Blackjack at the Las Vegas Hilton

You might not think of the Las Vegas Hilton as a locals' place, but compared with other big casinos on and near the Strip, it does a lot to appeal to Las Vegas area residents.

For one thing, locals get a "Hometown Hot Spot" sticker on their players cards entitling them to 25 percent off at all restaurants in the hotel.

The games at the Hilton are a notch above those found on the Strip, especially for lower-denomination players. Several video poker games, including 9/6 Jacks or Better and 16/10 Deuces Wild ("Not So Ugly Deuces") return more than 99-1/2 percent with perfect play. The best video poker is found in the Sports Book.

In recent years the blackjack at the Hilton has been, at best, mixed. A six-deck shoe game with surrender was offered with a $5 or $10 minimum, but usually only on one or two tables. Double deck was available, at $25 minimum, but with doubling after split not allowed. There were often numerous tables of single-deck 21 paying only 6-to-5 for blackjack, a rip-off game that's also found in many Strip casinos.

On recent visits to the Hilton, I found several tables of the good shoe game with a $10 minimum. I also found that the double deck rules had changed to allow doubling after split, resplitting aces -- and surrender. To the best of my knowledge, this is the only double deck game in Vegas with a full 3-to-2 payoff for blackjacks in which surrender is allowed.

For those not familiar with this rule, it allows players, after receiving their first two cards -- let's say a 10 and a six against a dealer's 10 -- to fold, and keep half their bet. I always surrender a 16 (except a pair of eights) against a dealer's ace, 10 or nine, and any 15 against a dealer's 10.

This double deck game is available with a minumum of as low as $10, compared with $25 for decent double deck on the Strip. At least it was on a recent weeknight. On a weekend day, the minimum was $25.

It's good to see the Hilton bucking the trend of making games worse for players, and taking on the locals' casinos for the blackjack business of players who appreciate rules that give them the best chance against the house.

Welcome

Welcome to Vegas off the Strip, a blog about all things Vegas with an emphasis on what's going on at the locals' casinos throughout the Las Vegas Valley.

My wife and I first visited Vegas about five years ago. After weeks of research in our attempt to find the perfect low-cost place to stay, we decided on the Orleans, a big locals' casino not far from the Strip. We loved it so much, while walking through the casino at one point I said to my spouse, "I feel like demanding to see a manager -- to tell him how fabulous this place is!"

We moved to the Vegas area about 2-1/2 years ago and settled near the Boulder Strip. We soon became regulars at Sunset Station and Sam's Town. We explored the gamut of locals' casinos throughout the Las Vegas Valley, finding much to like in places as disparate as Red Rock and Ellis Island.

Although we occasionally visit the Strip and downtown, most of our gambling, dining and entertainment is at the locals' places, which in general provide better gambling and better value overall than the big Strip places.

It's my goal with this blog to provide in this blog information on gambling, comps, dining, entertainment and shopping to help visitors and locals alike get more out of their time in Las Vegas. If you have information that others might find useful, please contribute. Thanks!