I first visited Atlantic City in May 2018. At that time, there were only seven open casinos in the market.
Caesars Entertainment owned three of the seven open properties. Those were Bally’s, Caesars (which includes Wild Wild West) and Harrah’s. The other survivors were Borgata, Golden Nugget, Resorts and Tropicana.
Ocean Resort and Hard Rock Casino had not yet opened. Both are open now. Bally’s has since changed hands, while Tropicana became part of Caesars Entertainment.
Ocean Resort and Hard Rock knew that they would need to offer great games to be competitive in the declining Atlantic City market. Ocean Resort was the failed Revel. Hard Rock was Trump Taj Mahal, which had been closed for two years.
New competition had to work harder for players
Both of the newest Atlantic City casinos worked hard to attract players. This included upgraded blackjack rules and competitive video poker. This seemed to have worked, as Hard Rock and Ocean Resort are now in second and third place, respectively, for Atlantic City casino gaming revenues. Borgata leads the market.
Hard Rock and Ocean Resort seem like the key to loosening up some games in Atlantic City. The competition from nearby markets already existed.
It all started with blackjack
Hard Rock and Ocean Resort brought surrender and re-split aces into three hands into the Atlantic City market. Before their openings, this could only be done at Spanish 21 tables.
During my May 2018 Atlantic City visit, I counted 37 blackjack tables that paid 6:5. All were shoe games at Caesars Entertainment properties, except one single deck table at Golden Nugget. During our visit three years later, we only counted three 6:5 Atlantic City blackjack tables. These were in the back of a pit at Harrah’s. They were not open on a Friday night.
When Bally’s changed hands, it began allowing re-split aces to three hands. That is now four hands for a total of three times. Surrender was added at Bally’s blackjack.
Re-split aces one time and surrender are also permitted at Golden Nugget’s six-deck game. Aces may be re-split one time at the six-deck game at Harrah’s, as well as all blackjack games at Resorts and Wild Wild West.
Most blackjack tables that stand on soft 17 were $100 during my 2018 visit. Today, it can be played for $25 on the casino floor at several casinos, like Bally’s, Borgata, Ocean and Resorts. Several other casinos deal it for $50 during the week. Only Harrah’s requires $100 for this game 24/7.
Compare that to Las Vegas
There are no Las Vegas blackjack tables that stand on all 17’s on a casino floor. All are in high limit salons. The minimum bet is $50 for this game at Treasure Island, M Resort and Sahara. It is at least $100 at any other Las Vegas casino.
Six Las Vegas Strip casinos do not offer any stand on soft 17 blackjack games. Those properties are Bally’s, Circus Circus, Excalibur, Linq, Luxor and New York-New York. Bally’s and Circus Circus don’t even have a 3:2 blackjack game. It is not dealt 24 hours at several others.
Atlantic City craps odds
Five times is the standard Atlantic City craps odds. The new ownership at Bally’s decided to go to 10 times odds. Golden Nugget also has 10 times odds at some craps tables.
About 10 years ago, Bally’s and Wild Wild West offered 100 times craps odds in Atlantic City. That went away as Boardwalk casinos closed in the early 2010’s, leaving less competition.
All but one Las Vegas Strip casino has 3-4-5 times odds. Only two Atlantic City casinos cap odds at that amount.
Las Vegas Strip casinos have one craps edge over Atlantic City. The field pays triple on 12 at about half of those casinos. All Atlantic City casinos pay double.
Atlantic City roulette is a better value than Las Vegas
One roulette perk that Atlantic City has always had is la partage on its double zero roulette tables. If a player places an even money bet, and the ball lands on 0 or 00, half of the bet is returned. This is available at all double zero roulette tables in the market, regardless of limit. You can find Atlantic City roulette as low as $10.
In Las Vegas, the la partage rule is only found at European Roulette. This is a single zero variant that is found in a few high limit rooms on the Strip and at Red Rock Resort. The minimum bet is usually at least $100.
Triple zero roulette is nowhere to be found in Atlantic City. In our last survey, we counted 31 Las Vegas casinos with the game. At O’Sheas, the only roulette game dealt is triple zero.
There are 29 Las Vegas Strip casinos with table games. Encore and Sahara are the only two that do not deal any triple zero roulette, as of our March 2022 survey.
Every Atlantic City high limit room has single zero roulette. These tables do not have la partage like the double zero tables on the floor do. The minimum bet for these games tend to be $50 or $100. Most Las Vegas high limits rooms do not offer roulette.
Atlantic City video poker is far superior to the Las Vegas Strip
Atlantic City video poker is superior to what is found on the Las Vegas Strip. The best game is at Hard Rock. It is full pay Double Joker at the $1 and $2 denominations, according to VPFree2. That game returns 99.97% with perfect play. It was added to the Hard Rock casino floor earlier this year.
Seven of the nine Atlantic City casinos deal a video poker game that is full pay Jacks or Better or returns better than its 99.54%. The two that do not have at least a 99% game. Three Atlantic City casinos have a 99% quarter game.
Las Vegas Strip video poker is atrocious, especially at denominations below $5. The best quarter video poker game that I have found returns 98.6%. Most are 96% and 97% games. There are few 99% games available at the $1 denomination on the Las Vegas Strip.
Atlantic City is surrounded by competition
Atlantic City must try harder for its players. Every state that borders it has full-service casinos. Pennsylvania codifies blackjack rules that include a 3:2 payout, surrender and the dealer standing on soft 17. That means Atlantic City casinos must come close to mirroring these rules to attract serious blackjack players from Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania casinos do not deal triple zero roulette. State gaming regulations require all roulette to be single or double zero. We did not find any single zero roulette tables during our May 2021 visit to all Pennsylvania casinos.
Other nearby casino states are less competitive. Two Maryland casinos have triple zero roulette, as of May 2021. Three deal 6:5 blackjack. Delaware casinos stand on all 17s at blackjack and pay 3:2. None have triple zero roulette.
The Las Vegas Strip is littered with 6:5 blackjack games and triple zero roulette. Nearby states do not have generous blackjack rules. Two don’t have blackjack at all. Las Vegas Strip casinos also do not worry about providing value to lower limit players, perhaps because it is not required to draw players.