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In my opinion many online casinos are too stingy when setting the odds on their games. They think they will make more money that way but I believe they are misguided, because when players lose too quickly it’s not fun, and those players might not come back.
Bovada is one of the few casinos that understands this. They offer generous odds to let you play longer and get you a better chance of winning. Among their generous offerings are Full-Pay Jacks or Better returning 99.54%, six other video poker games paying over 99%, single-zero roulette, and my favorite, Pick ’em Poker, returning 99.95%!
Kudos to Bovada for not being afraid to give their players a good gamble.
Ask the Wizard: Blackjack - General Questions
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Are there any casinos in Vegas besides Mandalay Bay where the dealer stands on a soft 17? I ran a shoe of spanish 21 at MGM. Don’t see any advantage with the tens missing. Especially on double downs.
— Jim from North Olmsted, Ohio, USA
As far as I know the vast majority of shoe games in Vegas stand on soft 17. Usually the dealer will hit a soft 17 in single deck and double deck can go either way. It is complicated to explain why a ten rich deck is beneficial to the player but I do mention that in my blackjack section. However a ten rich deck is very beneficial when doubling on most hands, like 9 to 11, because you want a big card. Any good card counter can tell you that if 1/4 of the tens were removed from the deck the odds are strongly in the dealer’s favor.
How does the house have the advantage in Blackjack?
— Rob
The dealer has the advantage because the player has to go first. If both of you bust it isn’t a tie, you lose.
What is the minimum blackjack bet at most online casinos? Are there a time limits in which to make your decisions at the blackjack tables? If so, what are they?
— Reg Alexander from Vancouver, British Columbia
The minimum varies from place to place. At Perplexa casinos it is $1, Microgaming is $2, Starnet and Cryptologic are $5. If you are playing by yourself then you can take a long time. I’ve had phone calls in middle of a hand, came back 15 minutes later and resumed the hand without having been logged out. You will get logged out for inactivity eventually but it takes quite a while. However if you are playing at a group table there is a time limit per decision of about 30 seconds. At the Sands of the Caribbean you can see your clock ticking down.
As a first time gambler in Vegas, I’ve been told to play craps and Caribbean stud. How much money should I prepare to take to a sitting of each to try to stay in the game long enough to see results?
— Vinnie from Tulsa
If you play long enough the only results you will see is that you will lose all your money. Don’t bring to the table more money than you care to lose in that sitting. If your goal is to maximize your chances of winning I wouldn’t play Caribbean stud either.
Why are basic strategy blackjack charts setup with the apparent theory that the dealer has a "10" card in the hole. When in reality I believe that the odds are 9-4 against a "10" card being anywhere. Am I missing something? Your website is very interesting. Thanks a lot.
— Eddie from New Orleans, Louisiana
Assuming that the dealer has a 10 in the hole is just a memory device, it has nothing to do with the way the basic strategy was constructed. I can’t stand in when I hear one player telling another, "you always assume the dealer has a ten in the hole." If this were true the player should hit a 19 against a 10, certainly that is an unreasonable play. Just forget that old adage about the ten in the hole.
Across the various blackjack strategies you provide on your site, does the standard deviation change much? I would guess that when DAS is allowed, one’s results are more variable, but how much? Is there a good reference book that provides variance figures for various basic BJ strategies?
— Nathan from University, Mississippi
Good question. Unfortunately I don’t have exact standard deviation figures according to specific sets of rules. The 1.17 figure on my site is based on the 8 deck, stand on soft 17, double after split, Atlantic City game. If doubling after splitting were not allowed the standard deviation figure would surely decrease. Also with surrender there would also be a decrease. With fewer decks there would be more doubling and less splitting, I think in the favor of more overall but not by a marked degree. Sorry I couldn’t provide any exact numbers.
Is there any mathematical proof you can provide that will prove a player sitting at "third base" on the blackjack table can’t change the outcome of the game by making bad decisions based on "basic strategy" I have had many people argue that poor decisions at third base, or anyplace on the table for that matter, cost them money. I would love to see the actual numbers on this if it is possible. Great site by the way. I love gambling, and your site is one of the best I have seen on the web. Actually has real proven info.
— Mike Castelluccio from Lafayette, U.S.
Thanks for your kind words. Unfortunately I do not have any such proof at hand. If I did set about proving it myself I would use a computer simulation. However skeptics would probably claim something ridiculous, like that bad players disrupt the karma of the game, which can’t be replicated in a computer.
