The 6/5 payout on a blackjack took over most low-limit blackjack tables on the Las Vegas Strip. Most Caesars Entertainment casinos and one MGM Resorts property have no 3/2 payouts in the pit. The 3/2 payouts are usually in the high-limit salons and at independent casinos toward the north end of the Strip.
Most Las Vegas Strip casinos turned the $15 and $25 6/5 players into having the same value as the ones playing $50 and $100 games in the high-limit salon. Here is how that happened.
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$15 6/5 versus $50 3/2 at Caesars Entertainment casinos
A common Caesars Entertainment 6/5 blackjack table uses eight decks, hits soft 17, and offers surrender. The minimum bet is usually $15 or $25. The house edge is about 1.9%.
The first number is the expected loss at these minimum bets for the 6/5 game. The second is what the expected loss would be if the game paid 3/2.
- $15: $0.29/$0.09
- $25: $0.48/$0.14
There are several Caesars Entertainment high-limit salon options. The minimum bet at Horseshoe is $50. It is the same game as the 6/5 one except that it pays 3/2. Its expected loss at the minimum bet is $0.27, about the same as playing $15 6/5.
The high-limit salon game at Flamingo and Harrah’s has these same rules but it stands on soft 17. The expected loss at these tables is around $0.17. As you see, the player can expect to lose slower at the $50 tables than at the $15 ones.
At Cromwell and Paris, the minimum bet is $100 for the $50 game described above at Flamingo and Harrah’s. The expected loss for that game at the minimum bet is $0.35.
At Planet Hollywood, the game adds re-split aces up to four hands for an expected loss of $0.29, which is exactly the expected loss of the $15 6/5 game found on its floor.
At Caesars Palace, it takes $200 to get that game, for an expected loss of $0.57. The 6/5 tables start at $25 at Caesars Palace. The expected loss there is about $0.48 per hand.
You can get around some of this outside the high-limit salons at Caesars Palace and Planet Hollywood. Each offers a 3/2 blackjack game on the casino floor for $50. You may even get it for $25 during the slowest hours at Planet Hollywood. None of the other Caesars Entertainment casinos deal 3/2 blackjack outside the high-limit room.
Comparison at MGM Resorts casinos
The situation is a little different at MGM Resorts casinos. Each one, except Luxor, deals 3/2 blackjack on the casino floor. It starts at $25 at Excalibur, New York-New York, and Park MGM. It is usually $50 at Aria, Bellagio, Cosmopolitan, Mandalay Bay, and MGM Grand.
The $25 games deal eight decks. The $50 ones use six decks. This softens the blow from the $15 and $25 6/5 tables to the 3/2 high-limit ones. Re-split aces and surrender are permitted at all 3/2 blackjack tables dealt by MGM Resorts casinos.
Here are the expected losses for MGM Resorts games. Excalibur does not have a salon.
- $25 6/5 at Aria, Bellagio, Cosmopolitan, MGM Grand: $0.48
- $50 H17 3/2 at Aria, Bellagio, Cosmopolitan, MGM Grand: $0.24
- $100 S17 3/2 at Aria, Cosmopolitan: $0.28
- $300 S17 3/2 at Bellagio, MGM Grand: $0.84
The situation is a little different at the other three MGM Resorts casinos with high-limit salons. The one at New York-New York hits soft 17. The only difference between it and the 3/2 game on the floor for $25 is that the high-limit game uses six decks. The pit game deals eight decks.
At Mandalay Bay and Park MGM, the high-limit shoes drop to six decks and stand on soft 17 for $100. The expected loss in the pits at a $25 minimum bet is about half that of the $100 high-limit tables.
You can find better blackjack games on the north part of the Strip
It takes a substantial bankroll to play most of the 3/2 high-limit blackjack games. The variance can cause a player with thousands of dollars to bust quickly, no matter how great the rules are.
You can avoid these problems altogether by going just north. Treasure Island deals $10 and $15 3/2 blackjack. You can find it for $15 at The Strat. The high-limit games that stand on soft 17 start at $50 at Sahara and Treasure Island. Double-deck is one of these games at Treasure Island. Both have six-deck games that stand on all 17s and offer surrender and re-split aces.
You can also venture just a little east of the Las Vegas Strip. Oyo deals $10 3/2 blackjack. Ellis Island has one table of $5 3/2 blackjack. It is $10 at many other tables.
If you prefer 3/2 double-deck blackjack, you can head just west of the Strip for it. Gold Coast, Palace Station, and The Orleans all offer this game for $15. It allows double down before and after splitting.
