Where is The Cheapest Blackjack in Vegas? The Inside Scoop From a Local

For many decades, Las Vegas was not only known for gambling excitement but also for cheapest blackjack tables available. But like everything in Las Vegas, being able to find great value blackjack has changed an awful lot in recent years.

Cheapest Blackjack in Vegas: What You Need to Know

• While they aren’t as easy to find as they used to be, there are still $10 blackjack tables in Vegas and even $1 blackjack in Las Vegas, if you know which casino to look in.
• However, the cheapest blackjack in Vegas isn’t always the best value. You need to take into account the blackjack house edge to understand exactly the value of each hand you play.
• The best value blackjack in now found at casinos offer online blackjack and you can use our casino reviews to find the best value casino games online.
• Take advantage of the local, nose to the ground, insight in this guide to help you find the best value and cheapest blackjack tables in Las Vegas.

The days of cheap blackjack even in downtown or local casinos is quickly coming to an end unless you want to play an electronic version of Las Vegas Casino games table games or perhaps a stadium game.

Cheapest Blackjack Tables in Vegas

Now, that is not to say that you can’t still find some $5 blackjack in Vegas or even $1 blackjack in Vegas, downtown, up in North Las Vegas, or just off the Strip, but it does mean that cheap doesn’t always mean you are getting value.

A $1 blackjack in Vegas game where you have to pay 25 cents every hand as a blind isn’t good value. A $1 game where you get even money on blackjacks and can’t double after splits isn’t good value.

Even a $5 game that pays 6/5 on blackjack in Vegas will be much more expensive to your bankroll than a $10 table that offers 3 to 2 blackjack in Vegas in even the very short term. So, while we will tell you where you can find the cheapest blackjack tables in Las Vegas, we will also make sure we discuss whether those tables represent any real value.

Cheapest Blackjack in Las Vegas: How to Scout The Best Tables

Let’s talk a bit about how a casino shift manager decides what blackjack limits to offer. It really comes down to supply and demand. If it is 4:00 a.m. on a Tuesday, I will need a lower limit than if it is a Saturday night with a prize fight in town.

If my casino doesn’t have a hotel, is a little run-down, or is set further away from the action, all of that will also affect how much I can set my blackjack limits and still hope I will get play.

Seasonality Matters When it Comes to the Cheapest Blackjack in Vegas

As does the season. In Las Vegas, even though it will light your hair on fire, the summer is still busier than the winter. We just had seven days in July over 115 degrees Fahrenheit, but hey, come out whenever.

But also, some casinos would rather have no play at times than set the wrong precedent and attract the wrong kind of customer, which is unfortunate but the reason why you might see a $5 game early morning in the off-season at a place like the MGM Excalibur or Circus Circus on Las Vegas Boulevard but never at the Wynn, Caesars Palace, or the Bellagio.

People’s perception matters. Chanel will never sell a $50 purse, and many strip properties would rather be caught dead than offer a “cheap” table limit.

Cheap Blackjack Tables on the Strip

We can narrow down where we might look for $5 and $10 games on the Strip proper by looking at where they have been offered in the past, and then looking at times when we can expect play to be slow, i.e. midweek and early morning.

Some likely spots are Excalibur, Luxor, Circus Circus, and Slots of Fun. By looking at Trip Advisor, other travel forums, and even Reddit, we know that $5 real money blackjack games have been spotted at these places in the past six months or so.

We try to steer away from sites that offer surveys or reviews when we look for cheap blackjack tables in Las Vegas. We don’t know if they go to these casinos more than once a year, whether they go at 4 a.m. on a Wednesday or 7 p.m. on a Friday, and so we don’t know if they are seeing the lowest minimums that that casino offers or just what is offered while they are on the property writing down their findings.

Just Call And Ask

If you don’t feel like making the trek to either end of the Strip, you can call these casinos and ask about current minimums. I actually get calls asking about table limits all the time, but be aware that it wouldn’t be unusual if you called in the early evening for them not to know what the table minimums are going to be early the next morning.

We suspect that you could find these $5 blackjack games in Vegas in the early winter at some of these properties when hotel rates plummet, and no conventions are in town. Still, you are probably looking at at least $10 games during the morning and afternoon, going to $15 by early evening during the rest of the year. At least, that has been our experience.