Can it actually be true that what I experience has a statistical base? It seems to me that it takes a lot longer to win X number of chips that to lose the same amount (I only play blackjack). For example, if I start with 300 chips, it might take hours to double my money (my goal), yet I can lost that number in what seems like almost no time at all. Can this really be true? Also, do you have a rule of thumb about when to leave the table when you are winning?
— Chris from Gaithersburg, Maryland
What you have experienced is likely the result of some very bad losing streaks. It may also be the result of progressive betting or mistakes in strategy. The basic strategy flat bettor should have a roughly symetrical expectation in terms of steep ups and downs, slightly favoring steep downs due to the house edge and 48% chance of a losing hand compared to 43% chance of winning. Personally I don’t set win limits on myself but do set loss limits.
Which is a better game for the player spanish21 or just regular blackjack in Atlantic City.
— Michael from Philadelphia, USA
Spanish 21! Under Atlantic City rules blackjack has a house edge of 0.43% and Spanish 21 of .40%.
Do you mean to tell me that man has designed a way to put 3 million transistors on a single chip (microprocessor) the size of a finger nail, and we don’t have a way to beat a 50/50 even money game bet. I find that to be unbelievable, besides I found that computer simulations are definitely not the same as live world action. Also why don’t casinos introduce video blackjack to thwart the card counters and get rid of dealers?
— Mark from Chicago, USA
I have said numerous times that there is no long-term way to beat a game with a house edge. If there were a true 50/50 game with no house edge it would be impossible to guarantee beating or losing to it under real world conditions. The results always approach the house edge in the long-term. It is not just computer simulations that back this up but the fundamental laws of probability. About video blackjack that may be the way of the future. I have seen fully electronic tables with video display at the World Gaming Expo. I have also seen tables that with cameras can track every bet and every play each player makes. This enables the house to accurately comp players and alert them to card counters. These tables look and feel like any other blackjack table, so you card counters may be out of business if these tables are successful.
Where is the best place to play Blackjack in Atlantic City and why?
— Mike and Taffy M. from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
The Claridge is the best. As far as I know they are the only Atlantic City casino to offer late surrender, which lowers the house edge from 0.43% to 0.36%.
I know that you have the casino advantage for blackjack listed on your web site in the case that a person plays the basic strategy, but I was wondering what the casino advantage was on average against a typical beginner. Also, can you formulate what the best advantage a casino could have over the worst of players, assuming that they would never hit anything higher than a hard sixteen? Thank You Kindly.
— John from Storrs, Connecticut
According to ’Extra Stuff’ by Peter Griffin the cost due to mistakes of the average player is 1.41%. This is above whatever the house edge is assuming proper basic strategy. It also varies by place, Atlantic City player are better than Las Vegas player, for example. Your other question about bad strategies was such a good one I added information to my blackjack section about it. See my remarks on bad strategies.
First of all, I think your web site is great and want to thank you for all this great, solid information. My question is this: blackjack tables have a maximum bet limit that more than increases when you move up from the five dollar table to the ten etc. I suppose this is to discourage larger stakes gamblers from playing at lower stakes tables but how do they calculate these limits? I notice that they are different at different casinos. Also, on your chart of the house edge, it would be great to see a comparison of house edge for a blackjack player using Basic Strategy vs. one who is counting cards. Thanks again for the great work.
— Michael from Santa Cruz, USA
You’re welcome! I have wondered this myself about table maximums. Personally I have asked several people in the business and have yet to get an answer that didn’t sound like the person was making it up off the top of their heads. That said I’m not exactly sure either. I think it is, as you said, to corral the best players in one area. How exactly the limits are calculated I do not know. So far I have avoid touching on card counting in depth on my site. That is a very hard and endless subject.
In the game of blackjack, can you tell me if people entering and leaving the game changes your odds of winning or losing? It seems to have an effect when I am playing.
— Jerry from Shreveport, USA
No, other players entering and leaving will have no long term effect on your odds. This may seem to be true but I suspect you are more likely to remember when entrances and departures hurt you than the times they helped you. In the long run the cards are the cards and all other factors cancel each other out.
I enjoy both Caribbean Stud and Blackjack. The element of risk for Stud is 2.56% and Blackjack is 0.38% or a ratio of 6.7. Assume I play $15 Blackjack and $5 ante Stud i.e., $15 at risk when I bet. Since the number of hands dealt per hour is many more for Blackjack versus Stud, does that mean that I will lose the same amount of my bankroll if the ratio of hands dealt per hour is 6.7?
