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BLACKJACK IN PENNSYLVANIA:
SUMMARY OF PLAYING RULES
By Mark Gruetze
Mark Gruetze writes the weekly "Player's Advantage" gambling column for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review in Pennsylvania. He has been a skilled recreational casino player for more than 30 years, focusing on blackjack, video poker, and poker. E-mail questions or comments to: players@tribweb.com.
Pennsylvania’s casinos offer more advantageous blackjack rules than do most casinos in Las Vegas. However, an abundance of continuous shuffling machines reduces the appeal of the new blackjack-table games for card counters.
Table games in the Keystone State went live in July, with the state setting detailed rules that apply to all casinos.
Most importantly for blackjack players, the Gaming Control Board stipulates that naturals be paid at 3-to-2. Other player-friendly rules include:
- Dealer stands on soft 17
- Players may double on any two cards
- Double after split is allowed
- Late surrender is allowed
- Pairs may be resplit to a maximum of three hands
- Aces may not be resplit
According to wizardofodds.com, the above playing rules yield a modest house advantage of 0.36 percent on the eight-deck game and 0.34 percent on six-deckers against basic strategy players.
Kevin O’Toole, executive director of the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, said regulators looked at other gambling jurisdictions in determining rules. "Surprisingly, to some people, there’s a lot of variety in the rules (of blackjack)," O’Toole said. "We tried to take what we felt was the best program. Not every jurisdiction mandates surrender, for example."
O’Tolle said the rules could be reviewed after a few months of live gaming. Casinos could also petition the board to reconsider rules such as standing on soft 17 or even allowing a 6-to-5 payment on blackjacks.
The Gaming Control Board regulations also state that card counting is legal in Pennsylvania as long as a device is not used.
With the Sept. 23 opening of SugarHouse in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania has 10 casinos. They include...
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