spin side bet house edge is 23%, when applicable.
- Big Wheel: 11.11% to 24.07%
- Top Card Flush ($5 side bet): 12.28%
- Lucky Cat Blackjack ($2 side bet): 8.95%
- Triple zero roulette: 7.69%
- Pai gow poker ($5 side bet): 7.63%
- 6/5 blackjack ($2 side bet): 5.5%
Golden Nugget would have the seven worst table games in Las Vegas had it not removed Face Up Blackjack. That game held 4.6% as it required a $2 Bonus Spin side bet.
Other games remain without mandatory side bets
Golden Nugget won our Vegas Best Advantage Award for the widest variety of table games among the 12 downtown casinos. Its blackjack with $25 and higher minimums do not require a side bet. The same can be said of roulette, dice games, baccarat, and other poker pit games, which include Let It Ride, Mississippi Stud, Three Card Poker, and Ultimate Texas Hold’em.
If Golden Nugget decided to add forced side bets to its other poker pit games, the house edge would increase to at least 11.7% at the minimum bet for all, using the 23% side bet house edge estimation.
The best way to stop the spread of bad casino games is to walk away. Make sure to tell the casino why you refuse to play. If enough players say no, this ripoff will disappear.