— John from Monsey, USA
No. If you’re interested in comparing expected loses it would be better to use the house edge. My section on the house edge shows the blackjack house edge to be 0.43% (Atlantic City rules) and that of Caribbean Stud Poker to be 5.22%. The expected loss for 1 hand of Caribbean Stud Poker at a $5 ante is $5 * 5.22% = 26.10 cents. The expected loss for 6.7 hands of blackjack at $15 per initial bet is 6.7 * $15 * 0.43% = 43.22 cents. So given these two options you will lose less in Caribbean Stud Poker. The ratio of the house edge of Caribbean Stud Poker to blackjack is about 12. So the expected loss of a $1 initial Caribbean Stud Poker bet is about the same as a $12 initial blackjack bet.
My question is about table maximum bets in BJ. Say the posted limit is $200. I bet $200 and I get dealt 8-3. Can I double down, or have I already reached the limit? Or suppose I’m betting $200 and get dealt a pair of aces. Can I split them, turning one hand into two hands?
— Jack from Boston, USA
Yes, you could double or split in those situations. The maximum applies to the initial bet. If the limit were $200 you could also play multiple hands of $200.
My friend and I have a side bet going on. I said to him that I think that blackjack has the best odds in a casino, he said to me that he thinks poker has the best odds. In a casino, what game do you have the best odds in winning, blackjack or poker?
— Jeff from Chicago, IL
Although they are hard to compare I say blackjack is the better bet. It is easy to be a good blackjack player by learning the basic strategy. It is difficult to be a good poker player. Casino poker rooms are often full of very good players just waiting for an inexperienced player to fleece. However some people may be naturally gifted at poker, so take my answer with a grain of salt.
In Blackjack, what is the difference between early surrender and late surrender?
— Dan from Brooklyn, USA
In early surrender you can surrender before the dealer checks for blackjack. With late surrender you only have the option after the dealer checks for blackjack. Early surrender is much better because you can still save half your bet when the dealer does have blackjack. As far as I know no casino on the land or Internet currently offers early surrender.
Dear Wizard, Just a quick question, why does the house edge change for an insurance bet in blackjack depending on the number of decks used?
— Rick
Because we already know an ace has been removed for the shoe. That leaves the rest of the shoe slightly ten heavy. A greater the ratio of tens in the shoe the more likely the insurance bet is to win. The fewer the decks the greater this effect is. Insuring a 20 (except A/9) increases the house edge on the insurance bet because there are two less tens in the shoe.
In response your last column from a player who was concerned about the dealer calling "table max" when he went from $15 to $300. It should be added to your answer that this is most likely the internal procedure of the casino as most do this when any maximum bet is placed in order to draw the supervisor’s attention. Most players tend to believe the actions of a casino are directed against them when the usual reason is simply the staff are following company procedures.
— Anonymous
Thanks for this good point. I stand corrected.
Love your site! I enjoy casino gambling but generally can only afford a small bankroll (less than $100 per session). What game would you recommend to maximize the life of my bankroll and chances for a winning session?
— Anonymous
Thanks. Considering both odds of winning and bankroll preservation I think the choice comes down to blackjack (which favors winning) and pai gow poker (which favors bankroll preservation). If you can find a $5 table in either game I would go with blackjack. If the minimums are $10 then I would go with pai gow poker.
I play occasionally with a group of players who love poker but occasionally want to play BJ to vary the evenings proceedings. Most of them would be beginners in terms of strategy and probability awareness. What would be a fair set of rules you would recommend so that BJ becomes a fair game (or as close as possible) for both players and whoever takes the bank?
— Anonymous
It would depend on the specific skill factor of the players. Without knowing that, but assuming the skill level is equal among players, I would have the bank option rotate from player to player.
I realize that decisions per hour in games like blackjack and craps can depend heavily on factors like the number of other players at the table, the hand shuffle vs. machine shuffle, shooter and dealer speed. Still, I was curious if you could give me a rough approximation of how many decisions per hour an individual can expect at a mostly-full craps table and a blackjack table with both a hand shuffle and machine shuffle. This would help me estimate my expected loss per hour and weigh it against the comps I am being offered.
