Luxor Blackjack Lessons
The state of blackjack on the Las Vegas Strip
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- Boulder Station, Circus Circus, Excalibur, the Flamingo, the Golden Nugget, Imperial Palace, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, Monte Carlo, Palace Station, The Palms, the Sahara, Stratosphere, Sunset Station, Texas Station, and the Tropicana all offer free gaming lessons. Check with each individual casino for times and dates, as the schedules often change.
Virtually every book on blackjack nowadays contains the basic strategy in the form of a chart or table to make learning easy (including my Blackjack: Take The Money & Run). There are also computer software programs that will help you learn the basic strategy with practice drills (Blackjack Trainer by Conjelco is a recommended program).
By Henry Tamburin
The state of blackjack on the Las Vegas Strip
You probably thought I’ve gone off the deep end with the above title for this column but I figured it would get your attention about what I’m about to share with you: the serious state of blackjack in the Las Vegas Strip casinos.
Before I get started on my rant, I want to give you a brief blackjack history lesson. Many moons ago, the casinos on the Las Vegas Strip had been the Mecca for good blackjack games. I can remember those fantastic deeply cut four-deck games that you could find up and down the Strip, and those wonderful double-deck and single-deck games, all paying 3 to 2 for a blackjack. When the six-deck games arrived, almost every casino had these rules: the dealer stood on soft 17, you could double down on any two cards, you could double down after pair splitting, late surrendered was offered, and you always received a 3 to 2 payoff on your blackjacks. In this very fair game, a basic strategy player faced a meager house edge of only 0.26 percent (that’s an expected loss of 26 cents for every one hundred dollars bet). But, alas, times have changed and for the most part, the blackjack games in the Strip casinos these days … let me be blunt about this … really, really, suck.
What I intend to do in this article is to:
- – Warn you about these lousy, unfair blackjack games being offered in X-rated casinos (their awful and pitiful blackjack games are what makes them X-rated in my book);
- – Tell you which casinos are offering these shameful games to unknowing tourists so you can avoid playing them; and
- – Where you can go in Las Vegas to find much, much better (G-Rated) blackjack games
What Makes These Blackjack Games So Horrid
For starters, you’d be hard pressed to find a less than $25 minimum bet blackjack game these days on the Strip that pays 3-2 for a blackjack (with less than eight decks). The casino moguls there have decided to gouge tourists by paying only 6-5 on a blackjack, rather than the traditional 3-2. It’s interesting how the casino bosses decided to launch the 6-5 debacle. It probably went something like this:
“How are we going to get these fools to play blackjack when we are only going to pay ’em 6-5 for a blackjack,” said one casino boss to another. ”Hey I’ve got an idea. Let’s put a whole bunch of single-deck tables on our casino floor to get the suckers in the door. We’ll promote “the return of single-deck blackjack” on our marquee, only we won’t tell them the payoff on the blackjack is 6-5.” And so the BIG experiment began at one casino and guess what happened? The clueless tourists flocked to these single-deck games, believing the latter have better odds than a traditional six-deck game. (This is true if the blackjack payoff were the same, but it is not.) Other hapless players believe a 6-5 payoff is actually better than a 3-2 payoff, “because the payoff numbers are bigger.” (More than one player has told me that; excuse me while I throw up.)
Listen up, people: 6-5 is NOT a better payoff than 3-2. Don’t believe me? Suppose you bet ten bucks and you get a blackjack. At a 3-2 game, how much would you win? That’s right, fifteen bucks (that’s a 3-2 payoff). Make the same bet at a 6-5 game, get a blackjack, and guess how much you’ll be paid? Only $12, which, the last time I looked, is $3 less than you would have gotten for the same winning blackjack hand at a 3-2 game.
Oh pooh, pooh, what’s the big deal over a few bucks when you get a blackjack? (Many players have also told me that.) Then let me ask you this: How many blackjacks would you expect to get every hour you play? Assuming 80 hands per hour, you can expect to get four of them. (Sometimes you’ll get more,sometimes less, but on average you’ll get four.) That means for every hour you play blackjack with a flat $10 wager, you will be forking over to the casino an extra 12 bucks to play their “wonderful” single-deck 6-5 game. And get this… if you are a typical tourist that crams 12 hours of blackjack during your dream four-day Vegas vacation, you’ll be giving the casino bosses $144 by playing their appalling 6-5 game. But wait… it gets even worse.
