Blackjack tables in Atlantic City

Quote: pacomartin

Binion's has S17 on a $3 table with 6:5. Frankly I don't get that one since anyone who knows that S17 is better than H17 knows not to play on a 6:5 table.

Simple: People are idiots.

They are attracted to S17, but for whatever reason they don't think 6:5 is bad.

Binions is smart. S17 is minor compared to 6:5, so the small amount they give back gets extra play at the crappy 6:5.

Quote: toastcmu

I haven't been recently, but people are reporting on other forums that the Borgata has slowly started switching to 8deck H17 on the main floor. I hope it's not true, but considering Trump and Harrah's only offer 8d H17, why beat them when you can join them <sarcasm on>

-B

Borgata is now all 8D S17. They don't have H17 - yet. I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

Quote: thegov2k2

Borgata is now all 8D S17. They don't have H17 - yet. I'm sure it's just a matter of time.

Do they have surrender?

Quote: benbakdoff

Do they have surrender?

No surrender anywhere in AC, except I believe Trump Marina if you're betting $50+.

When i was at harrah's AC last week, There were plenty of 6 and 8D tables with 3/2 that were $15. The only 6/5 tables were $10 ones with single deck. Much better percentage of good blackjack in AC than on the vegas strip.

I was in Atlantic City for the past three days and checked out the $2 blackjack at Resorts. Here's the scoop. There are three of these tables together at one end of the pit. The flag pole type signs say Retro Blackjack. They have 8 decks, no surrender, dealer hits soft 17, and re-split twice for a total of three hands.

Fairly common in AC these tables have 7 spots as do the regular blackjack games. The minimum bet is $2 and the maximum is $20 (twenty). The exact words on the table sign are: "A .25 cent hand fee is required at this table on any initial wager of $5 or less. The hand fee will not be considered part of the initial wager and will not be used in the calculation of a payout on any winning wager. All wagers higher than $5 must be in increments of $5."

Each betting circle has a smaller circle to the left of it for the .25 cent fee. Bets are placed and unless the player has bet $10,$15 or $20 the quarter must be placed in the small circle. The dealer then sweeps all the quarters into the tray just like sweeping the roulette table. Three or four slots to the dealers right are left empty to receive the quarters. The hand is then dealt in normal blackjack fashion. For figuring the "vig" I estimated 50 hands per hour depending on the inexperience and hesitation of the players.

All blackjack tables at Resorts also have this on the table sign: "To ensure player participation all players must play every hand." I asked a dealer at a dead game about this and she said it was to prevent loitering. As we were speaking, a supervisor came to the table and joined in the conversation. When I asked if that meant that I couldn't skip a few hands now and then, he acted surprised and asked why I wanted to do that. Not wanting to give the "Wong" answer I told him if the dealer wasn't breaking I like to get out to "change the cards." He said he completely understood that good players do that and that it was okay with him. Either he bought my "act" or he was playing me right back. I'll never know.

I did see several casinos that had $5 games in the morning with regular rules. The $5 tables at Showboat had a $2500 maximum bet with a curious sign that said: "For those who wish not to be rated, your table maximum bet will be $1000.

Yes, Borgata is still all S17. For anyone else who may be looking, the $5 table(s) at Borgata, which have no extra fees and are the same rules as all the other BJ tables in the casino, are in the back corner near the Metropolitan restaurant and the Noodle Bar, in the same pit as all the Asian games. There's always at least one $5 table open there, even at prime times on Friday evening. I don't know why Borgata continues to do it, but I guess it works, since whenever I've walked by usually the players at that table are all betting more than $5.

$10 is also fairly easy to find at Borgata, and again with standard S17 rules, though you may have to chase it a bit since there's a certain order they open the BJ pits in over the course of the day, and the most recently opened will usually have the lowest limits. On the weekends, the cheapest pit is usually the one that runs between Michael Mina's seafood restaurant and the Wolfgang Puck American Grille. That pit is not open during the week so the cheaper games can be a bit harder to find.

All of the games are now 8D, except some of the higher-limit games in the no-mid-shoe-entry pit, which is located next to the roulette tables. I believe some of the games in that pit are still 6D. They start at $25 during the day and usually $50 and up at night.