Blackjack player everywhere should come to the defense of player-friendly rules that presently make Pennsylvania’s game so appealing.

The requirements that naturals be paid at 3-to-2, that the dealer stand on soft 17, and that casinos offer late surrender, could be at risk in coming weeks.

Now is the time to speak out.

The rules for blackjack (and every other table game) are up for review by the Gaming Control Board in Pennsylvania over the next few months.

When the Legislature approved table games in January 2010, the Gaming Control Board was given the authority to set temporary rules so games could be started as quickly as possible, said director of communications Douglas Harbach.

Those regulations expire after two years, and the board has started the move toward permanent rules. For example, it recently addressed design and storage requirements for dice, cards, and other equipment.

Last year, the board wisely rejected industry requests to launch table games with weak blackjack rules.

Mohegan Sun, Pocono Downs, Parx, and Sands Bethlehem jointly asked that casinos be allowed to determine whether the dealer should hit or stand on soft 17.

Having the dealer hit soft 17 "is an important business practice that directly impacts the revenue potential of the gaming operation," said a February 2010 letter from the casinos to the board. "Without such flexibility, operators will be unable to maximize gross table game revenue."

Translation: Let us siphon more money from the players.

ShuffleMaster Inc. asked the board to allow 6-to-5 payouts on blackjack games using six decks or more. I believe that would cover every game in the state.

You can bet that after seven months of enticing people with player-friendly rules, the industry is itching to tighten the game in hopes of increasing its take. Anthony Curtis of Las Vegas Advisor and Michael Shackleford, the "Wizard of Odds," predicted months ago that Pennsylvania’s rules would be weakened.

Gaming Control Board spokesperson Richard McGarvey said he did not know when the board would review blackjack rules. He said the 6-to-5 payout and soft 17 rules could come up, "but just because the request comes in doesn’t mean we'd accept it."

Under current rules, players who adhere to basic strategy in Pennsylvania games face a house advantage of less than 0.4 percent, according to WizardOfOdds.com. Changing the blackjack payout and the soft 17 rule would increase the edge to about 1.9 percent -- almost five times what it is now.

Moreover, the low house edge applies only to the relatively few players who make the mathematically correct move on each hand. Most players routinely make errors that increase the casino edge.

Bill Zender, a gaming consultant and former casino executive, wrote in the April 2009 issue of the trade publication Casino Enterprise Management that player errors add 0.83 percent to the house edge. Zender wrote that he studied blackjack players in seven casinos across four states and found they misplayed "more than one hand in 10."

Therefore, for most blackjack players in Pennsylvania casinos, the house advantage already is close to 1.2 percent. That "little" advantage adds up to a lot of money quickly for the casinos’ most popular table game.

The Gaming Control Board should not consider changing one of the game’s most basic rules: that naturals pay 3-to-2.

Allowing 6-to-5 would be a slap in the face to all players, regardless of their blackjack knowledge.

The casino industry has lawyers and lobbyists to get its message to the people who make the rules. However, the players, who supply the millions of dollars the casinos and state divvy up, have no formal organization to speak on their behalf.

Since my January column on this topic in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Gaming Control Board has received about 20 comments, even though no blackjack regulations have been proposed, McGarvey said.

Tell the Gaming Control Board to ban 6-to-5, and to keep S17 and late surrender.

Help keep Pennsylvania’s game fair for the players.