Vegas Downtown Blackjack Explained

This variation on classic blackjack gets its name from the fact that it’s mostly popular in downtown Las Vegas. It’s also widely available at online casinos like Betiton UK where it firmly stays as a player favourite.

Despite a few important differences regarding some of the game’s rules, the core of the game is largely the same as the original blackjack. Your goal is always to beat the dealer with a higher hand value than theirs without exceeding a total of 21. The usual options to hit, stand, double, or split are allowed.

Vegas Downtown Blackjack Rules

The rules of Vegas Downtown Blackjack real money games are straightforward to learn. What makes the rules of this version different from the classic blackjack game are the dealer’s rules and the rules for splitting and doubling down, as explained below:

Vegas Downtown Blackjack is a double deck game. Two standard 52-card decks are used to play.
The dealer must stand on a hard 17. However, they must hit until they reach a soft 17.
Doubling down is allowed on any initial cards.
Doubling down is also allowed after splitting.
Splitting may be done up to three times on the same hand.
The dealer peeks for blackjack if their face up card is an Ace.
You can only play one bet position. You can’t play multiple hands.
Like regular blackjack, if your hand’s total value exceeds 21, you bust and are out of the game.

How to Play Vegas Downtown Blackjack?

I’ve summarised the steps required to play the best Blackjack Vegas Downtown tables at online casinos here:

Place your bet to join the game. Remember to check the table’s minimum and maximum betting limits beforehand.
With bets in place, the dealer will deal two cards to every player and two to themselves.
The players’ cards are all dealt facing up, while one of the dealer’s cards is dealt facing down.
If the dealer gets an Ace, they’ll check for blackjack. If they do, they win the round before players play their hand. In this case, you can only win if you’re dealt a natural (Ace and 10).
If they don’t have blackjack, every player plays their hand.
When every player is finished playing their hand, the dealer reveals their hole card.
The results are determined.

Vegas Downtown Blackjack Charts

You may have heard that using basic strategy is one of the best ways to play blackjack and ensure the highest odds of winning. This can also be applied to Vegas Downtown Blackjack, but you must use a specific basic strategy chart.

You can find a Vegas Downtown Blackjack free strategy chart online. This will provide the best move for any two initial cards, always considering the dealer’s card. Take a look at my most useful tips for reading and using a strategy chart for this blackjack game.

Find a basic strategy chart for a double deck game with the no surrender rule.
The dealer’s face up card is always in a single row at the top.
The column on the left is the player’s hand.
Find your hand total on the left and the dealer’s card at the top to see whether you should hit, stand, double, or split.

Vegas Downtown Blackjack Payouts

Downtown Las Vegas Blackjack payouts are the same as those on most American blackjack tables. For those readers who might not be familiar with the blackjack paytable, we’ll provide a quick recap.

If your blackjack hand has a higher total value than the dealer’s (21 or lower), you win the game and get a payout of 1:1. This is the standard payout for winning blackjack this way. If the first two cards you’re dealt are an Ace and any card worth 10 points, you’ll get a payout of 3:2. This is known as a natural andworth the highest payout possible in blackjack.

The House Edge in Vegas Downtown Blackjack

The house edge in blackjack refers to the casino’s advantage. The casino always has an advantage, but it’s different for every casino game. Vegas Downtown Blackjack is similar to classic blackjack but has a lower house edge of around 0.38% with perfect basic strategy.

Compared to the average 0.5% house edge in most blackjack games (with basic strategy), it might not seem like a major difference, but it will still influence your odds of beating the dealer. Although it’s a minor difference, choosing the blackjack game with the lowest possible house edge is always in your best interest.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Vegas Downtown Blackjack

Is Vegas Downtown Blackjack better than the standard version of the game? Most players would agree that it’s one of the best blackjack variants due to the lower house edge and more favourable rules. However, you might want to consider all the advantages and disadvantages below to decide if this ends up on the best or worst blackjack games list.

➕ Advantages	➖ Disadvantages
✅ Vegas Downtown Blackjack has a lower house edge than standard blackjack.	❌ The dealer hits on a soft 17 (Ace and a 6) and only stands when they reach a hard 17. Dealer hits on soft 17.
✅ The rules are straightforward and fairly easy to understand, so you can learn how to play this game quickly.	❌ Only one bet position is allowed in Vegas Downtown Blackjack.
✅ Re-splitting is allowed up to three times.	❌ It’s not the best blackjack variant for complete beginners to the game.
✅ You can double on any two initial cards.
✅ It’s an ideal variant for card counters because only two decks are used.

Vegas Downtown Blackjack vs Vegas Strip Blackjack

Vegas Downtown Blackjack is similar to another variant called Vegas Strip Blackjack, which is also quite popular at online casinos. Some of the blackjack rules apply to both variations, but there are some significant differences, which we’ve compared in the table below.

♠️ Vegas Downtown Blackjack	🃏 Vegas Strip Blackjack
You can only play one bet position.	The same rule applies in this variant.
Two decks are used to play.	Four decks of cards are used.
The dealer hits on soft 17.	The dealer stands on soft 17.
Doubling down is allowed on any hand.	The same doubling down rules apply.
Splitting and re-splitting are allowed.	The same splitting and re-splitting rules apply.

Why Play Vegas Downtown Blackjack?

If we compare Vegas Downtown Blackjack to other well-known variants of this classic casino card game, it’s clear that this is one of the best versions you can play. This blackjack game has one of the lowest house edges, thanks to the flexible rules regarding doubling your initial bet and splitting your cards.

The only downside of this version is that the dealer hits until they reach a hard 17, whereas, in most games, they stand on a soft 17. Besides that, the easy-to-follow rules and low house edge make it a variant worth checking out.

Frequently Asked Questions About Vegas Downtown Blackjack

Vegas Downtown Blackjack is a double-deck game with some variations on the standard rules; most notably, the dealer stands on a hard 17 (instead of the usual soft 17).

In Vegas Downtown Blackjack, you get two face up cards from the dealer, and it’s up to you to play your cards to get as close to 21 as possible to beat the dealer. Like all blackjack tables, an element of chance also plays a significant role in your odds of winning.

With basic strategy, Vegas Downtown Blackjack has a house edge of about 0.38%.

Some important differences in this blackjack variant are that the dealer hits on soft 17, doubling is allowed on any two initial cards, and splitting can be done up to three times.

The payouts in Las Vegas Downtown Blackjack are the regular blackjack payouts. A natural pays 3:2, while a regular blackjack win pays 1:1 (even money).

Vegas Downtown Blackjack Guide