Blackjack Odds w/Ante vs slots

I play blackjack in OK casinos where I believe that they use 6 or 8 decks. They also require a .50 ante per hand which I hate but there is no way to avoid other than not playing.

What is my time and money better spent playing at these casinos? Blackjack or slots? What is the house edge in Blackjack with a .50 ante against playing 25 cent, $1, $5 slots?

What is the minimum amount I should play in blackjack with this type of ante?


thanks for any help or information you can provide

Assuming a 0.5% HE with regular rules....adding on the $0.50 tax would make a $10 bet have a 5.5% HE. A $20 bet would have a 3% HE. A $100 wager would have a 1% HE.

Slots, I believe are around 8-12% HE. But they of course have more variance, where you can have a chance to hit something nice and leave a winner.

It's up to you.

But betting anything less than $50/hand with a $0.50 ante wouldn't be worth the entertainment (to me at least).

At the card room I used to work at people would play $5 a hand with the $1 fee lol....

At WinStar, once you go over a $50 bet, though, the ante goes to $1. Not sure what happens if you go over $100.

Played at downstream casino in Oklahoma. They waved the ante if you played with a players card

I honestly wouldn't play the game, but if you just want to play for entertainment and to gamble, then I guess it depends on your BR. If you can play a little higher to get the HE from the ante down, then that would of course be better to play. Slots are pretty horrible. It's just my opinion but I could never find them very entertaining. You just lose for days on end, and then hopefully hit that one jackpot. If I was playing for just entertainment, I would want to play something that I'd 'win' more often, even if still losing in the long run.

Have you thought about video poker? A lot of places have games that are 99%+ payback with proper play. Thus, your HE would be <1%, no ante, and a better 'hit rate' than slots.