Blackjack is the most popular casino-banked card game in the world for several reasons. It offers a very low house edge compared with most other games on the casino floor and gives sufficiently skilled players the opportunity to negate the house advantage entirely through advanced techniques such as card counting. The simplicity of the rules and the fast pace of play further increase blackjack’s appeal.
Blackjack has greatly evolved over the years and is now available in dozens of variations, both online and offline. One of the most popular variants of this enticing card game is Atlantic City Blackjack, named after one of the biggest gambling hubs in the United States. Let’s take a brief look at the history of this exciting game.
The History of Atlantic City Blackjack
It all started in November 1976 when the state of New Jersey approved the introduction of regulated casino gambling within its borders. Legal gambling was restricted solely to Atlantic City, where the first land-based gambling venue, Resorts Atlantic City, opened its doors just a couple of years after the state’s legislators approved casino gaming. The iconic casino continues to operate at the same location, 1133 Boardwalk, to this day.
Atlantic City was a good choice for building a gambling hub, mainly because it sits in close proximity to major cities such as Philadelphia, Washington, DC, and New York. But to attract the attention of gamblers and become a worthy competitor to Las Vegas, Atlantic City needed to give traditional gambling a twist. This twist came in the form of a new blackjack game with better, more favorable rules than those in Sin City.
The History of Atlantic City Blackjack Additional TipsIt is fair to say the idea worked. These generous rules significantly reduced the house edge. This, in turn, attracted hordes of tourists and high rollers to Atlantic City’s glamorous casino floors. Sharp blackjack players and card counters did not hesitate to attack the favorable blackjack tables, and this is when things began to go downhill.
Now-legendary blackjack player Ken Uston was barred from Resorts International at the beginning of 1979. The reason? He used card counting and consistently beat the Atlantic City blackjack tables. Uston responded with a lawsuit, insisting that casino operators had no right to ban skilled patrons from playing on their premises simply because they were using their brains to win at blackjack. The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in favor of Uston and prohibited Atlantic City casinos from barring card counters.
To protect their profits and regain their edge, gambling venues responded with various rule adjustments to their blackjack games, such as increasing the number of decks in play, reducing penetration, imposing doubling and splitting restrictions, and decreasing the payouts for naturals, among other changes.
This was the beginning of the end for Atlantic City Blackjack until the first online casinos emerged on the scene in the mid-1990s. In fact, online gambling effectively preserved Atlantic City Blackjack and saved it from complete extinction. Major casino software developers like Microgaming and WGS created virtual variations of the game that abide by the original rules at the Atlantic City blackjack tables. Fans of the game can now enjoy it for free or for real money on their desktop computers and smartphones. Below are the rules of Atlantic City Blackjack.
Blackjack Atlantic City Gameplay
The Rules of Atlantic City Blackjack
Atlantic City Blackjack offers some of the most liberal rules a player could hope for. The number of decks in play is usually eight. The dealer receives one card face-up, and their second card is dealt face down. Even better, the dealer is required to stand on soft 17 instead of hitting it. This works to the advantage of the players and reduces the house edge of the game.
Since this is essentially a shoe game, players are dealt their cards face-up and are not allowed to touch them in land-based casinos. Atlantic City Blackjack offers very lenient rules when it comes to doubling down and splitting pairs. Just like the original game once offered in Atlantic City, players may double down on any two initial cards they choose.
Doubling after you split a pair is also permitted, which is yet another rule that significantly favors the player. Speaking of splitting, Atlantic City Blackjack gives you the chance to split any pair you like and resplit three times to form up to four hands. On a side note, we have noticed that the WGS variation of Atlantic City Blackjack does not allow you to split pairs of unlike ten-value cards. For instance, you can split two Queens but cannot split a Queen and a Jack.
| Rules for Popular Atlantic City Blackjack Variations | |
|---|---|
| Decks | 8 |
| Dealer Stands | Dealer stands on all 17 |
| Exposure | Dealer receives one card face-up and one face down |
| Double Down After a Split | Yes |
| Splitting | Allowed to up to four hands |
| Resplit of Aces | No |
| Split of Different-Valued 10s | No |
| Dealer Peeks | Yes |
| Insurance | Yes |
| Insurance Payout | 2 to 1 |
| Blackjack Payout | 3 to 2 |
| Late Surrender | Yes |
Rules of Atlantic City Blackjack Additional TipsThe player can split Aces no more than once. As usual, when a pair of Aces is split, each Ace receives one extra card, and you cannot hit the hand afterward. If you happen to catch a ten-value card on an Ace that has been previously split, your hand is treated as a regular, multiple-card 21, which pays even money (like all other non-busted hands except for the blackjacks themselves).