— Anonymous
The following tables show the number of hands/tosses per hour in blackjack, craps, and roulette. The source of the tables is Casino Operations Management by Jim Kilby.
| Hands per Hour in Blackjack | |
| Players | Hands per hour |
| 1 | 209 |
| 2 | 139 |
| 3 | 105 |
| 4 | 84 |
| 5 | 70 |
| 6 | 60 |
| 7 | 52 |
| Rolls per Hour in Craps | |
| Players | Rolls per hour |
| 1 | 249 |
| 3 | 216 |
| 5 | 144 |
| 7 | 135 |
| 9 | 123 |
| 11 | 102 |
In craps 29.6% of total rolls are come out rolls, on average.
| Spins per Hour in Roulette | |
| Players | Spins per hour |
| 1 | 112 |
| 2 | 76 |
| 3 | 60 |
| 4 | 55 |
| 5 | 48 |
| 6 | 35 |
How long would it take me to lose $10,000 with $5 flat bets playing 6-deck Vegas strip blackjack?
— Rachel from La Paz
The expected loss per hand would be $5*0.0062 = 3.1 cents, assuming you play proper basic strategy, and that the dealer hits a soft 17, which is usually the case in $5 games. Assuming you lost exactly that amount per hand it would take 322,580 hands. However the actual number would be a little less because of bankroll volatility and you can’t play after you go broke. To make an educated guess I would say about 300,000 hands. At 60 hands per hour this would be 5000 hours, or two and a half years of full-time play.
Great site keep up the excellent work. I am looking for a game/games that are suitable to get up one unit. i.e. If i bet 10 dollars I would like my original 10 back plus the 10 I bet. I belives the craps pass line would be the best bet to do this. I dont mind going down a little money if I have to, but I would expect to get positive at least the amount of my original bet sometime before the end of the shoe or game. Is craps the answer...or is there a card game that may be better? Thanks for your time and effort.
— Mike from Westfield, MA
Thanks. If your goal is to win just one unit I agree craps is the best place to start. The don’t pass is slightly better than the pass. However if you lose your first bet I would switch to blackjack. Only when exactly where you started would I go back to craps. This is because you won’t need to double or split to win just one unit, and a hit/stand only blackjack game has a house edge of about 2.5%.
I’m very glad to see that you are back changing the world 1 mathematically challenged emailer at a time. I have a combination of a dear abby and an odds question. Here goes: A coworker of mine has gone his entire gambling life getting angry at the 3rd base player in blackjack whenever that player doesn’t follow basic strategy. He insists that that "bad" player is hurting his odds. I am 100% certain that it doesn’t change your odds at all. I have tried to explain to him that the reason he thinks it hurts him is because the times that it has in fact hurt him stand out in his mind, and he probably doesn’t even pay attention to the times that it helped him. I told him that mathematically, his odds are the exact same whether he plays at a table of people who never hit, a table of people who never stay, or a table of people playing perfect basic strategy. He doesn’t buy it. But, how can I possibly convince him that he’s wrong? Should I even continue to try? If he admits that he’s wrong, he has to admit that he has wrongly berated countless people at blackjack tables when those people were not hurting anyone else but themselves (and in some cases, if they were counting cards and adjusting their strategy accordingly, they weren’t even hurting themselves). Don’t you think casinos would be better places if people really understood that what I do with my blackjack hand doesn’t change your odds in the long run?
— Aaron from Detroit, MI
Your coworker sounds hopeless. As I have said before, the more ridiculous a notion is the more tenaciously it tends to be held. I’d give up on him and let him believe in his delusion. Personally I don’t give unsolicited gambling advice because it is seldom well taken.
I had a blackjack and the dealer paid me. Then at the end of the deal he turned his cards over and he discovered he had a blackjack. He forgot to check his hand before paying me. The supervisors wanted me to return the winnings. I refused. Seems I remember these scenario from a book on blackjack. Was I correct?
— Woloshen from Montreal
I say you should have returned the winnings. I have never seen this addressed in any book. However, is a book really required? That is what you have a conscience for. You were asked to make things right, it is the right thing to do so.
Love your site! I just ran across your detailed list of Las Vegas Blackjack tables and their edges, so I was wondering: Suppose that there two BJ tables, one with an edge of 0.2% with a table minimum of $10 and 0.4% with a table minimum of $5. Both tables have the same $0.02 loss per hand. Is there any advantage to choose one table over the other?
— Milton from Santa Fe
Thanks. To answer this question you first have to ask yourself why you are gambling in the first place. If you are trying to lose as little as possible then you shouldn’t play at all. However, if you are playing for the fun of gambling then I would choose the $10 game with the 0.2% edge. The expected loss will be the same but you’ll get more of a fix with the larger wagers.
