How to choose a blackjack table
Two blackjack tables in the same pit, same minimum, same dealer smile, can differ several-fold in what they cost you per hour. The rules are printed right on the felt — the casino is required to tell you — but most players never read them. Thirty seconds of reading before you sit is worth more than an hour of skilled play afterward.
The dealbreaker: 6:5 blackjack
One rule towers over all the others. A blackjack has always paid 3:2 — bet $10, win $15. In recent years casinos have rolled out tables paying 6:5 — bet $10, win $12 — often on single-deck games marketed as player-friendly.
The damage: naturals arrive about once every 21 hands, and shaving each payout from 1.5× to 1.2× adds roughly1.4% to the house edge. For scale, that's nearly three times the entire house edge of a good 3:2 shoe game played with perfect basic strategy — and several times what any other single rule is worth. A "single deck" 6:5 game is dramatically worse than an eight-deck 3:2 game, no matter what the sign implies.
So the first check is binary: find "Blackjack pays 3:2" on the felt. If it says 6:5 — or "even money," which some novelty games use — don't sit down. This one habit will save you more money than everything else on this page combined.
What each rule is worth
Past the 3:2 check, table rules adjust the house edge in well-measured increments. Approximate cost of each unfavorable rule, relative to its favorable version:
| Rule | Cost to you | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Blackjack pays 6:5 instead of 3:2 | +1.4% | The dealbreaker. Costs more than every other rule below combined. |
| 8 decks instead of 1 | +0.5% | Fewer decks is better, all else equal — but all else rarely is. |
| Dealer hits soft 17 (H17) | +0.2% | Printed on the felt. S17 is the better game. |
| No double after split (no DAS) | +0.14% | Ask the dealer, or watch whether players double their split hands. |
| Double on 10 and 11 only | +0.18% | Kills your soft doubles. "Double on any two cards" is standard and better. |
| No late surrender | +0.08% | Most tables lack surrender; having it is a small bonus. |
| No re-splitting aces | +0.08% | A minor perk when offered. |
Rounded rules-of-thumb from simulation; exact values shift slightly with the full rule set.
A realistic good game — 6 decks, 3:2, S17, DAS — carries a house edge around 0.35% with perfect basic strategy. The same shoe with H17, no DAS, and doubling restricted creates a game twice as expensive. Neither table advertises the difference; both print it on the felt for anyone who looks.
Continuous shuffle machines
Some tables feed every discard straight back into a shuffling machine, so the game is dealt from an effectively endless, always-neutral shoe. You can spot a CSM by the dealer returning cards to the machine after every round instead of into a discard tray.
Two different verdicts, depending on who you are:
- For a basic strategy player, the CSM itself is nearly harmless — the per-hand edge is actually a hair lower. The catch is speed: no shuffle breaks means roughly 20% more hands per hour, and more hands against a house edge costs more money. A CSM table quietly raises your hourly cost.
- For a card counter, a CSM is a dead game, full stop. Counting works because dealt cards change what remains; a CSM erases that information continuously. There is nothing to count.
If you're counting: penetration is king
Everything above applies to counters too — but one variable the casual player never notices dominates every rule on the felt:penetration, how deep into the shoe the dealer deals before shuffling. Watch where the cut card sits. A 6-deck game dealt to 5 decks (83%) is a genuinely strong game; the same table cut at 4 decks (67%) is mediocre regardless of its other rules, because high counts live in the back of the shoe — the part a shallow cut card never lets you see.
The rest of a counter's checklist, briefly: a table where you canspread your bets 1–8 or wider without attention, fewer decks if the penetration is comparable, and enough open seats to play multiple hands in high counts. How these trade off — and what a specific game is worth per hour for a specific bankroll — is exactly what the EV Analyzer computes. Run the numbers before you play; two candidate casinos rarely come out equal.
The 30-second pre-sit checklist
- "Blackjack pays 3:2" on the felt. If not, keep walking.
- H17 or S17? Take S17 when you have the choice, and match your strategy chart to what's printed.
- Discard tray or shuffle machine? If you're counting, a CSM ends the conversation.
- Minimum you can afford — a comfortable rule is a session bankroll of at least 20× the minimum.
- Counters only: where's the cut card? Deeper than 75% is worth sitting for; shallower, keep scouting.
Frequently asked questions
Is a $5 table with 6:5 payouts better than a $15 table with 3:2?
Usually yes, for a small bankroll — total cost is your total amount wagered times the house edge, and betting three times less outweighs the worse rules. A $5 bet at a ~2% edge costs about 10 cents a hand; a $15 bet at ~0.5% costs about 7.5 cents. It is close to a wash in cost per hand, so let your bankroll decide. But given two tables at the same minimum, 3:2 wins every time — and if you can comfortably afford the 3:2 table, play it.
Should I ever play the side bets (Perfect Pairs, 21+3, Lucky Ladies)?
No. Side bets carry house edges of roughly 2% to over 20% — an order of magnitude worse than the main game played with basic strategy. They exist because they are profitable for the casino in exactly the proportion they are unprofitable for you. The one historical exception, counting into Lucky Ladies with a very high count, is a niche advanced play; as a rule, keep your money on the main bet.
What about video blackjack machines?
Read the pay table first. Many video blackjack machines pay 6:5 or even money on blackjack, which makes them worse than any live table. Some also round down payouts. If the machine genuinely pays 3:2 and uses standard rules it plays like a normal game — but the burden of proof is on the machine.
Do good blackjack games still exist?
Yes, but distribution is uneven. 3:2 shoe games with decent rules remain common in most US markets; genuinely great games (double-deck, S17, DAS, deep penetration) cluster in competitive markets and off-Strip or locals casinos. The Las Vegas Strip is now the worst place in America to find a good blackjack game at low stakes — 6:5 is the norm there under $25.
Can the casino change the rules while I'm playing?
Rule sets are fixed per table — they can't change mid-shoe. But casinos do convert tables between 3:2 and 6:5, change minimums by time of day, and move the cut card at their discretion. Glance at the felt each time you sit down, even at a casino you know.