The favorable rules do not end here. The dealer peeks for blackjacks under their hole card when showing an Ace or a ten-value card. This is great for players because it saves them money on doubles and splits that would otherwise lose to the dealer’s blackjack.
When the dealer’s upcard is an Ace, players are offered the option to buy insurance, which pays at 2 to 1. The player also has the option of a late surrender against any dealer upcard, which is another advantage because it reduces losses on hands that are sure losers.
When the player and the dealer have the same hand total, they push. Blackjacks pay the standard rate of 3 to 2, which is a rarity in Atlantic City today, where players are paid at a reduced rate of 6 to 5 at many tables.
The House Edge in Atlantic City Blackjack
It is hardly a surprise this set of favorable rules yields an extremely low house edge, which is one of the reasons this blackjack variation is now a rarity in the city of its birth. An eight-deck game with a 3-to-2 blackjack payout, doubling on any two cards, doubling after a split, a peeking dealer who stands on soft 17, and late surrender yields a house edge of 0.39% with perfect basic strategy.
Each of the rules we listed above leads to a reduction in the house edge. A dealer who stands on soft 17 instead of hitting it takes away 0.22% from the casino’s advantage. Allowing doubling on any two-card hand also helps the player but reduces the house edge by only a small amount. You can further increase your profits against a weak dealer by doubling after splitting, which increases your advantage by around 0.14%.
House Edge in Atlantic City Blackjack Additional TipsThe late surrender is another useful rule which enables you to get half of your original bet back when you are dealt a hand that is certain to lose. You can take advantage of the late surrender option after the dealer checks their hole card for a blackjack.
The presence of the late surrender rule reduces the house edge by 0.08%. The peeking dealer also helps you a little as this rule increases your edge by around 0.11%. Yet, the biggest reduction in the house edge results from the 3-to-2 payout on blackjacks, which boosts the player’s advantage by 0.32%.
Here it is important to clarify that these rules lead to the reductions listed above only if the player uses perfect basic strategy. The latter tells you the optimal plays for all possible starting hands against all possible dealer upcards.
It comes in the form of a chart you are advised to memorize, but if you cannot learn all the playing decisions by heart, you can always consult the chart. This is very convenient, particularly when you are a member of an online casino where you can play at your own pace, taking the necessary time to find the correct plays in the chart.
Strategy for Atlantic City Blackjack
You can find a correct basic strategy chart for Atlantic City Blackjack online or generate one by using an online basic strategy engine. Some blackjack-focused websites feature such engines where you can adjust the rules so that they coincide with those of Atlantic City Blackjack.
You simply check the box where the dealer’s upcard and your hand total intersect to see the correct decision. Abbreviations are used to save space. “S” means stand, “H” means hit, “P” means split, “D” means double, and “R” corresponds to surrender, as three of the playing options begin with the letter “s”.
Note that certain decisions differ for the same player total, depending on whether the hand is soft or hard. Pairs are also treated separately, so the chart features a separate section for them. The order of decision making is as follows: surrender, split, double down, hit, stand. This is so because obviously you can surrender, double, and split only on starting totals consisting of two cards. If you take a hit, these three plays will no longer be an option.
These decisions are mathematically proven to be optimal so you should never deviate from them unless you count cards (which is impossible with random-number-generated online games where the shoe is reshuffled after every round). Here are several key strategy plays for Atlantic City Blackjack:
- Never buy insurance (this is a proposition bet with a massive house edge that has nothing to do with your original hand and does not improve its odds)
- Surrender 16 against dealer upcards 9, 10, and Ace
- Surrender 15 against a dealer upcard of 10
- Double down on all totals of 11 against dealer upcards 2 through 10
- Double down on totals of 10 against dealer upcards 2 through 9
- Double down on hard 9 against dealer upcards 3 through 6
- Double down on soft totals A-2 through A-7 against dealer upcards of 5 or 6
- Always stand on hard totals of 18 or higher
- Always hit hard totals of 4 through 8 (unless the cards are paired; there are separate decisions for some low pairs depending on the dealer upcard)
- Never split pairs of 5s and ten-value cards (such as 10-Q, 10-10, K-J, 10-J, and so on)
- Always split Aces and 8s
These are only a few key basic strategy decisions. There are many more that are less intuitive, so be sure to study the strategy chart closely before you sit down to play Atlantic City Blackjack online. The strategy cannot overturn the house edge entirely, but it reduces it to the point where you are playing an almost break-even game.