Why has the Gaming Control Board not told (or more accurately forced) casinos to stop calling it 6-5 blackjack, which is a gross misnomer? On a per-dollar-bet basis, 6-5 is true only 20% of the time! Gaming should force casinos at the very least to provide $0.20 and $0.40 tokens, so players can be paid accurately (though still badly) as is done with 3-2 and 50-cent chips. At 6-5 for a natural 21, a $1 bet is supposed to be paid $1.20, a $2 bet $2.40, a $3 bet $3.60, and a $4 bet $4.80. Only a $5 bet is actually paid 6-5. Bottom line, casinos 80% of the time are running 5-5 blackjack, since they round down. Far from shortchanging players, they're no-changing players. I thought Gaming Control Boards were supposed to protect players!
[Editor's Note: We handed this one off to Andrew Uyal, author of our soon-to-be published book Blackjack Insiders -- The Untold Stories, and floor supervisor at a major Strip casino.]
First of all, I can't speak for the Gaming Control Board. What I can do is explain how this rule is interpreted and operated by casinos.
The mistake in the question is misinterpreting the term "6-5 payout." The question assumes that 6-5 = 1.2 payouts on blackjacks, rather than the traditional 1.5. The question assumes that because 6 is 120% greater than 5, every bet will be paid 120% of its value.
What the rule really means, though, is that every $5 pays $6. The mistake here is overcomplicating the math and misinterpreting the intent of the rule. 6-5 literally means you'll be paid $6 for every $5 wagered.
Having started dealing almost 20 years ago on a $2 crap game, I feel confident in saying that the intent of the rule is understood by players and the industry as a whole. Players knew that if they bet $2 on the six or eight, they'd be paid $2, and even money would be paid until they reached the $5 bet that triggers the $6 payout.
Simply put, rather than interpreting the 6-5 payout as 1.2, think about it like this: Every $5 increment gets paid $6 at 6-5 blackjack tables.
