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Reno may not be the first place you think of when it comes to blackjack. Instead, you may envision yourself playing blackjack in posh Las Vegas or Atlantic City resorts.

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If so, you’ll also be missing out on some of the best blackjack action known to man. Reno offers incredibly friendly rules at certain casinos that greatly reduce the house edge.

What are the casinos in question, though? You can find out by reading more on what makes for quality games and where to find the best Reno blackjack casinos.

What Makes For a Good Blackjack Game?

Your preference of blackjack games can vary based on what exactly you’re looking for. Here are key factors that you might consider:

Reno isn’t known for glitz and glamour. Therefore, you won’t get the Bellagio or Wynn feeling when you’re playing here.

However, the stakes and rules are what separate Reno blackjack from the pack. You’ll find a number of $5 and $10 tables throughout the city.

$10 blackjack is more common in Reno. However, it offers a larger percentage of $5 tables than you’ll see in Vegas or Atlantic City.

The rules are exceptional in the Biggest Little City in the World. Reno is one of the few places where you can still play single-deck games with 3:2 natural blackjack payouts.

Most gambling destinations either feature eight-deck games or single-deck tables with 6:5 blackjack payouts. The latter rule increases the house edge by 1.4% when compared to 3:2 payouts.

The Typical Reno Blackjack Game

As mentioned above, Reno offers some of the friendliest blackjack rules anywhere. Here are the common rules throughout the city:

• One deck
• 3:2 natural payouts
• Dealer hits a soft 17
• Only double on 10-11
• No DAS
• No re-splitting aces
• No surrender

These rules lead to a 0.45% house edge in a standard, hand-shuffled game. Outside of Macau and a few Vegas casinos, you can’t do any better than this in land-based casinos.

Keep in mind that this is just the average game in Reno! A few casinos offer even better rules and lower house advantages.

Of course, you should never blindly assume that every Reno gambling venue has great games. Some casinos actually have much worse rules that are more on par with a Vegas Strip establishment.

What Reno Blackjack Casinos Should You Choose?

With 20 casinos, the Reno-Sparks area is one of the biggest gambling destinations in the United States. Therefore, you can’t walk into just any casino and expect an easy chance to win.

You instead want to target the casinos with the best rules. Below, you’ll find the best Reno has to offer regarding blackjack rules at the time of this post (some casinos have different sets of rules):

Rules for Rail City

• One deck
• 3:2 natural payouts
• Dealer hits a soft 17
• Double down on any 2 cards
• Double down after splitting (DAS) allowed
• No re-splitting aces
• No surrender
• House edge = 0.19%

Rules for Alamo, Sands Regency, Western Village

• One deck
• 3:2 natural payouts
• Dealer hits a soft 17
• Double down on any 2 cards
• No DAS
• No re-splitting aces
• Late surrender
• House edge = 0.28%

Rules for Boomtown

• One deck
• 3:2 natural payouts
• Dealer hits a soft 17
• Double down on any 2 cards
• No DAS
• No re-splitting aces
• No surrender
• House edge = 0.32%

Rules for Atlantis, Bonanza, Cal-Neva, Circus Circus, Diamond’s, El Dorado, Grand Sierra, Harrah’s, Nugget, Peppermill, Sienna, Silver Legacy

• One deck
• 3:2 natural payouts
• Dealer hits a soft 17
• Only double on 10-11
• No DAS
• No re-splitting aces
• No surrender
• House edge = 0.45%

Rules for Cal-Neva, El Dorado, Grand Sierra, Nugget, Peppermill, Sienna, Silver Legacy

• Two decks
• 3:2 natural payouts
• Dealer hits a soft 17
• Double down on any 2 cards
• No DAS
• No re-splitting aces
• No surrender
• House edge = 0.55%

Several games on this list offer house advantages ranging from 0.19% to 0.32%. These options are about as good as it gets anywhere in the world.

Most Reno casinos feature a table with either a 0.45% or 0.55% house edge. These blackjack games are still better than over 95% of what else is out there.

