Unless you enjoy losing money in casinos (or you’ve had your head in the sand the past few years), you’ve probably heard that casinos are paying players 6 to 5, instead of 3 to 2, for a blackjack. This is a very bad thing and whether you’re a card counter or not, it doesn’t take rocket science to figure out that when casinos pay you less money in a game, you’re the loser and they’re the winners.

I and other advantage blackjack players have advocated the complete ban of 6 to 5 blackjack for the rotten apple that it is. Sign the petitions, protest march on the Strip… players unite against 6 to 5 blackjack! Blackjack Rip Off is the only fair and correct name for this dastardly game. I say, "Give me 3 to 2 blackjack, or give me death!"

But wait just a minute. Is the 6-5 game really that bad? I wondered about that for some time (and so have some of my regular customers and readers over the years). I’ve generally spouted off the party line against 6 to 5 blackjack, but I guess curiosity has finally won out over my detest of the blatant greed of casinos. Plus, finding ways to beat the casinos at their own game is always a moving target and every (advantage) rock must be turned over and checked. Is there some reasonable (and legal) way to get an edge over some 6 to 5 blackjack games? I decided once and for all to find out.

Not surprisingly, all players suffer a minimum 2.5 times increased reduction in edge with 6 to 5 payout, regardless of the game or their playing strategy. Even worse, the expert card counter using the full Hi-Low count system with all matching indices goes from the typical ½ percent edge over the casino to being a losing player. While I showed edge in the above tables (average percentage of every bet won or lost), the hourly win rates are similarly impacted. I’ve also used the same playing strategy for both the 3 to 2 and 6 to 5 games (it’s possible that the optimal playing strategy varies for 6 to 5 blackjack with and without card counting, but I’m not aware of it and doubt it should change).

But all is not lost! What if the casino offers lucrative rules to the player along with the rotten 6 to 5 payout? Is it possible that some favorable game option can tip the edge back into the card counter’s favor? This would be especially appealing to advantage players, as generally casinos consider 6 to 5 blackjack unbeatable and do not scrutinize players with the usual nasty glare of the pit boss.

A common example is a single-deck blackjack game coupled with a 6 to 5 blackjack payout. This configuration was the hallmark introduction of this scourge to the great classic table game several years ago, as even ploppie players believe (or know) that less decks is better in blackjack. So, let’s look at a bunch of other possible positive edge variations along with the 6 to 5 payout rule:

What’s interesting to note here is that the player does get a positive edge once the Hi-Lo true count reaches 2. In a normal game of blackjack, this is usually 1 (or zero, in the case of the lucrative and distinct single deck game with the above rules and a 3-2 payout on a blackjack,). So, the card counter should not be increasing his bets until the true count is 2 or higher, rather than 0 or 1(doing the latter, gravely worsens the counter’s total edge in the above simulations). So, let’s see what happens if we change the bet pivot to a true count of 2 (instead of 0, as it was in the simulations above):

Changing the bet pivot to a true count of 2 certainly improved our edge, even with the same 1 to 3 bet spread, but not enough to yield a positive edge game.

Sorry for the shouting in bold italics folks, but even I was astounded by these results when I saw them. I had heard rumors for years that 6 to 5 blackjack was beatable in rare circumstances, but didn’t really believe it was possible in practical games, or would yield a marginal edge at best.

So, how realistic is the proposed game and rules above? To begin, a 1 to 8 bet spread in regular single blackjack would normally never be tolerated: you’d be shown the door and 86ed before you placed your second big bet! Further, single deck blackjack is not normally dealt out to 50% penetration (you’d be lucky to get three rounds dealt with three players, or worse two rounds with four players i.e., Rule of 6). But casinos, and the public at large, consider 6 to 5 blackjack generally unbeatable, and casino heat is very low. Creeping up your large bet spread slowly and quietly is a very plausible strategy (i.e. when the pit critters are not looking).

And as further evidence, consider what happens if you "wong" out all hands when the true count is less than zero. If you do this, then your edge increases to a whopping 0.9475%! Not all casinos will let you sit there and choose which hands to play, especially since this would mean not playing about 50% of the hands. But again you may find the surveillance on your game is very low with 6 to 5 blackjack payout, especially if you keep your session playing times under ½ hour.

Contrary to popular belief, 6 to 5 blackjack is beatable by expert card counters with the best rules and a very aggressive game plan. If you can find a casino with a 6 to 5 single deck blackjack payout, offset by generous rules and a tolerance for large bet spreads, then you might well have a beatable game on your hands.

This study shows how important it is for expert card counters to keep a powerful blackjack simulator in their arsenal of advantage play training tools. No table of blackjack simulation numbers is going to provide the insights into beating this game.