Take in Account the House Edge and Odds

Knowing the house edge and the blackjack odds of each game in critical to getting the best value for your bet. There are some 6/5 games mixed in with 3/2 blackjack at these levels, so pay attention. Games that pay only 6/5 on blackjack are several orders of magnitude worse because of house advantage.

A good double deck with stand-on soft seventeen and double after splits could be as low as 0.22%, while the same version of the 6/5 game might be 1.5% or 500% worse.

Most games at prestigious casinos in the middle of the Strip will have $15 blackjack on the main floor, yielding to $25 or higher towards evening if demand calls for it. So, if you genuinely have your heart set on playing $5 blackjack in Las Vegas, either be prepared to work the properties at the edge of the Strip or be ready to venture downtown or off the Strip.

Image credit: lucky-photographer/Shutterstock

Cheap Blackjack Tables in Downtown Las Vegas

We’ve personally seen $5 games downtown as well, but even here, they can prove elusive and shifting. The Golden Nugget casino generally has a $5 game, but they require a $2 side bet, or they offer it in games that may have blackjack in the name but aren’t truly blackjack.

There have been sightings of 6/5 $5 blackjack at the Plaza early morning as well. But probably the most reliable place to look for $5 blackjack is at the Downtown Grand Casino, and yes, they still have the $1 blackjack game as well.

$10 blackjack in Las Vegas: Fremont Street

Now, if you are looking for $10 blackjack in Las Vegas, then Fremont Street is a neon gold mine, though again off-peak hours are the best time to be panning for nuggets. We have seen 3/2 blackjack games with ten minimums at El Cortez, which recently had a $20 million remodel, which is probably still our favorite downtown casino, even on a weekend night.

You can also try the California Casino, Main Street Station, the Plaza, and Fremont.

You may notice that many double-deck games don’t allow double-after-split. This increases the house edge on these games to 0.6%, which is almost exactly the same as the house edge on the six-deck games that allow double-after-split.

So, feel free to play either one. As always, stay away from 6/5 blackjack games and give any table that requires a side bet a wide berth.

Cheap Blackjack Tables for Las Vegas Locals

Away from the bright lights and easily walkable gambling halls found along the Las Vegas Strip and Fremont Street, many other casinos exist. These primarily cater to locals, though certainly a certain breed of tourist also seeks them out. You can still find not only some of that old Las Vegas charm but also some of that old Las Vegas value.

The Oyo Casino

Many of these places are not dozens of miles from the tourist epicenters but, in many cases, just a few blocks away. Take Oyo, which also has one of those infamous $1 blackjack in Las Vegas tables you can tell all your friends back home about, as well as $5 3/2 blackjack. Is it in a sketchy area? Yeah. Is there what we will euphemistically call a seedier element? Sure. But did we mention the $3 shots and $10 beer buckets?

Ellis Island Casino

Another casino that offers great value and is strip “adjacent” is Ellis Island. Just a couple-minute walk from the Paris/Horseshoe monorail station, Ellis Island is the epitome of a great value local casino. Here, not only will you find some of the best $5 blackjack in Las Vegas, but fun, friendly dealers and decent free entertainment.

We highly recommend either the prime rib or the $9.99 steak and eggs if you stop in for a bit of gambling. We should probably mention they have $5 craps games as well?

Southpoint Casino

Another great place for gambling value is just a few miles south on I-15. Southpoint Casino offers both $5 and $10 double-deck blackjack with standard rules and 3/2 on blackjack; you should be able to find these table limits regardless of when you visit. Some rooms have a nice view of the strip properties in all their nighttime glory, and they have 64 bowling lanes open until 2 a.m.

Other places to find $5 blackjack in Las Vegas at off-strip properties include any of the Station Casinos, especially Palace Station or potentially the Silverton. However, the last time we were there, it was all $10, except for 6/5 games.

Finding the Best Value Blackjack Tables in Vegas

There is still cheap blackjack on the Strip and downtown, although the cheapest blackjack tables in Las Vegas remain in local-friendly off-strip properties, often only a few minutes’ drive from the tourist action.

The next time you are in Las Vegas, just ask the cab drivers, dealers, or cocktail waitress where they like to play, and you may be rewarded with a little hole-in-the-wall gem even we don’t know about.

Title Image credit: Andrew Angelov/Shutterstock