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GameMaster Rating: 85 points (of 100) General Comments: : We first reviewed this casino when it was open only for 'play-money' gaming, but it's now open for real-money play and things have changed some. Though I did not play here for real $$$, some of our readers have and they've been kind enough to give me some excellent feedback. This site used to be a satellite site for Virtual Vegas.com, but it was sold by them some time ago for an astounding $400,000+ and has been converted into an Internet casino. A lot of $$$ has gone into this, above and beyond the cost of the URL, since the software is obviously proprietary to this operation and it's very well done. Formatted in "Flash", no download is required, though users will need the Flash 4.0 plug-in which is available at the casino's web site, free of charge. Blackjack is the name (literally!) of the game here; there are no other casino games available at the current time. The good games which earned Blackjack.com a high initial score from us have rapidly degraded, though they still have some exceptional games available. But they seem to be constantly "tweaking" things here, so you really need to verify the rules of each game before you bet a penny. That's pretty easy to do fortunately, since no download is required. The complaints we've received from readers who have visited this site center mostly around unresponsive customer service personnel. That and the continual changes in their game rules are likely a result of "growing pains", but it becomes less and less of an excuse as time goes on. There is not a toll-free phone number for support services listed on the site, but they do have "real-time" chat available. Recommendations: All the games are dealt from six-deck shoes, so it would be nice to see some single- or double-deckers, especially on those which are meant to emulate the Las Vegas "downtown" and Reno games. In fact, most of the games bear little resemblance to their real-life, namesake counterparts. It doesn't it really matter, since the smart player will go to the game with the best rules, regardless of its name, but it seems a lot of effort went into this and it's too bad that they didn't pay more attention to details like that. The casino does claim that 22-25% of the cards are dealt out before shuffling, but in my play I never saw that happen. If they are, indeed, offering "penetration", it would be nice to know when the shuffle occurs.
Games Analysis (All this information was correct on the date listed above) Blackjack:: There are seven different games available and each is described under its respective heading. Limits for all games are either $5-$100 or $25-$500, depending upon the table chosen. Two sidebets, Over and Under 13 and Super 7s (they call it "Lucky 7"), are available at all but one game. The limits are either $5, 50% of the bet or 100% of the bet in the case of the O/U13 option and $1 for the Super 7s bet. Las Vegas Strip: Six decks, dealer stands on A-6, double on any first two cards and double after split is permitted. Split pairs once and split Aces receive only one card. Early surrender versus an Ace, but late against a 10. Insurance is available. The casino claims 22% penetration. The O/U13 and Super 7s bet is available. Las Vegas Downtown: Six decks, dealer stands on A-6, double on any first two cards and double after split is permitted. Split pairs once and split Aces receive only one card. Early surrender versus an Ace, but late against a 10. Insurance is available. The casino claims 22% penetration. The O/U13 and Super 7s bet is available. Reno: Six Decks, dealer stands on A-6, double only on 10 and 11 and double after split is not permitted. Split pairs once and split Aces receive only one card. Early surrender versus an Ace, but late against a 10. Insurance is available. They claim 22% penetration. The O/U13 and Super 7s bet is available. Atlantic City: Six decks, dealer hits A-6, double on any first two cards and double after split is permitted. No surrender. Split pairs once and split Aces receive only one card. Insurance is available. They claim 22% penetration. The O/U13 and Super 7s bet is available. Blackjack.com House: Six decks, dealer hits A-6, double on any first two cards and double after split is permitted. Split pairs to create up to four hands and split Aces receive only one card. Late surrender and insurance is available. Some minor bonuses are available, (suited 6,7,8 pays 2:1, etc.), but one important bonus is a 2 to 1 pay for a 5-card winning hand which totals 21. This adds about 0.20% to the player's edge, if it's properly used. They claim 25% penetration. European: Six decks, dealer hits A-6, double on any first two cards and double after split is permitted. Split pairs once and split Aces receive only one card. Early surrender versus 10 and Ace. Insurance is available. The dealer does not take a hole card until the player's hand is finished and all bets are lost if he gets a Blackjack. They claim 25% penetration. The O/U13 and Super 7s bet is available. Double Exposure: 6 decks, dealer hits A-6, double only 9,10,11, no double after split. Pairs may be split once and split Aces receive only one card. Insurance is not available. The dealer's hole card is exposed and in return for that, the dealer wins all ties, and Blackjacks pay even money. The O/U13 and Super 7s bet is available. All games have a betting limit of $5-$100 or $25 to $500. Blackjack playing tips: Obviously, you should play only at the Las Vegas "Strip" or "Downtown" games, since they offer the best rules to the player who uses proper Basic Strategy. Maybe someone can tell me why they'd play at any other game, since they're all six decks. Would you give up a good portion of your edge to pretend you're in Reno or in Europe? I don't think so. If you'd like the proper playing strategy for the 5-card 21 bonus, it's covered in Stanford Wong's book, "Professional Blackjack." For more information on the two side bets, see below. Lucky 7 side bet: This is what's otherwise known as "Super 7s" (which is, I suppose, trademarked, so they can't use that name) and it's basically a sucker bet. If the first card of your hand is a 7, you win $3 and get your $1 bet back. There's a pay schedule for other permutations, like 2 unsuited sevens, 2 suited, etc. which ranges up to $5000 for 3 suited sevens. Don't get too excited, because the odds of that happening are 1 in 50,000. The casino's edge on this bet is over 10%. That said, if there's any penetration here, the bet gets to even when there are two extra 7s remaining in the decks to be played. For example, if one full deck has been dealt and only one 7 has come out, the "Lucky 7" bet has a small positive expectation. But remember that the maximum bet is $1, so even with a 10% edge, you'll only make a dime. What's fun to do here is to make the buck bet when they're are two or more "extra" 7s in the deck and hope that you'll hit one of the big ones. In the long, long run, that's about a break-even deal. Over and Under 13: This is a much more serious bet, but it requires some penetration in order to be exploitable. The casino's edge on this bet for the non-counter is 6% on the Over bet and more than 10% on the Under bet. But, if a player who uses the Hi/Lo counting sytems bets the Over at a True Count of 3 or more (on a 6-deck game) and bets the under at a True Count of -5 or larger (also in a 6-deck game), an edge can be gained. That edge increases by 2.1% for every increase of 1 in the True Count. An even better way to go after this bet is to use a special count called the "Crush Count" for it. You can get complete details in Stanford Wong's book, "Professional Blackjack". Summary and Rating for Blackjack.com: Since the book "Beatwebcasinos.com" came out, I've become much more sensitive to the potential pitfalls of playing at casinos with proprietary software and, just because this place looks good, it doesn't automatically mean that it's a good place to risk your $$$. Games with good rules are important to us, but so is a feeling of some security which this casino does little to provide. So, we currently rate Blackjack.com at 85 points.
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