"Back in the good old days..."

Hey all,

I started playing in 2013 (I'm in my 20s) and often read hear about how casino odds on blackjack and comps in general are always going down. I'm just curious, what did the best blackjack table you've seen offer? Interested both high limit and the $10 stuff normal people like me would play. The more specifics the better! (how many decks, all double and splits available?)

Similar questions for comps. Was the peak in players club offers? Always interested in learning more about the history of this place. Thanks!

 

I started going to Vegas in 1987.
Comps, other than free drinks and cheap food were really non-existent(at least at my level). Remember there were no players clubs or computer tracking at that time.
I believe the Sands had just started experimenting with a players card.
But things were much less expensive, food and gambling. Buffets could be had for $5 or so.
Table mins were $1-$3 at BJ.
As for the best BJ deal ever, it had to be at the El Rancho. $3 min bet for a 3-2 payout. But If you "lived on the edge" and bet $5 or more they paid 8-5 on a blackjack!

 

Remember, in 1987 minimum wage was $3.35 and hour.
A Las Vegas buffet might have ran $5, but the quality, selection, and VALUE, is very good now, in my opinion. I went to Wicked Spoon on Labor Day weekend and felt I got a good value for $50.

Learning the history of the town can be fun. But I suggest sticking to the Mormon missionaries, Howard Hughes, and the Mob rather than "They used to be able to see Sinatra in the lounge." I guess what I'm saying is don't focus on what you can't get. Today is your Good Ol' Days. Enjoy them.

 

My hazy recollection is that the pit bosses had a lot of discretion to hand out comps to table players back in the day. At least in AC. I remember a friend of a friend giving us buffet comps at Resorts. AC was a lot different back then with it first opened.

 

i started going mid 80's even a $5 BJ player like myself could easily get a small chit for the coffee shop one day i racked up 10 $10 comps at Harrahs...we all ate on them that night... at the Shoe, you could get a small comp just as soon as you sat down at a poker table..no questions asked....

abut 10 years later i was at the Mirage playing at a $25 table and and got on bit of a run... after about 5 hours, pit critter comes over to me and asks if was hungry...said yeah, i was going to meet my buddy at Mikado later... reaches in to his jacket, takes out a card and writes me a $75 voucher... it was signed by Gary Nolan, formerly of The Big Red Machine.. being from MA we had a nice long talk about the 75 series.....then he introduces me to some guy that had to be in his 70's...turns out it was his catcher from when he played in the mexican league..but i digress...

one of the best games was at the Maxim... $5 DD 3/2 DAS, split up to 4 times including aces, surrender.... and they dealt about 80 of the 102 cards...

.

 

Mister 'busted record' here, but that would be the ample 2-deck pitch games at the Stardust... $5 & $10 tables, 3:2, S17, DAS permitted...and Mike - yeah, I remember the Maxim game too...Stardust cut away about 25-30%, so they were close to Maxim... the thing with the 'Dust that Maxim didn't have was 24/7 open tables...as in plural... with easy comps for food & rooms.
I don't remember Maxim offering Surrender, but it's entirely possible...I know that the Stardust didn't on their two-deck. No RSA either.

 

My first trip in 1992 my father had to go to casino services and ask to have his play rated. No players card, he just told the casino that he wanted to be watched. No ticket in- ticket out or bill readers, ladies with coin rolls on change carts would patrol the slot floors. I know we saw the beginning of slot card readers at Caesars, because my father remarked that now everyone is going to have to have them. Drinks were free at all table games and slot machines, ten dollar coin purchase at bar top vp, five dollars at keno lounge and free in the sports book. In 1989 in the Bahamas the slots were transitioning from paying every win to the coin tray to storing credits. So many people walked away from small wins without hitting the collect button that I made about twenty bucks walking around the casino and smacking the flashing win buttons.

 

The used to be north Strip casinos offered great 3-2 low-limit single-deck rules. Westward Ho had a game where dealer stood on all 17s, but you weren't allowed DAS. Circus Circus' game had dealers hit soft 17, but you were allowed DAS. And Slots-A-Fun game stood on all 17s and allowed DAS.

Of course every table at Binion's Horseshoe was 3-2 single deck. But these conditions disappeared between 10-15 years ago.

Topcard, I think the conditions you cite at the 'Dust also were at the Riviera.

From what I understand, Atlantic City allowed early surrender when gambling first started there.....in other words, you could surrender before the dealer checked for blackjack. This would result in significantly more hands being surrendered, and, by playing perfect strategy, a player would have a nice edge over the house.

The other thing I miss were the $1-3 dollar craps with 10x odds at some of the local casinos. Does anyone remember the Reserve, which was a Safari-themed casino that opened in 1998 in Henderson? Now it is Fiesta Henderson, but I really liked the place in its original iteration.

 

Yeah...Riv, Westward Ho, Stardust & Frontier...and Circus too (for awhile) - all had two-deck pitch, $5 & $10 mins, 3:2, S17, DAS tables.
My buddy & I simply referred to that region as "the circuit", as you could easily walk a circle of playing at all of them...

These days, we have downtown for that...but blackjack conditions are not nearly as good as they were back then...

No more 2-deck S17 with DAS to be found anymore...at least not for less than $50...and not at all downtown.

