Best Blackjack Tables In Blackhawk

Blackjack is the most popular casino game in the world, and it can be played at dozens of tables in Colorado’s various gambling destinations. At any hour of the day, you can split 8s and double down to your heart’s content, with most tables offering a minimum bet of just $5. From 8-deck shoe games to hand pitch double-deck, fans of all variants will be able to find a table.

• Blackjack Strategy Chart
• Blackjack Betting Tables

1. Today there are 40 casinos in Black Hawk, Central City, and Cripple Creek Colorado. However, only around half of those casinos have blackjack tables. Some of the smaller casinos may offer blackjack on a slot machine. Blackjack games in Colorado vary. Casinos may pay the traditional 3:2 when a player is dealt a natural blackjack.
2. Blackjack games that pay 2-1 for a blackjack are very rare. Reason: A 2-1 payoff decreases the house edge by a whopping 2.3% (approximate), which often results in a game with an overall positive expectation for the basic strategy player.Casinos sometimes offer 2-1 BJ promotions for a limited period of time. If you hear of one, run (don’t walk) to the casino to take advantage of this.

Ameristar Black Hawk Blackjack Ameristar is the largest casino hotel in Black Hawk. Its gaming floor offers 15 blackjack tables in a rustic alpine lodge setting, the most of any casino in town. Ameristar has variants including Buffalo Blackjack and STREAK blackjack, and only offers shoe games, so fans of pitch games will want to look elsewhere. M Resort – Best Las Vegas Blackjack in 2020. M Resort retains its title as the home of the best.

Blackjack In Black Hawk

Black Hawk is Colorado’s mini-Vegas, with 15 casinos in close proximity. Not all casinos in Black Hawk have table games, but those that do all have at least a couple of blackjack tables. Rules vary by casino but are generally favorable. As in all Colorado casinos, the maximum bet per hand is $100.

Ameristar Black Hawk Blackjack

Ameristar is the largest casino hotel in Black Hawk. Its gaming floor offers 15 blackjack tables in a rustic alpine lodge setting, the most of any casino in town. Ameristar has variants including Buffalo Blackjack and STREAK blackjack, and only offers shoe games, so fans of pitch games will want to look elsewhere.

Isle Black Hawk Blackjack

With 14 blackjack tables circling the center of its newly renovated gaming floor, the Isle offers nearly as many spots to play as Ameristar. The Isle offers Buffalo Blackjack and has shoe games only. It’s connected by climate-controlled skywalk to its sister casino, Lady Luck.

Lady Luck Black Hawk Blackjack

Lady Luck Casino’s 1880s railroad-themed gaming floor has four blackjack tables to choose from. The Lady Luck offers $5 blackjack anytime with variants including Buffalo Blackjack. If you want to shake up the luck a little, Lady Luck’s sister casino The Isle is a short walk by a climate-controlled sky bridge.

Golden Gates Casino

The Golden Gates Casino’s main gaming floor is small, but what it lacks in size it makes up in variety. Golden Gates offers six-deck and double-deck pitch varieties of blackjack with the pair square bonus side bet spaced throughout its casino floor. Attentive drink service means you’ll never go thirsty while waiting for your next blackjack hand to be dealt.

Mardi Gras Casino Blackjack

The Mardi Gras Casino is the largest of its sister properties, Golden Gulch and Golden Gates, boasting a 12-table blackjack pit where the cards fall 24 hours a day. Minimum bets as low as $5 are typically offered day and night.

Gilpin Hotel Blackjack

The Gilpin Hotel Casino is a bit of a misnomer, as it no longer offers hotel rooms, but it still offers plenty of casino action. The Gilpin has four blackjack tables ready to play and is open to guests 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Lodge Casino Blackjack

The Lodge Casino has an impressive variety of blackjack varieties, with nine tables in all. With everything from $5 shoe games to a $25 minimum double-deck game to choose from, there’s a game for every player.

Monarch Casino Blackjack

At the gateway to Black Hawk by way of Colorado Highway 119 is the Monarch Casino. There are six blackjack games to choose from, including shoe games and a double-deck table that’s often just $10 minimum. Bet the bust bonus is offered at most tables.

Saratoga Casino Blackjack

Saratoga Casino opened in the original location of Fitzgerald’s Casino in 2013. It has nine blackjack tables, with varieties including Buffalo Blackjack Extreme and STREAK Blackjack. The Saratoga offers $5 minimum bets on table games every day.

Z Casino Blackjack

Opened in 2014 in the former location of Bullwhackers, the Z Casino features 36,000 square feet of gaming space with four blackjack tables in its Z Pit area. The Z Casino is part of the Z Family of casinos, which includes sister properties Grand Z and Johnny Z’s up the road in Central City.