You can’t go wrong at most of Reno casinos. But Rail City, Alamo, Boomtown, Sands Regency, and Western Village offer the best blackjack odds.

Can You Count Cards in Reno?

What if you could combine card counting with some of the top blackjack rules anywhere? You’d be in for quite a score!

But before you jump in the car and start heading to Reno, you should know a few things about the city’s blackjack scene.

This town presents somewhat of a dichotomy regarding card counting. The pit bosses are friendlier than what you’ll find in Vegas, but they also back you off faster.

A back-off either refers to when the pit boss restricts your betting limits or forces you to quit playing blackjack. Restricting your bets serves to prevent you from capitalizing on positive counts.

Reno already features the best blackjack rules across the board. They don’t want to also give you an opportunity to count cards on top of everything.

I’m not saying that you can’t make money when counting in Reno. Some casinos are relatively lax before they take action against suspected advantage players.

However, you won’t be able to spread your bets as large when counting in Reno. Assuming you normally spread from the table minimum to 10x this amount (i.e. 1-10 spread) in Vegas, you’ll need to consider a 1-6 or even 1-4 spread here.

Pit bosses are much more concerned when they see you spreading at 1-8 or anything higher. If you’re going to count here, then you definitely want to be more conservative.

Is Reno Ultimately Worth Visiting for the Blackjack Experience?

Reno is definitely a nice place to visit as a serious blackjack player. It offers plenty of tables and excellent rules.

You’ll benefit heavily from the latter if you’re a serious amateur player. Most of the time, you’ll only face around a 0.5% house edge or lower.

Many casinos either feature eight decks or only pay 6:5 on natural blackjacks. They also include other unfavorable rules that push their advantage up over 1.5%.

A 1.5% house advantage isn’t terrible when compared to other casino games. However, it’s not quite on par with Reno blackjack tables.

The other side of the situation is the resort aspect. While this city has some quality resorts, it doesn’t have the same glamorous casino-hotels available on the Vegas Strip.

If you’re more concerned about the surrounding atmosphere than beating the game, then Reno isn’t for you. It’s a laidback spot that focuses on comps and favorable casino odds above all.

Tips for Improving Your Blackjack Winnings in Reno

You’ve seen that Reno has incredible blackjack games. Of course, you also need the skills to achieve the lowest-possible house advantage. Here are some tips to help you pull this off.

Study a Strategy Chart

Without proper strategy knowledge, you don’t have a shot in the dark of enjoying a 0.45% house edge or anything remotely similar. Luckily, blackjack strategy isn’t that difficult to master.

You can quickly start on this matter by getting a blackjack strategy chart. A simple Google (Images) search will result in many options.

These charts show what decisions you should make based on your score and the dealer’s upcard. I recommend memorizing as much as you can before playing.

After all, dealers and players don’t like you slowing down the action to review your chart every five seconds.

Make Sure You’re Properly Bankrolled

Blackjack has low volatility compared to slot machines and a few other games. You win approximately 42% of your hands, plus extra for natural payouts and successfully doubling down.

Nevertheless, you can go on some cold streaks and quickly burn through your bankroll. You want to be properly bankrolled to ensure that you can survive these rough patches.

I suggest having at least 20 units for the average stakes you play. Assuming you bet $10 per hand, then you’ll want $200 or more per outing.

Look for the Best Rules

You can refer to the advice covered here on which casinos have the best rules. Again, these rules are accurate at the time of this writing.

You may ultimately decide that you don’t like one or more of the casinos with the friendliest rules. But with several options to choose from, you should eventually find something good.

Conclusion

Reno will never win the title for being the glitziest gambling hotspot. However, it does deserve recognition for being one of the best places to play blackjack for real money.

The Biggest Little City is a throwback to the days when many casinos offered great rules. Now, most gambling establishments feature poor blackjack odds.

You don’t have to settle for such casinos when you’re in Reno, though. Instead, you can look forward to a wide selection of games with house edges ranging from 0.19% to 0.55%.