My friends and I are planning a weekend trip to Las Vegas. As a college student, I’ve decided the most I can afford to lose (the best way to set a limit when gambling I think) is $500. I was curious what games you thought I should play? What stakes? You could call me slightly risk-seeking, because I’d love to return to Durham with a big stack and I’m mentally ready to lose it all. Thanks so much, your web site is fantastic.
— Ben from Durham
Thanks for the kind words. The three games where you can get the house edge under 0.5% are blackjack, craps, and video poker. Of the three I would recommend blackjack. I would start betting $10 a hand. By playing conservatively at the beginning you won’t go bust too soon and have to beg your friends for a loan. Let’s say you want to double your bankroll or go bust trying, then press your bets as you get close to the end of your trip. Be sure to memorize the basic strategy before you play and don’t accept anything more than a 0.4% house edge.
How much would it increase the house edge if the player took insurance every time in blackjack?
— RJM
The dealer will have an ace up 1/13 of the time. The house edge on insurance is 7.395% in a six-deck game, on average. However, this is applied to half a bet size. So the expected loss of always taking insurance is (1/13) × 7.395% × 0.5 = -0.00284. So the house edge would go up by 0.284%.
For recreational blackjack players, who use basic strategy, and don’t count, does the house advantage increase as the penetration increases? I believe it does because the deeper you get into the shoe, the greater the absolute value of the count will tend to get, which should trigger count-based strategy changes. Since the non-counter wouldn’t know when and how to make such changes, he would be making more mistakes as the count gets further away from zero. Thus, wouldn’t a non-counter be better off at a table with shallow penetration?
— Jon from Doylestown, PA
In a non-cut-card game, the house advantage is always the same for the non-counter. Clumps of high or low cards are just as likely to appear at the beginning of the shoe, as the middle, as the end. Just because the count is zero at the top of the shoe doesn’t mean you’ll have an exact balance of high and low cards. You seem to be suggesting that the cards are more clumpy at the end of the deck. However, if that were true, then the odds would change if the dealer dealt the cards in reverse order. Surely that is a ridiculous notion.
Let’s say the basic strategy player has 16 against a 10 late in the shoe, and hits. If the count were high, standing would be the right play, resulting in what would look like an error to a counter who was watching. However, if the count were negative then hitting would be all the better. In the end, it averages out, for the basic strategy player.
For reasons I explain in my blackjack appendix 10, the basic strategy player should prefer a game with a continuous shuffler, if his goal is to minimize the house edge. Aside from that, the house edge is not affected by penetration. I should add that with a shallower penetration there will be more time spent shuffling, and thus a lower expected loss on an hourly basis.
What do you think about the future of blackjack?
— pacomartin
Let’s look at the data first. The following table shows the number of tables by game and year for Clark County from the Nevada Gaming Control Quarterly Statistical Reports 
. All years are based on the fourth quarter except 2009, which is based on the third quarter, because at the time of this writing, the fourth quarter was not yet available. Sports, racing, bingo, and keno are not included.
. All years are based on the fourth quarter except 2009, which is based on the third quarter, because at the time of this writing, the fourth quarter was not yet available. Sports, racing, bingo, and keno are not included.
| Total Table Games 1990-1999 | ||||||||||
| Game | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 |
| 21 | 2132 | 2094 | 1954 | 2132 | 2140 | 2134 | 2345 | 2383 | 2404 | 2664 |
| Roulette | 197 | 202 | 203 | 232 | 252 | 258 | 287 | 303 | 311 | 354 |
| Craps | 290 | 284 | 272 | 286 | 303 | 308 | 325 | 334 | 344 | 372 |
| Other games | 3 | 5 | 8 | 28 | 95 | 15 | 25 | 51 | 56 | 71 |
| Baccarat | 54 | 57 | 49 | 51 | 64 | 70 | 72 | 81 | 83 | 103 |
| Pai gow poker | 73 | 98 | 99 | 107 | 101 | 95 | 109 | 120 | 139 | 170 |
| Three card poker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mini baccarat | 26 | 33 | 39 | 40 | 43 | 51 | 73 | 77 | 85 | 94 |
