Where is there any 3:2 blackjack with good rules anywhere in Las Vegas? None on the strip, that I know of.
Where is there any 3:2 blackjack with good rules anywhere in Las Vegas? None on the strip, that I know of.
John Mehaffey of Vegas Advantage publishes a survey of all BJ and table games in Vegas. It's well worth the price (less than $20). I'd pass along some info, but I don't want to violate his copyright. Here's his twitter page: https://twitter.com/Vegas_Advantage
The short answer is that it depends on what you mean by "good rules." There are still plenty of 3:2 games in Vegas, though as you say, virtually none on the Strip.
There are no 3:2 single deck games in Vegas that I know of (except maybe some $100 minimum game(s) at a Strip megatoilet), though the El Cortez may still have one occasionally. But you can find 3:2 double deck at the locals' casinos, such as Orleans, South Point, etc. etc. And even the rattiest off-strip casino usually has at least 3:2 shoe games.
Played single deck 3-2 BJ at El Cortez this last Sunday morning!!!!!
Thanks for an update from someone who isn't sitting back home.
One can call the dealt blackjack game at El Cortez "3/2", the only problem with their game is that, after the cards are shuffled and put into a shoe, the dealer only deals out 18 to 20 cards and then shuffles. I asked the dealer why they shuffle after dealing only 18 to 20 cards out of a 52 card deck and I was told that management instructed the dealers to do that. Having 40% deck penetration is not 3/2 blackjack. Needless to say, after being told about the reshuffling rule I quit playing the bastardized version of 3/2 blackjack offered there.
How deep in the deck, or the shoe, the dealer goes only affects card counters. If you aren't counting cards, then every deal is like every other one, effectively, since you aren't altering your betting or playing decisions based on the count. So for the casual player, it wouldn't make any difference even if the dealer dealt only one hand and then shuffled. You're still much better off playing a single deck 3:2 game than any other game offered.
The El Cortez does the early shuffle because the game is extremely vulnerable to card counting. A skilled player could crush this game if the deck were dealt deep. As it is, there's still the opportunity to count cards if only 18-20 cards are dealt. It's just that when the count goes positive, you'll usually have only one hand before the deck is shuffled. But that still equates to a +EV possibility every other round. The extent to which a card counter could take advantage of this depends on the bet spread he's allowed. This would still be a very beatable game if you could increase your bet to 4x the minimum on the second round.
In fact, in its current state, the game may be more beatable than it was when the dealers dealt further into the deck, the pit watched the games like hawks, and even modestly increasing your bet often led to a preferential shuffle. They may think the early shuffle is an adequate countermeasure. It's not.
Another reason why an early shuffle doesn't hurt the casual player is that it's just as likely that the dealer is shuffling away a bad deck (negative count) as a good one. And all that shuffling slows down the game, which is a positive for the casual player, as fewer hands per hour=lower losses per hour.
When you have 3 or more players playing at one time, you will be lucky if 2 hands are dealt before the shuffle. There is NO WAY the game is "more beatable" than it was when the dealers dealt further into the deck. Ask anyone who understands and plays the game - I imagine that Anthony could/can comment about deck penetration and it's effect on the player's possible result. I submit that the double deck blackjack game with normal deck penetration is a better game than the game offered at the El Cortez- but I am sure that some would argue differently.
Nope. You probably heard somewhere that deep deck penetration is good for players, but what they meant was that it is good for card counting players.
That's because fewer cards remaining to be dealt magnifies the effect of the count. A true count of +4 with 45 cards left to be dealt is nice, but the same count with 20 cards left to be dealt is a very big advantage and you place the largest bet that fits within your bankroll. And of course, you could also adjust your strategy because deep deck penetration tells you more accurately whether the deck is ten-rich or ten-poor. For example, with deep deck penetration, opportunities to intelligently take insurance are much more common.
If you're not adjusting your bet or strategy based on the count, deck penetration has no effect whatsoever.
Anyone who plays blackjack to win knows about deck penetration and adjusting the amount of their bets according to the number of high and low cards that have been dealt. You don't have to "count cards" to know whether a lot of high cards are due to come out of the remaining cards in the shoe. If mostly low cards have been dealt in the first 2 hands, it stands to reason that there are high cards waiting to be dealt - there is no reason to know the exact count, just whether low or high value cards have been dealt. It is just that simple.