Where to cash in on player-friendly blackjack games, and how to avoid the bad ones

by Henry Tamburin

The 6-5 payoff rule increases the house edge by almost 1.4 percent. If you’re a $10 bettor, playing a 6-5 game will cost you $3 each time you get a blackjack (and you’ll average roughly four blackjacks per hour), which comes to $12 that you are forking over to the casino bosses every hour.

This month, my column is going to accomplish four things:

1. Provide you with a convenient list of casinos that offer a single-deck blackjack game that pays 3-2 for a blackjack (also known as a “natural”)
2. Give you an accurate single-deck basic playing strategy that you can use to play this terrific game
3. Summarize the casinos in and around Las Vegas that offer the abominable 6-5 single-deck games (so you can avoid them)
4. Give you some advice on how you can help eradicate the awful 6-5 games, which have been spreading like a cancer in casinos throughout the U.S.

Note: The information on which casinos offer single-deck games and the corresponding rules and house edges mentioned in this article were obtained from Current Blackjack News (CBJN), with their permission (www.bj21.com). Casinos can change the rules at any time, so check CBJN for the latest rules and playing conditions in casinos across the country.

In the March 2008 issue of Casino Player magazine, I wrote a detailed column about why the 6-5 single-deck game is bad news for players. Without rehashing all the points that I made back then, let me briefly summarize why this game should be avoided like the plague. The 6-5 payoff rule increases the house edge by almost 1.4 percent (no, that’s not a typo). If you’re a $10 bettor, playing a 6-5 game will cost you $3 each time you get a blackjack (and you’ll average roughly four blackjacks per hour), which comes to $12 that you are forking over to the casino bosses every hour.

That is an atrocity, which is why a smart blackjack player would never play this game.

If you talk to casino bosses about their 6-5 games (which I‘ve done), you get this sort of universal response from them: we know players don’t like the 6-5 games, but as long as they keep playing them, we’d be crazy not to offer them. In a moment, I will give you some tips on how you can help us eradicate the 6-5 games from casinos everywhere. But first, let me discuss the single-deck game that I am encouraging you to play; namely, the game that pays the traditional 3-2 for a natural. It’s available, and I’ll show you where.

The house edge against a basic strategy player in a 3-2 single-deck game is a function of the mix of playing rules. The best single-deck games have h17 (dealer hits soft 17), and allow players to resplit aces. The house edge in this game is a meager 0.13%. Second best is an h17 game without resplit aces (house edge: only 0.18%).

The following chart summarizes the relationship of the rules and the house edge for a basic strategy player in a 3-2 single-deck game. You’d be hard-pressed to find a multi-deck game with these low house edges.

Where would you guess is the most likely place to find a 3-2 single-deck game? If you said Las Vegas, you’d be dead wrong. According to CBJN, there are only four casinos that offer a 3-2 single-deck game in Las Vegas (and unfortunately, 44 casinos in and around Vegas that offer the dastardly 6-5 single-deck games, making Las Vegas the #1 gambling destination with the most 6-5 games).

Table 1 lists the casinos in Las Vegas that offer 3-2 single-deck games. Table 2 is the list of Las Vegas casinos that offer the 6-5 game. Be smart—on your next trip to Vegas, play the juicy 3-2 single-deck game and avoid the terrible 6-5 game in the casinos listed in Table 2.

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The areas of the country where the concentration of 3-2 single-deck games is the greatest are Tunica and Vicksburg, MS, and Reno/Lake Tahoe/Wendover, in Nevada. You’ll be delighted to find many casinos in these cities that offer the fair 3-2 single-deck game. (See Table 3 for the list of these casinos.)

Now that you know where to find 3-2 single-deck games, you need to learn the basic playing strategy for them. Table 4 summarizes the strategy where the dealer hits soft 17 (which is the case in the majority of casinos that offer a single-deck game). You should become familiar with this playing strategy, because it’s slightly different than the basic strategy for multi-deck games. If this is your first time playing a single-deck game, I would also recommend that you bring a strategy card with you to avoid making playing mistakes. It’s perfectly legal to refer to a card before you play your hand.