| Let it ride | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 148 | 144 | 110 | 108 | 118 |
| Pai gow | 26 | 22 | 19 | 19 | 2 | 23 | 22 | 36 | 42 | 33 |
| Wheel of fortune | 47 | 44 | 42 | 39 | 48 | 46 | 37 | 34 | 34 | 36 |
| Caribbean Stud | 0 | 2 | 13 | 95 | 127 | 120 | 109 | 100 | 95 | 94 |
| Chuck a luck | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 |
| Sic bo | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Crapless Craps | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Double Middles | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nines up | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Over & under 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Over & under 13 | 3 | 11 | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Dog | 13 | 14 | 17 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| P&M Pokertable | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Super pan nine | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 2883 | 2878 | 2734 | 3048 | 3207 | 3275 | 3554 | 3636 | 3706 | 4114 |
| Total Table Games 2000-2009 | ||||||||||
| Game | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
| 21 | 2659 | 2605 | 2546 | 2561 | 2508 | 2662 | 2589 | 2528 | 2537 | 2448 |
| Roulette | 359 | 362 | 352 | 360 | 360 | 392 | 394 | 393 | 405 | 407 |
| Craps | 372 | 370 | 352 | 352 | 338 | 364 | 351 | 340 | 334 | 336 |
| Other games | 101 | 143 | 52 | 68 | 81 | 121 | 196 | 283 | 243 | 226 |
| Baccarat | 106 | 98 | 93 | 109 | 115 | 133 | 175 | 176 | 233 | 218 |
| Pai gow poker | 179 | 198 | 207 | 217 | 211 | 192 | 192 | 175 | 194 | 216 |
| Three card poker | 0 | 3 | 105 | 135 | 160 | 182 | 185 | 191 | 208 | 197 |
| Mini baccarat | 110 | 118 | 126 | 115 | 124 | 147 | 148 | 130 | 143 | 140 |
| Let it ride | 129 | 132 | 121 | 112 | 105 | 109 | 97 | 94 | 98 | 97 |
| Race book | 81 | 83 | 80 | 78 | 83 | 86 | 84 | 81 | 82 | 67 |
| Pai gow | 43 | 41 | 40 | 43 | 49 | 73 | 76 | 82 | 80 | 58 |
| Wheel of fortune | 41 | 42 | 41 | 40 | 40 | 37 | 37 | 33 | 37 | 40 |
| Caribbean Stud | 88 | 80 | 75 | 69 | 56 | 45 | 30 | 23 | 22 | 17 |
| Chuck a luck | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Sic bo | 3 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Crapless Craps | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Double Middles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nines up | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Over & under 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Over & under 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Red Dog | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| P&M Pokertable | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Super pan nine | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | 4192 | 4200 | 4120 | 4187 | 4154 | 4459 | 4473 | 4450 | 4536 | 4402 |
The next table shows the percentage of the total table game market for each game for 1990 and 2009. Note how 21 is the biggest loser, going from 74.0% to 55.6%.
| Market Share Comparison | ||||||||||
| Game | 1990 | 2009 | ||||||||
| 21 | 74.0% | 55.6% | ||||||||
| Roulette | 6.8% | 9.2% | ||||||||
| Craps | 10.1% | 7.6% | ||||||||
| Other games | 0.1% | 5.1% | ||||||||
| Baccarat | 1.9% | 5.0% | ||||||||
| Pai gow poker | 2.5% | 4.9% | ||||||||
| Three card poker | 0.0% | 4.5% | ||||||||
| Mini baccarat | 0.9% | 3.2% | ||||||||
| Let it ride | 0.0% | 2.2% | ||||||||
| Pai gow | 0.9% | 1.3% | ||||||||
| Wheel of fortune | 1.6% | 0.9% | ||||||||
| Caribbean Stud | 0.0% | 0.4% | ||||||||
| Chuck a luck | 0.0% | 0.0% | ||||||||
| Sic bo | 0.1% | 0.0% | ||||||||
| Crapless Craps | 0.1% | 0.0% | ||||||||
| Double Middles | 0.1% | 0.0% | ||||||||
| Nines up | 0.1% | 0.0% | ||||||||
| Over & under 7 | 0.0% | 0.0% | ||||||||
| Over & under 13 | 0.1% | 0.0% | ||||||||
| Red Dog | 0.5% | 0.0% | ||||||||
| P&M Pokertable | 0.1% | 0.0% | ||||||||
| Super pan nine | 0.1% | 0.0% | ||||||||
This begs the question of why blackjack is losing market share. Here are what I think are the main reasons:
- Popularity of poker-based games is causing some players to switch.
- Casinos don’t comp blackjack play as well as other games.
- The rules are getting worse. I’m not suggesting most players know this, but over time, players can feel rule changes, like the dealer’s hitting a soft 17, in their wallet.
- All casino games have a natural lifespan, and blackjack is getting more grey.
This question was raised and discussed in the forum of my companion site Wizard of Vegas .
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