Blackjack
Six decks. Dealer stands on soft 17. Naturals pay 3:2. The best-odds table on the main floor if you know what you're doing.
The rules Lucky's uses
- Shoe: 6 decks, shuffled between shoes.
- Naturals: pay 3:2 (a $100 bet on a natural pays $150).
- Dealer: stands on all 17s, including soft 17.
- Double: allowed on any two cards. Double after split allowed.
- Split: up to three times (four hands). Aces split once, one card each.
- Surrender: late surrender available.
- Insurance: offered when the dealer shows an ace. Pays 2:1.
House edge
With these rules and correct basic strategy the house edge is roughly 0.4% – 0.5%. That is the best odds you will find anywhere in the building. In practice most players give back an extra 1–2% by playing hunches, refusing to double when they should, or taking insurance.
Basic strategy — the short version
- Hit anything 8 or lower. Stand on hard 17 or higher.
- Hard 12 to 16 vs a dealer 2 – 6: stand. Vs 7 – A: hit.
- Double 11 always. Double 10 vs 2 – 9. Double 9 vs 3 – 6.
- Always split aces and 8s. Never split 5s or 10s.
- Never take insurance. Never. It is a sucker bet at 2:1.
In-game quirks
The dealer at Lucky's is one of the game's recurring characters. Some dealers have tells — a companion with high Logic will spot them and tell you. Card counting works: the shoe is shuffled between shoes, not between hands, and you can track the running count if you have the stat for it. Get too obvious about it and the pit boss will tap you out.
Big pot warning: winning a hand for more than $50,000 in a single settlement always spikes Suspicion. If you're counting and the true count is with you, spread carefully.