Bighorn: Best Blackjack in Las Vegas?

The Bighorn is located on Lake Mead Blvd. east of Las Vegas Blvd. in North Las Vegas. The neighborhood is working-class Hispanic. I've played here twice, both times during the day. The atmosphere was fine. The pit is two tables, usually only one open. The dealers are friendly (although they tip-hustle) and there was good drink service. Not too smoky. Mostly people of the Latino persuasion as patrons. May get rougher at night; don't know, never been at that time, and not sure I would try it.

Now, the game: according to the Wizard's calculator, this is a .25% game for the total-dependent basic strategy player. This is the best game for the casual player in the Las Vegas valley. However, he also mentions that a blackjack pays 2-1 if there are two or more players at the table. This creates a sizable advantage for the player. I have never seen this rule implemented. Can somebody comment on this?

I think the 2-1 blackjack is already included to give a .25 house edge.

If you think about it this situation comes up rarely, and the bonus is only 1/2 your bet anyway, but still a nice thing for the casino to throw in.

I don't think it is included. Longhorn casino has the same rules minus the bonus and their house edge is also only .25%.

It may happen rarely but all things being equal that gives a player a 2% advantage over the house when 2 or more players are present. That extra 1/2 your bet adds up.

ive played here before.

the extra rules they have are late surrender, you can resplit aces up to 3hands, and can double down on 3cards.

Quote: teddys

I don't think it is included. Longhorn casino has the same rules minus the bonus and their house edge is also only .25%.

It may happen rarely but all things being equal that gives a player a 2% advantage over the house when 2 or more players are present. That extra 1/2 your bet adds up.

Teddys, were you able to confirm that all blackjacks are paid 2 to 1 when there are 2 players on the table? As you said, with BJ paying 2 to 1, I believe there is a player advantage with even basic strategy and the .25% house edge does not factor in the 2 to 1 BJ bonus.

https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/gambling/blackjack/1197-back-to-the-bighorn

At longhorn you can also surrender after a 3-card doubledown. I was at longhorn this past week twice and i dont recall getting 2 to 1 on a bj with more than 2 plys at the table Pretty foulmouth locals were in there 1 of the 2 times I was there.

... a blackjack pays 2-1 if there are two or more players at the table who on that hand happen to get a blackjack, not merely who happen to be seated there and have some chips in their circle.

If you happen to have some reason to already be in North Las Vegas, then why not? Its just like a bank. If they offer a higher interest rate to you, its because they have to offer it in order to get people to deposit money with them.

If they are a small out of the way casino, they probably offer fairly good deals to retain loyal customers. They won't be raffling off a car, but you might get yourself a genuine imitation leather cover for a steering wheel. Don't trek across town for it. On my very first or second trip to Vegas, I wound up in some low level place in North Las Vegas and was actually convinced they were using crooked dice. Well, I was of course probably wrong on that issue but it was a combination of the rapidity with which I was losing my money and the shabbiness of the place and the area.

Consider that One Dollar craps place with TEN times odds. Its a great deal if you like craps and intend to have the bulk of your money on the odds bet. If you've some reason to be all the way out in the further reaches of Hendertucky and don't have an aversion to fairly dense cigarette smoke... go for it! And good luck to you. Just don't think that after that morning craps session you can go get the champagne brunch or that if your luck at one craps table is poor you can switch to the adjacent craps table. If you value a nice brightly lit casino with clean air you would be better of at SouthPoint's lousy 2x craps table than at a 10x smoke-filled dive.

The Longhorn has a great bar with quality lounge acts.

Surprisingly good food in the cafe.

Anyone recall the hot barmaid they had around ten years ago, a tiny Central American type gal?

Fleastiff thx for clarifying the 2 for 1 multi player blackjack.

Hacienda, according to Wizard.

Quote: FleaStiff

... a blackjack pays 2-1 if there are two or more players at the table who on that hand happen to get a blackjack, not merely who happen to be seated there and have some chips in their circle.

That is correct. The 2-1 thing was a promotion when I was there last, which was several months ago. That promotion is probably over. I did not include that effect in the house edge. That should be worth about 0.1% for each additional player.

Quote: Wizard

Quote: FleaStiff

... a blackjack pays 2-1 if there are two or more players at the table who on that hand happen to get a blackjack, not merely who happen to be seated there and have some chips in their circle.

That is correct. The 2-1 thing was a promotion when I was there last, which was several months ago. That promotion is probably over. I did not include that effect in the house edge. That should be worth about 0.1% for each additional player.

If that's the case, the basic strategy player would have a (small) edge with 4 players at the table, and up to a .35 edge with 7 players.

That's significant, although I doubt the promotion is still going.

Hacienda no longer has the best blackjack in Las Vegas (they got rid of single deck), so Longhorn takes the title back.

I have played at Both Big horn and Long horn in the last week and didn't receive 2-1 on my regular BJ, although both had a promo where BJ in diamonds paid 5-2 that I hit once at each location. Big Horn also adds a six pack of pepsi to that diamond BJ promo.

Both do indeed have very good blackjack rules, with a low house edge. However, if you are a counter penetration at Longhorn (boulder highway) is just about unplayable as they cut 3 decks off of 6. Big Horn Penetration is better. Usually between 1 and 1.5 decks cut. Both places do that strange thing at the beginning of a shoe where they turn over the first card and then burn that number of cards. This makes the penetration levels even more shallow.

The big issue with both places is that they won't let you wager any serious money. The local's are all playing $2 or $3 per hand. If you bet $5 you are a high roller and when you raise your bets to green, you might as well be playing naked for the attention you draw. lol

The other issue is location. Longhorn is ok, on boulder highway. Not great, but ok. Big Horn is just a rough area in North Las Vegas. Saying it is a working class hispanic area is being very kind. And by the way, if you don't speak spanish, you will feel out of place there.

Quote: kewlj

The big issue with both places is that they won't let you wager any serious money. The local's are all playing $2 or $3 per hand. If you bet $5 you are a high roller and when you raise your bets to green, you might as well be playing naked for the attention you draw. lol

The other issue is location. Longhorn is ok, on boulder highway. Not great, but ok. Big Horn is just a rough area in North Las Vegas. Saying it is a working class hispanic area is being very kind. And by the way, if you don't speak spanish, you will feel out of place there.

You're right about Bighorn - it's pretty much out-of-work hispanic. Still, the people have always been perfectly nice when I've been there.

Depending on what you intend to bet, a stack of red is usually better than involving a green chip at low-end places. Even 7 or 8 reds doesn't draw the heat of 1 green.