 

Hi Topcard, I will be in LV around the same time as you. I haven't been since 2012. Where in your opinion is the best place for me to play for the best BJ rules I am a 25$ player and my wife more a 10-15$ player. Thanks

 

I've never been a big player. Normally $5-10 BJ or the on passline for craps and .10-.25 VP. Only playing a few hours a day playing wouldn't get me much anyway. But, in the early nineties, it didn't really matter. On the strip $3-4 breakfasts were everywhere and $6 prime rib was the norm. Locals casinos were even better. A buddy and myself had breakfast before golf at Mary's Diner in Sam's Town one morning. We both had bacon and eggs off of the menu only to find out at the cashier that it was one of the specials. Both breakfasts with coffee for $1.76 total!!!! Those were the days.

Good Luck,
Ric at Joes

 

Been donating my hard earned money to Vegas since the 80's. Was at Excalibur for their grand opening playing $5 BJ.
After counting cards for a year or so and was killing the tables. I played mostly DD, DAS.
No players cards at the time for comps, but a pit supervisor tried to comp me off the table ( I was winning of course). He gave me a voucher for like $13 at some deli there at the time. Don't laugh, but $13 would easily get you a full meal and a drink back then!

I miss those days.

 

...ok...in advance, please forgive the length of my answer - it's really not that simple, given your parameters.
First - where will you be? downtown or strip?
If you're downtown, the answer becomes much easier - you want to play at the El Cortez two-deck shoes... you can play green while the wife plays red. 3:2, H17, DAS permitted. They cut away about about 1/3.
Now, you can find this exact same game at the Golden Gate (for $25, and periodically $15 on weekdays), and the Plaza at $25 (although they've lowered it to $15 for me a couple of times when I asked).

If you don't care about having a two-deck game, the Golden Nugget used to have a 6 (or 8) deck shoe with S17, DAS & LS... it was $15 during the day & $25 at night... Mike from Pensacola could probably give us a more recent update to this game & whether or not it's still around at those limits. If they still have it, I believe it's the only S17 game downtown.

If you're a strip player, there used to be a great $25 two-deck pitch game at the Mirage that was S17, with DAS. I've heard that TI has (had?) it as well, but I've never actually seen that one for myself.
To accommodate your wife, my recommendation would be to take the free shuttle (or a cab) over to the Gold Coast (it's next door to Rio).
Plenty of $5 & $10 two-deck pitch; 3:2, H17, DAS permitted.
I hardly ever play on the strip anymore since the takeover by MGM & CET. If you're not betting at least $50/hand, you're practically invisible to them, and you'll likely find yourself limited to 6:5 games if you're betting less than $25/hand.
I know (from reading here on VMB) that there are some 'less-than-$25' 3:2 shoes here & there on the strip, but I'm not the best person to report on those - I generally never play shoe games - but when I do, it would be something like the Nugget game (or the old $15 6-deck game at the Mirage that had the same rules - S17, DAS, LS.)

For me personally - almost 100% of my blackjack play these days is either downtown or at the Gold Coast. Like your wife, I'm mostly a $10 & $15 player, and only rarely (anymore) play $25 tables...perhaps 1 or 2 sessions per trip at the Golden Gate 2-deck table.
Best of luck to you...perhaps others who are more strip-familiar can help you out with conditions there.

 

Stupid me! I just realized that you're (samstownman) going to be at Sam's Town (duh!), the Plaza & the Rio.
So - ignore my strip rant above!
Play at Gold Coast & the ElCo!
If you're playing alone, enjoy the two-deck games at Plaza & Golden Gate.
Good luck!
Perhaps we'll run into one another downtown

 

Thank you for the info, How about the Orleans ? I would love to pay you a beer at the brew pub in the MSS, In LV Feb 25 to Mar 7

 

I've never been to the Orleans, but I understand that their blackjack rules/conditions are the same as Gold Coast.
As for MSS? I'll be downtown from 2/23 through the 25th...flying home on the 26th...if you're downtown in that period, let me know & me & my buddy will meet you (and wife?) at MSS... message me here as we get closer to then & we'll figure out details.

 

topcard,
the Maxim had what I think was the best blackjack game in Vegas, maybe ever. Around 1990? 1991? It was after the Mirage opened.
Single deck, 3/2, double anything, DAS, respit anything twice etc. Even surrender on your dealt hand.
And get this. After the burn card they dealt through the deck!! All the way with a reshuffle if necessary.

 

malibu - I only played there a couple of times in the 80s...let's just say that my memory from those days is..."faulty"...yeah...that's a good word... I don't doubt you at all... but apparently, I must have lost - otherwise, I'm sure it would have made more of an impression... especially the part about dealing all the way to the bottom.

Back then, I rarely strayed from the "circuit" - (Stardust-Riviera-Westward-Ho-Circus-Frontier-Desert Inn-Silver Slipper)... I remember making a few side-trips to Caesar's, Flamingo Hilton, LV-Hilton, MGM (the "old" one, now Bally's), Marina, Maxim, Barbary Coast, Dunes & Sands... but I don't remember Maxim standing out, but I know I played there...
Sort of like the Aladdin, Landmark & the Holiday (Debbie Reynolds place?)...I know I played there too, but I couldn't tell you a thing about them, other than all I played back then was blackjack, so it had to be what I played!
I seem to remember that there was an awful lot of '4-deck' shoe games in the 80s... good rules - S17, DAS, LS... but I mostly played two-deck pitch.

 

Topcard,
there were 3 or 4 SD tables and 3 or 4 DD tables and several 6d. Oddly only the SD offered surrender.
They were pretty busy the times I was there. It was summertime.
As far as fuzzy memories? I am a child of the 60's so I get it. But I'm clear on this one.

 

Well my first trip was in 05 so not too much changes since then but the books then had free drink service with a betting slip no drink service. I miss that,