Blackjack Variants in Black Hawk

In addition to standard 6- or 8-deck shoe games, Black Hawk casinos offer several variants, including:

• Buffalo Bonus Blackjack
• STREAK Blackjack
• Buffalo Blackjack Extreme
• Blackjack Pair Square Bonus
• Double-Deck Pitch

Blackjack in Central City

While Central City is more of a slots-focused casino town, a few casinos in town offer table games including blackjack.

Century Casino Blackjack

Century Casino in Central City is one of the two largest casinos in the city. It has more than 500 slots, and a handful of blackjack tables. Get in touch with the casino before visiting to make sure the tables will be open, they aren’t always open 24 hours a day. It’s also got a sister property in Cripple Creek of the same name about 2.5 hours south of Central City.

Blackjack Strategy Chart

Grand Z Casino Blackjack

The Grand Z is the other biggest casino in Central City, cutting a large figure on Gregory Street. It offers more than 700 slot machines and 14 table games, several of which are blackjack. Blackjack players are more likely to find 24/7 table action at the Grand Z, but if you’re going at odd hours or on an odd day it might make sense to call and confirm tables are up and running.

Blackjack in Cripple Creek

Colorado’s third gaming mecca is another former mining town, this time located about two hours south of Denver in Cripple Creek. Blackjack players will have no problem finding a table to pull up a chair at one of the following establishments.

Bronco Billy’s Blackjack

Bronco Billy’s is not only a great place to get a steak, it’s also got a selection of table games including blackjack.

Century Casino Blackjack

Sister property to Century Casino in Central City, the Century Casino Cripple Creek can be spotted by its bright neon lights. They also offer a number of table games including, of course, blackjack.

Midnight Rose Blackjack

Part of the same Triple Crown Casinos-owned complex that includes McGills and the Brass Ass, Midnight Rose has more than 300 slots, a poker room, and plenty of blackjack tables.

Double Eagle Hotel & Casino Blackjack

Located on historic E. Bennett Ave., the Double Eagle offers hundreds of slots spread out over two gaming floors, and live blackjack games.

Wildwood Casino Blackjack

Touted as “the highest casino in the world” with an altitude of 9,593 feet, Wildwood Casino is a bit off the beaten path, but the walk is worth it. They have a hotel, and a large casino floor with more than 500 slots and about a dozen table games, blackjack among them.

Blackjack Variants in Cripple Creek

Cripple Creek casinos have your usual 6- or 8-deck shoe blackjack games, bit the city offers several variants, including:

• Buffalo Bonus Blackjack
• Buffalo Bonus Blackjack 2
• Double-Up Blackjack
• Double-Deck Pitch

Online Casino Blackjack In Colorado

Colorado doesn’t offer online casino gambling, but sweepstakes casinos give players the chance to play casino games online for cash prizes.

Chumba Casino is one such platform available to players in Colorado. It’s the largest sweepstakes casino site in the U.S., where players will find a selection of slots and table games including blackjack.

Sweepstakes casinos operate a bit differently than regular casinos. They use so-called “sweeps coins” as a form of currency that can be played with or redeemed by players for cash prizes.

Play money games are played with “gold coins” — which players can purchase in packages. A certain amount of sweeps coins, also known as sweepstakes credits, are included with gold coins purchases as a gift, which can be used to play sweepstakes games at sites like Chumba Casino.

For example, a player can buy 5 million gold coins for $20, the purchase of which includes SC 20.50 as a gift. Those gold coins can be used for play money casino games, and the sweeps coins are used to play sweepstakes games.

Blackjack Betting Tables

Chumba Casino doesn’t offer an app, but it can be accessed directly through a web browser.

How To Play Blackjack

Blackjack’s popularity is in part due to giving knowledgeable players a fighting chance to win some money compared to most casino games. With a basic knowledge of how the game works and a casual understanding of the systems and strategies at play, players can cut significantly into the house edge. That means you can make your casino bankroll last a lot longer than you could playing roulette or slots.

Blackjack has been prominently featured in Hollywood movies like Rain Man, The Hangover, and 21, in which most of the winning strategies involve counting cards, which can get you kicked out of a casino. Even if you aren’t counting cards, if you’re patient and play wisely, you can still get a leg up on the house and win some serious money with a little luck on your side.

Blackjack is played against the dealer, who also deals themselves a hand, revealing only one card at first. The dealer opens the game by dealing two cards to everyone. Players examine their cards to decide if they want to hit, split, stand, or double down. Though there are several players at a table each one is playing the dealer individually. The object of blackjack is to beat the dealer’s total without going over 21, or to let the dealer “bust,” by going over 21 themselves.