Table 1

Las Vegas Casinos That Offer

3-2 Single-Deck Games

h17 = dealer hits soft 17

d10 = double down only on two-card ten or eleven

rsa = aces may be resplit

Note: I’ve had friends in the past play the single-deck games at Binion’s and Four Queens, and they claimed they had a good time. However, Al Rogers, manager at bj21.com, had this to say about the single-deck games at both casinos: “Anyone showing the slightest degree of brain usage at reasonable stakes will not be allowed to play the 3-2 single-deck games at either casino.”

Table 2

The Hall Of Shame:

Las Vegas Area Casinos That Offer

6-5 Single-Deck Games

*Binion’s and Four Queens offer 3-2 and 6-5 single-deck games, which is why they appear in both Tables 1 and 2.

Table 3

MS and Laughlin/Reno/Wendover, NV Casinos

With 3-2 Single-Deck Games

Note: The Isle Casino in Biloxi, MS, and L’Auberge du Lac casino in Lake Charles, LA also offer 3-2 single-deck blackjack games.

Table 4

Single-Deck Basic Strategy

Dealer Hits Soft 17, No DAS

Note: Hard hands are hands that either don’t contain an ace, or if one (or more) aces are present in the hand, they count as 1 (e.g., 10-7; 8-4-Ace-4; 3-Ace-Ace-10).

Soft hands are hands that contain an ace counted as 11 (e.g., Ace-7; 3-4-Ace; Ace-7-Ace).

If the rules do not allow doubling on soft hands, then you should always hit soft hands from 13 through 17, and always stand with soft 19 through 21. Likewise, if you are not allowed to double down on hard 8 through 11, then hit.

stand if dealer has 2, 7, or 8A-8Double if dealer has 6; otherwise standA-9; A-10Always stand Pairs 2sSplit if dealer has 3 through 7; otherwise hit3sSplit if dealer has 4 through 7; otherwise hit4sNever split; double if dealer has 5 or 6; otherwise hit5sNever split; double if dealer has 9 or less; otherwise hit6sSplit if dealer has 2 through 6; otherwise hit7sSplit if dealer has 2 through 7; stand if dealer has a 10; hit if dealer has 8, 9, or ace8sAlways split9sSplit if dealer has 2 through 6, and 8 or 9; stand if dealer has 7, 10, or ace.10sNever split; always standAcesAlways split

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If the 6-5 game continues to proliferate, it will ultimately ruin blackjack. Here’s what you can do to help eradicate this game.

1. Refuse to play any 6-5 blackjack games. Instead, only play blackjack games that pay 3-2 for a natural.
2. If you come across a 6-5 game, voice your displeasure to a casino supervisor, your casino host, and even the casino manager (better yet, email the casino manager). Be sure to also tell them you are taking your business to casinos that don’t offer this wretched game.
3. Warn your friends and family members who play blackjack about this outrageous game, and do not play it.

I can promise you this: If enough players say NO to 6-5 blackjack games, casinos will eliminate them. Collectively, we can make a difference.

Tamburin’s Tip of the Month

The 6-5 rule isn’t just confined to single-deck games. For example, as I was writing this article, the Las Vegas Advisor reported that the new Margaritaville casino (located inside the Flamingo casino in Las Vegas) opened with eight-deck games with h17, and almost all of them pay 6-5 for a natural. Even though the rules allow you to double down after pair splitting, resplit aces, and surrender, collectively these player-friendly rules are not nearly enough to offset the dreaded 6-5 rule, resulting in a ridiculously high house edge of 1.85% against a basic strategy player. Therefore, even if you play a multi-deck game, it pays to double-check the payout for a natural to be sure it’s 3-2.

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Henry Tamburin is the editor of Blackjack Insider Newsletter (www.bjinsider.com), Lead Instructor for the Golden Touch Blackjack Course (www.goldentouchblackjack.com), and host of www.smartgaming.com. For a free three-month subscription to his blackjack newsletter, go to www.bjinsider.com/freetrial.com. To receive his free Casino Gambling Catalog, call 1-888-353-3234 or visit www.smartgaming.com.