Why Are Blackjack Rules Different in Vegas Than the Rest of the State?

My wife and I just spent the weekend in Reno and then flew to Vegas for a convention. We can't understand how in Vegas, single deck is unheard of, but in Reno it's all over the place. They even let you sit down and wager mid-deck at the Peppermill in Reno, as well as the casinos in Wendover, NV. Why are the rules in that part of the state so different?

[Editor's Note: Arnold Snyder answers this question; his latest book is Radical Blackjack.]

For as long as I’ve been writing about blackjack — 42 years, as my first book on blackjack, The Blackjack Formula, was published in 1980 — the Vegas and Reno games have had significant differences.

When I wrote my first book on blackjack and started my now-defunct blackjack newsletter in 1981, Reno offered mostly single-deck games, while Las Vegas offered mostly 4-deck games. The four-deckers have mostly gone the way of the dinosaur, with 6- and 8-deckers now more common in Las Vegas.

Another difference between Vegas and Reno blackjack conditions is that in Vegas, most casinos allow players to double down on any two cards. In Reno, most casinos allow doubling down on totals of 10 and 11 only. In Vegas, most casinos require the dealer to stand on soft 17. In Reno, most casino require the dealers to hit on soft 17. Vegas has also always had more casinos that allow players to double down after splitting a pair and resplit aces.

Because of its more liberal rules, Las Vegas has always been more worried about card counters, so the single-deck games that were common back in the 1960s have mostly disappeared. Single-deck games are much easier for card counters to beat than shoe games. Because Las Vegas has more opulent casinos than Reno (generally speaking), with higher betting limits, the big-money card-counting teams have always been more drawn to Las Vegas.

The sparsely available single-deck games that do exist in Vegas casinos today are mostly 6-5. In Reno, the casinos with higher betting limits also generally offer 6-5 single-deck, but many of Reno’s (and other northern Nevada) casinos with lower betting limits still offer the traditional 3-2 blackjack payouts.

In any case, if you’re a recreational player, not a card counter, whether you’re in Vegas or Reno, stick to the games where blackjacks pay 3-to-2. That’s more important than the number of decks in play. A six-deck game paying 3-2 has a much lower house advantage than a single-deck game paying 6-5.

If you’re playing for any serious amount of money, pick up a book on card counting just to educate yourself about the effects of the rule variations and the number of decks being used. Get basic strategy down and stick to the games with the lowest house edge, regardless of the number of decks. Your playing bankroll will last longer and you’ll have a better shot at winning, even if you aren’t counting cards.

No part of this answer may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without the written permission of the publisher.

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Adam Cohen Jul-29-2022

Single Deck in Vegas

As of a few weeks ago, the El Cortez was still dealing a single and double deck that was 3:2. I think all their games are. There were some rule differences on splitting and doubling after a split between the two games. You could not resplit or double in a Single Deck after a split. In double, you could neither game allowed mid game entry

gaattc2001 Jul-29-2022

I first played Blackjack in Reno in 1968.

They had $2 to $200 and $5 to $500 single-deck, dealt down to the last few cards; and you could double only on two-card hard 10 or 11. 
I had read "Beat the Dealer" (1966 ed.) and was full of confidence--and promptly got wiped out. Harold's Club even threw me out: my sole professional card-counting honor to date. Many would-be counters grossly underestimated the level of study, practice, and concentration required, and I was one of them.
A year or so later I made my first trek to Las Vegas, with somewhat more success. You could double on any two original cards, and they hit soft 17 downtown only. 
Since the rise of corporate gaming, these regional differences have faded. Today, you might find any set of rules anywhere. But with the corporations also came six-to-five--about which the less said, the better.
These days, I've pretty much switched to tournament poker, aided by some books by Mr. Snyder and others. If poker goes the way of Blackjack, maybe I'll go back into politics.

Raymond Jul-29-2022

Soft 17

"In Vegas, most casinos require the dealer to stand on soft 17"
I've seen this only in the "high limit" areas.  In the areas inhabited by we mere mortals in just about every place I've played in Las Vegas, they hit soft 17.
Adam--El Cortez has those games, and that's fine, but when I played there on my last trip, they were setting the cut card at 50%, so there was little opportunity for card counters (which I am not).

AL Jul-29-2022

Reno/Vegas differences

The biggest difference I've seen between Reno and Las Vegas was in craps.  Around 30 years ago (maybe more), I was at a craps table at an old major casino in downtown Reno, and the layout on the green felt was different than on any craps table I had ever seen.  It had wide areas blocked off, something like how "Field" is designated; one was for "Over 7", the other for "Under 7".  (I believe there was one set of those on both the left side and right side.)  It said right on the green felt that winning the bet paid 4:3 for either bet, which is the same as 20:15.  Because the ratio of losing rolls vs. winning rolls was 21:15, it was easy to figure the house edge.  I'm not sure why this table existed in Reno but nowhere that I know of in Las Vegas.

Roy Furukawa Jul-29-2022

LV Club

Makes me miss the Las Vegas Club with their liberal rules of yesteryear and the classic sports book. The Ebbets Field facade, it just screamed old school downtown Vegas gambling.

Question of the Day - 29 July 2022

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