Blackjack Table Layout

Blackjack Rules

The cards are counted and totaled as follows:

• 1-10 are worth face value
• J, Q, K are worth 10
• A is worth 1 or 11

There are seven possibilities for how a hand plays out once you are dealt your cards in blackjack:

• Blackjack! – This means you got dealt an ace with a 10, jack, queen, or king. Normally it pays 3-2 but this can vary depending on casino, type of game, and number of decks used. This is an automatic win unless the dealer also has a blackjack which means you tie, or push, and you do not win or lose your bet.
• Hit – This means you want another card. It’s commonly signaled by tapping the table with your fingers. You may also say “Hit me.” If you go over 21, you bust and your bet is lost.
• Stand – When you think your hand has a good chance at beating the dealer based on your cards and their up card, you indicate your desire to “stand,” or decline another card, by waving your hand over your cards with your palm parallel to the table.
• Double Down – This means you can double your wager after your first two cards are dealt, receiving only one more to improve your hand. The idea being the large number of cards valued 10 in the deck improve your odds of getting a total close to 21, particularly if you have a 9 or 10 and the dealer shows a weak “up” card (4, 5, 6). Casino rules vary in what combinations you’re allowed or not allowed to double down.
• Split – If your first two cards are a pair, you may “split” them and play them as two hands by placing a second bet equal to your first on the table. This is indicated for the dealer (and cameras) by spreading your pointer and index finger apart while pointing at the table. Most casinos allow you to double down after you split, but others don’t. You may hit as many times as you want on either hand after a split. If you go over 21 you bust and lose your wager on the busted hand only.
• Insurance – If the dealer’s up card is an ace, they will ask if you want insurance. For insurance, the player can bet up to half his original bet. If the dealer has blackjack, the insurance pays 2-1. If not, the player loses his insurance bet only and play continues as normal. Odds wise, insurance is considered a “sucker” bet, and you’ll rarely find a table where players take this option.
• Surrender – Many casinos do not allow the option to surrender. If the dealer has a strong card showing, a player can decide to surrender a hand and lose half of their bet, but only on their first two cards. This is signaled by simply saying “surrender” or by drawing an imaginary line on the table parallel to your body.

The Bottom Line About Colorado Blackjack

Blackjack is a lot of fun and usually played at a faster pace than most casino games. There is a basic strategy to Blackjack based on mathematical probabilities that is not difficult to master. Learning basic strategy significantly reduces the house edge, making it one of the more “fair” casino games.

There was a time that Las Vegas was flush with single deck blackjack games that paid 3-2 on an ace and a face. That is no longer the case. Most single deck blackjack games in Las Vegas only pay 6-5 on a natural.

El Cortez, located just east of the Fremont Street Experience downtown, is one of two casinos in Las Vegas that still spreads 3-2 single deck blackjack. The game is found at most of its tables. The minimum bet is usually $5, but peak hours may become $10. Players may double down on any two cards but not after splitting. The dealer hits soft 17. Split aces receive only one card each. Surrender is not permitted.

Silverton offers single deck blackjack. It is down to just one table at this locals’ casino located south of the Las Vegas Strip. The rules are a bit tighter here than they are at El Cortez. Players may only double down on 10 and 11 and not at all after splitting. The dealer hits soft 17. Re-split aces and surrender are not permitted. The minimum bet is usually $10.

Blackjack players willing to drive an hour will find a good single deck game in Mesquite. It is at Eureka Casino. Players may double down on any two cards and double after splitting. Like the Las Vegas single deck games, the dealer hits soft 17 and there is no surrender or re-split aces. The bet limits for this table are $10 to $100.

What Happened to 3-2 Single Deck Blackjack Games on the Vegas Strip?

Unlike real money blackjack tables online, there are very few 3-2 single deck blackjack games on the Las Vegas Strip these days. These casinos tightened up over the years. Single deck games became double deck or shoes with six or eight decks. The single deck games that remained started paying 6-5 on a natural.

Casinos bet on the fact that players would still give action to 6-5 single deck games with the attitude that they wouldn’t know how much that affected the odds or just not care. The belief among some gamblers was that 6-5 single deck is still better than a 3-2 game with more decks. Unless there are unusual rules, this is simply not the case.

What You Can Play Instead?

Players that do not have access to the 3-2 single deck games should choose double deck games. At Treasure Island, players will find a $10 double deck with double down before and after splitting. This game hits soft 17, however, for $25 the dealer stands on all 17’s. Most MGM properties offer the hit soft 17 game for $25 and stand on all 17 games for $50 or $100.

Single Deck Blackjack Games in Vegas

Even though there are no 3-2 single deck blackjack tables in Vegas, there are still plenty of one-deck tables. In this survey you will find all the casinos in Las Vegas that have single deck games.