Typically, compared to a single deck game, the two-decker handicaps your play by 0.35%, with four decks it’s 0.48%, six decks 0.54%, and eight decks 0.58%. So, given the choice, I would normally recommend playing on a game with the smallest number of decks.

Furthermore, Howard, blackjacks, which pay 3 for 2 (a payoff of $3 for every $2 wagered), occur more frequently on single deck games than on multi-deck games. To illustrate this, let’s say your first card is an Ace. On a single deck game, 16 of the remaining 51 cards, or 31.37 percent, are the face or 10-value cards that would complete your blackjack. On a six-deck game, 96 of the remaining 311 cards, or 30.87 percent, would give you your blackjack.

So, the casual blackjack player who reads what I just penned thinks they’re getting a bargain when they happen upon a single deck blackjack game. If Pilarski said that a single deck blackjack game offers the best odds for the player, it’s gotta be true.

Oops, there’s itsy bitsy fine print to read first. The above statement is simply NOT always true, especially when it comes to a 6 to 5 game (a payoff of $6 for every $5 wagered). I’m pot heavy figuring that there’s a snowball’s chance that this game the casino reintroduced is anything but. Watch.

The house advantage on a normal single deck game is 0.18%, (“normal” meaning getting the maximum value for a blackjack, i.e. a game that pays 3 to 2). The 6 to 5 game has a house advantage of 1.45%, more than eight times the advantage the casino has on a normal single deck game, plus, it’s almost triple the house edge the casino carries on an eight deck shoe.

The arithmetic affecting your wallet concurs. If the player gets paid 3/2 on a blackjack on a $20 bet, the player gets paid $30. If the player gets paid 6 to 5 on a $20 bet, he gets paid only $24 for a blackjack.

Although a decreased payout of $6 per blackjack might seem bearable to some, with play at normal speed you can see as many as five blackjacks per hour. So being shorted $30 an hour is more moolah gone bye-bye that I’m ever willing to live with.

-By Mark Pilarski