Just when I thought I’d seen it all with the horrendous single-deck blackjack 6-5 games (which by the way, have a house edge of 1.57%, with h17), what do you think the casino bosses cooked up next to gouge the clueless? How about paying 6-5 on double-deck and, heaven forbid, even six- and eight-deck games? (The house edge goes up to 2% depending on the mix of rules in these games, yet the crowds of gullible tourists keep coming and playing these appalling games.)
What follows are the X-Rated casinos on the Strip that belong in the Blackjack Hall of Shame for offering these horrendous 6-5 payoff blackjack games. If you are planning a trip to Vegas, here’s my tip of the century: Avoid playing any 6-5 game on the Strip; instead drive (rent a car, taxi, Uber, bus, or whatever) to an off-the-Strip casino (affectionately known as a locals casino) that will give you a much better G-Rated 3-2 blackjack game at lower stakes to boot.
List of X-Rated Strip Casinos
The following casinos located on the Strip currently offer 6-5 blackjack games. (Information was obtained from the Las Vegas-based pros that report on playing conditions for my Blackjack Insider newsletter, from Current Blackjack News (CBJN), a subscription-based monthly newsletter that maintains a list of playing rules for casinos throughout the U.S. and Canada (bj21.com), and from my personal experience. Note: The number in parentheses is the number of 6-5 blackjack tables (from the August issue of CBJN).
Note: In total, there are more 6-5 than 3-2 blackjack tables in the casinos on the Strip (hard to believe). The following Strip casinos are Triple X-Rated because they offer predominantly only 6-5 blackjack games in their casinos (no, I’m not kidding… the percentage of 6-5 games is in parentheses): Monte Carlo (84%), Luxor (84%), Cromwell (82%), NYNY (78%), Stratosphere (75%), Venetian (74%), Excalibur (73%), Mirage (68%), Linq (67%), CircusCircus (64%), Palazzo (62%), MGM (60%), and Wynn (60%).
G-Rated Las Vegas Blackjack Games
Here is a list of casinos in the Las Vegas area where you will find a much better blackjack game. They offer good double- and six-deck games with 3-2 payoffs for a blackjack (some have a few 6-5 tables; of course, you should avoid playing them). The house edges on these 3-2 games range from 0.26% to 0.6%, depending on the mix of rules (much better than the up to 2% house edge on the 6-5 games you’ll find predominantly in the Strip casinos). Additionally, the stakes are usually lower in G-Rated casinos ($10 to $25 for most 3-2 games; sometimes a $5 game is available during the weekday at some of the casinos).
AWAY FROM THE STRIP
Do yourself a favor if you are planning a trip to Vegas. Forget about playing blackjack in any of the Strip casinos; instead, jot down the list of G-Rated casinos (or just rip out this page from the magazine), save it, and refer to it when you arrive in Vegas. Then find a way to visit these casinos to play blackjack. You’ll be happy and glad you made the switch to a fair blackjack game rather than the horrendous 6-5 ripoff Strip games.
Henry Tamburin, Ph.D. is the author of the Ultimate Guide to Blackjack (http://blog.888casino.com/casino-guides/blackjack), editor of the Blackjack Insider e-Newsletter (www.bjinsider.com), lead instructor for the Golden Touch Blackjack course, and host of smartgaming.com. For a free three-month subscription to his blackjack newsletter, go to www.bjinsider.com/freetrial. To receive his free catalog, call 1-888-353-3234 of visit www.smartgaming.com.
The skyline of the Las Vegas strip is home to many impressive structures, but perhaps none as impressive as the Luxor pyramid. The 30 story high structure was the tallest building on the strip when it was completed in 1993, and whole it has been well surpassed since in height, it is still pretty imposing.
The Luxor was named after the Egyptian city by the same name, most famous for its Luxor Temple. So the Luxor Las Vegas certainly has a strong Egyptian theme, starting with its main structure, a to scale pyramid that would not be out of place in Egypt other than the fact it is made of glass and steel rather than stone.
It’s exterior also features a huge statue of the Great Spynx of Giza, a large obelisk, and other ancient Egyptian style artifacts.
