Table Games Is 6:5 REALLY that big of a deal?

Just curious, is your name a reference to the X-Files?

 

Yes. One of my fave episodes and represents my playing persona fairly well. Lol. I regrow bankrolls instead of heads though.

 

Yeah, you could put together a set of rules that make a 6:5 table similar in house edge to 3:2, but that would be completely contrary to the whole idea of 6:5: to increase the house edge to >1%.

A single-deck S17 game that allows DAS, LS and RSA still has a house edge of over 1%, quite a bit higher than you would find in a 3:2 6-deck game with H17, no DAS, LS or RSA... It truly requires a “carny” rule like you mentioned to make it respectable.

 

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Just got back from LV and played blackjack at both Cromwell and Planet Hollywood - and gaming conditions at both were pretty much the same as my visits last year. Cromwell had numerous
3:2 tables and several were at limits under $25. I played at a $15 table. It did seem to me that maybe they had more double-deck pitch games than before and those were generally $25. I avoid those because they don't allow DAS (at least did not the times I played them most recently) - and I don't actively count so don't get any advantage from double-deck.

The Planet Hollywood group of tables where I do most of my play was still all 3:2 tables. Most of the time 5 of those 6 tables were $25 shoe games and the 6th was a $50 DD game. They did change a 2nd $25 table to $50 during the time I was there on Thursday night - but it was actually $25 on Friday night at least while I was there. This is the group of six tables just outside the high limit room with Pleasure Pit dealers - but not in the Pleasure Pit rows. I did not look closely at the games or limits in the non-Pleasure Pit row close to the center Heart Bar - but my dealer said they were still 3:2.

Maybe there are really business times like Super Bowl or March Madness weekends when 3:2 tables at $25 (or under) limits have been hard to find at Planet Hollywood - but that has never been my experience on any of my visits there.

 

I know this thread is primarily to discuss 6:5 v. 3/2 but I thought it would be worth mentioning I’m out here for the weekend and I was shocked last night to find $10 tables at both MGM and Mirage. Yes they paid 6:5 but I don’t think I’ve ever seen them that low on a Saturday during the peak hours of 11p-2a. Especially with UFC and NASCAR in town.

 

If you aren't playing basic strategy at least, 6:5 probably doesn't matter to you.

 

With 186 replies in two weeks I guess it is a big deal.

 

Yes it is a huge deal for me however I also respect the posts from people here who have differing views. I will never ever play 6/5, the main reason I fly over 5,000 miles to Las Vegas is to enjoy the city and play my favourite game. I'm coming over next week and if I can't get a decent Blackjack 3/2 game, then I am going to focus on Craps and just have doing that. Crikey I get decent blackjack rules in the UK, even with the no hole card rule. Vegas may well have lost me as a serious blackjack player because of the spread of the terrible rules and looking at another post the other day where Vegas revenues are down, this change with blackjack added to parking charges, high resort fees, triple zero roulette, etc, may well be signalling visitor attitude changes. Las Vegas is iconic, we all know it has been built by gambling losers like me with the offer of decent shows, cheap rooms, affordable food and if you are a decent level gambler some comps - I would hate Vegas to be ruined by some penny pinching bean counters looking at spreadsheets rather than looking at the bigger long term picture. I will be voting with my feet next week, no 6/5 for me, no double or triple zero roulette and I'll be gambling/risking much less bankroll than in the past.

 

Head to El Cortez and you'll be in blackjack heaven.

 

In my vocabulary:

3:2 = black jack
6:5 = crap jack

I don't play crap jack.

 

You're very clever. How's that going for you?

 

Very well, thank you.

 

As much as I agree that 6:5 is bad...the comparison assumes that there is another option.

 

I was relatively surprised at how easy it was to find a low stakes 3:2 table on the strip last weekend. This was my first Vegas trip in 2 years... and it wasn't as easy 2 years ago, that's for sure.

There were multiple $15 tables on Friday night at PH and Cromwell. PH even had $10 tables Saturday during the day. Found a $15 table at Excalibur as well.

Nothing below $25 at Aria, Park MGM, Cosmo, Bellagio or Mandalay Bay.

Get it for the higher end places... just ridiculous at Park MGM. You'd think they'd want to have something to pull people in there, unless they're merely counting on it being a TMobile/Theater pre and post place where people might not otherwise care

 

As a fan of the old Monte Carlo, it seems Park MGM now caters to high rollers and isn't the gambling bargain at that end of the strip the way it used to be......................

 

Some of my friends were at Juniper Lounge last night. looked to be an ok place for a cocktail

 

There is a game at the local place that they can't call Blackjack, they have to call it "Super Fun 21". The blackjacks pay 1:1 but pretty every other thing you can think of favors the player, late surrender, double at anytime, dealer stands on all 17s etc......

 

The house edge for this game is well over 1%, double what it would be for your worst 3:2 game (H17, eight decks, no DAS, no LS, etc.). Converting 3:2 to 6:5 or 1:1 makes a huge difference; even when all of the other common rule choices (S17, single deck, DAS, LS, RSA) are in your favor, it’s hard to get the house edge under 1%.

I think a better name for this game is “Super Dumb 21.”