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PENNSYLVANIA BLACKJACK ROUNDUP
by Mark Gruetze
Mark Gruetze has been a skilled recreational casino player for more than 30 years, focusing on blackjack, video poker, and poker.
Pennsylvania is cementing its stature as a gambling powerhouse with attractive blackjack rules.
Although its first legal casino opened only six years ago and table games were not added until 2010, the state already has dethroned neighboring New Jersey for the country’s No. 2 spot in gambling revenue. Pennsylvania posted $3.16 billion in gambling revenue for 2012, compared with New Jersey’s $3 billion. Through the first eight months of this year, Pennsylvania gambling revenue totaled $2.13 billion while New Jersey had $1.97 billion, according to state gaming regulators.
The American Gaming Association ranked three Pennsylvania areas among the top 20 American casino markets for gambling revenue in 2012: Philadelphia at No. 6, the Poconos at No. 9, and Pittsburgh/North Strabane at No. 17. The association tabbed Philadelphia as the country’s No. 1 racetrack casino market, while a track just south of Pittsburgh was No. 9, and one near Harrisburg was No. 10.
The state’s population, the sixth highest in the country, plays a key factor in those statistics, but several player-friendly rules put Pennsylvania’s blackjack games among the best in the country:
- All naturals must pay 3-to-2.
- Dealer must stand on Soft 17.
- Late surrender.
- Doubling after a split is allowed.
Those rules apply to each blackjack game at each casino in the state. So a red-chip bettor in Erie plays under the same rules as a purple-chip bettor in Philadelphia.
Six- and eight-deck games are the norm, with many tables using CSMs. The Sands appears to be the only casino offering a double-deck game. With Pennsylvania rules, a basic-strategy player faces a house advantage of less than 0.4 percent with six or eight decks, according to the blackjack edge calculator at
www.WizardOfOdds.com. At a double-deck game, the house advantage falls to 0.13 percent, and the player would enjoy a 0.2 percent advantage in a single-deck game.Among the few rules variations allowed among casinos are the number of times pairs may be resplit and whether a player spreading to multiple spots must play above the table minimum. Typically, casinos do not allow resplitting of Aces, while other pairs may be resplit once for a total of three hands. Many casinos allow players to play two spots at the table minimum.
Pennsylvania has 12 casinos, with their locations selected to minimize encroachment on each other’s player pool. Six have harness or horse-racing tracks attached; four are free-standing casinos; and two are "resort" casinos, meaning they’re small and open only to resort guests or people willing to spend at least $10 on food or other items to enter the gaming area.
The Gaming Board is considering six applications for the license to operate the state’s last planned large casino, which will be built in Philadelphia. Regulators expect the casino will not open for at least two or three years, depending on how long the licensing procedure takes and on expected court challenges no matter which applicant is chosen. In addition, one racetrack casino license remains to be awarded.
Here’s a look at Pennsylvania casinos...
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