Approaching the building, there is no question that the idea here is to capture the feel of ancient Egypt, although the inside of the complex has shed its Egyptian theme pretty much in its seeking to substitute the once popular gimmicky themes with one that is geared more towards luxury, as has been the case with several other large venues on the strip of late.
The Luxor was built by Circus Circus Enterprises, and is right up there in size with the largest pyramids in Egypt, and would be the third largest had it been built there. It originally cost $375 million to build and had 2,526 rooms and 100,000 of gaming space.
A further $675 million was spent expanding it in 1998, adding two towers and 2000 more rooms. Current owner MGM resorts spent an additional $300 million in 2008, modernizing the public areas to bring it up to the high standards of its biggest competitors.
The Luxor now sits as the fifth biggest hotel in Las Vegas and the seventh largest in the world, with a total of 4,407 rooms and suites. Perhaps the most famous part of the Luxor is the beam on the top of its pyramid, pointing skyward, the strongest beam of light in the world. It is so powerful that it is visible by aircraft as far away as Los Angeles.
The Luxor Las Vegas Experience
There’s no question that this is certainly one of the prime destinations on the strip, and while hotels and casinos constantly try to outdo themselves in seeking to attract visitors, the Luxor remains a strong contender.
Aside from its very imposing exterior, this is a complex that continues to impress once inside, as one might expect when over a billion dollars is spent on a hotel casino.
There isn’t the variety of selection as far as different room classes that you see at some big Las Vegas hotels, but these rooms are larger than average and do provide good value for the money as well.
The suites aren’t anywhere near as big as you see at some other hotels either, starting at 590 square feet, and this hotel appeals more to the average hotel guest, although the Tower Premiere Suite with its 1050 square feet of luxuriously appointed space and its premium sound system will delight just about everyone.
When it comes time to dine, guests will also delight in the many different selections available here. There’s a 7000 square foot Public House which serves great American food. There’s also a steak and seafood restaurant, an Asian restaurant, an Irish pub, the Pyramid Café, an Italian restaurant, a buffet house, a Mexican restaurant, a deli, a yogurt shop, Hussong’s Cantina, a burger bar, a food court, a Starbucks, and in room dining.
The Luxor also has a vibrant nightlife scene, starting with their two level, 26,000 square foot LAX Nightclub. There are 5 other bars and lounges to entertain you, including some that are open 24 hours a day and also feature bar top gaming to provide you with additional action.
The Luxor also offers quite a bit of live entertainment, featuring such regular acts as the Blue Man Group and comedian Carrot Top, as well as illusionist Chriss Angel, in addition to a variety of other entertainers.
The other amenities include a spa, a salon, four pool areas totaling 19,000 square feet, as well as shopping. The concierge here will also assist you in enjoying everything else the strip has to offer.
Luxor Craps Lessons
The Casino At The Luxor Las Vegas
The casino at the Luxor is one of the largest on the strip at 120,000 square feet. Since this is an MGM property, guests enjoy access to their M Life rewards program, considered to be among the very best in the business. Players can earn and redeem M rewards at any of MGM Resort’s properties as well.
Luxor Gambling Lessons
The Luxor casino features 1100 slot and video machines, with hundreds of different ones to enjoy. They have everything from the traditional three reel machines to the most modern and innovative, with stakes ranging from a penny to a hundred dollars.
There are also a lot of progressive jackpot slots, with single machine progressives all the way up to ones paying several million dollars. They also have plenty of video poker and multi game machines to play.
The table games area here features 62 tables and 7 different games, and while the number of games here is less than at some casinos, they do offer the most popular ones, and casino table game players will find plenty to experience here.
The lineup of table games at the Luxor includes Blackjack, Craps, Roulette, Mini Baccarat, Let It Ride, 3 Card Poker, and 2 different forms of progressive Texas Holdem.
No Las Vegas casino would be complete without a race and sports book and the one that they have here is completely state of the art, including monitors at every seat.
Luxor Blackjack Lesson
The Luxor also has a poker room which features cash games as well as daily tournaments with $45 buy ins, as well as on demand tournaments. Poker players are well taken care of here as far as comps and special room rates go.
The Luxor Las Vegas is much more than a beautiful pyramid, what’s inside the pyramid is pretty impressive as well.