Vegas continues war against online gaming

The Las Vegas Sands has slashed player returns on most of its blackjack games in its casino, in a move that further highlights their objection to online gaming in the United States. The Las Vegas Sands have been vocal opponent of regulated online gaming in recent years, even going as far as to create The Coalition to Stop Online Gambling to further push their cause, and has now cut player-returns on the majority of their blackjack games.

Regulated online casino sites in New Jersey and Delaware offer blackjack with minimums of $1 – something a number of Las Vegas casinos and their friends in government have found objection with. Online blackjack games offer significantly better returns to players than the majority of the tables found at the Venetian and Palazzo. Las Vegas Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson even went as far as to insist he was “morally opposed” to online gaming, describing the industry as “a train wreck, it’s a toxicity, it’s a cancer waiting to happen”.

The Venetian and Palazzo altered all traditional shoe blackjack games on the main casino floor, meaning that all natural blackjacks now pay just 6-5, meaning the two Las Vegas Sands casinos now ranks as the worst locations to play six-deck blackjack in Nevada. The decision now means over 50 tables in the Venetian and Palazzo have been affected, although Free Bet Blackjack, double deck, high limit and video blackjack haven’t been altered by the move.

Any visitors to either casino looking for a 3-2 six-deck blackjack game will need be forced to head to the high limit salon where they’ll have to make a minimum bet is at least $100 and more usually nearer $200. A payout of 6-5 rewards players with a natural blackjack just $12 for every $10 they’ve bet. Traditional 3-2 blackjack sees players pick up $15 for every $10 they have wagered, clearly meaning the 6-5 blackjack game gives the house a significant advantage of around 1.39% - a figure that hasn’t gone unnoticed by blackjack fans.

The casinos are clearly looking to take advantage of the belief among casual blackjack fans that single deck games offer better odds, although the truth is that this doesn’t apply to the 6-5 games. The house advantage on a normal single deck game is 0.18%, but that dramatically increases to 1.45% in a 6-5 game – and that should be enough to convince many blackjack fans to avoid 6-5 games and stick to the likes of bet365 and others and the benefits that come with online gaming.

Stanford Wong, who wrote the book ‘Professional Blackjack’, explained the difference, saying; "The math is easy. If the player gets paid 3/2 on a blackjack on a $10 bet, the player gets paid $15. If the player gets paid 6/5 on a $10 bet, he gets paid only $12 for a blackjack. That is a difference of $3, which might not seem like much. During a normal-speed blackjack game, the player averages five blackjacks per hour, meaning the player is shorted 1.5 bets per hour. In the case of a $10 bettor, he is being shorted $15 per hour!"