Learn Blackjack Video Source & Info:
In some regions of the US, Casinos charge a fee for every hand of blackjack you play. Should you avoid these casinos, or can these games still be beaten? In this video, Colin covers all you need to know about paying an ante to play blackjack.
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A little history for you. You mentioned San Miguel like 15 years ago. Back before prop 5 passed, (in California) the redskin casinos were not allowed to bank their own games. So they charged 50 cents per hand, this was the only money they took in and was used to run the casino. The money they took in from players loosing went into a pool. Since the casino has an edge the pool would continue to grow so they would get rid of the money by offering prizes, such as you would win $500 if you got 3 blackjacks in a row, or $300 if you got 3 suited sevens. After prop 5, they were allowed to rip people off just like a vegas casino so the antes went away. BTW, they didn't all it an Ante, it was called a collection.
Colin: "Take the casinos for everything that they've got."
Well, we don't want to take EVERYTHING they've got. If we drive them completely out of business, where will we play? 🙂
Only games I have in reach are ante games…..
oklahoma and kansas. stay away
“Ante” is just a euphemism for “fee,” but it sounds more appealing
Played at the Golden Nugget in Vegas a few weeks ago and their $5 minimum bet table had a $1 ante. I guess the "incentive" for the player was that every time you hit Blackjack, in addition to paying 3:2, you had a digital wheel spin for a bonus. It had a jackpot but most of the spots on the wheel were $10 or $15. Definitely not worth it, but that was how they tried to sucker people in.
Welcome to Oklahoma the land of the ante.
Slows the game down when they go to collect those antes as well! There is literally nothing I hate more than a slow game. Especially during a long losing streak!!
Indian Casinos in Oklahoma are required to pay the state an ante, so they pass it on to the player. However, if you join their player's club, they pay the ante for you. They still have to pay it on every hand no matter what. Again not a casino rule but an Oklahoma state law.
Back in the 2000's, Canterbury Park in MN had ante blackjack. I never played it because an ante sounded dumb, and it was only a few miles from Mystic Lake with normal blackjack. Apparently the law was that Canterbury wasn't allowed to keep any blackjack losses (it was semi private while Mystic was Native American). So Canterbury had to give back all the losses to the players in bonuses similar to today's side bets. But there were a lot of them because they had to give back all the losses. They could only keep the ante. Players I talked to then said it was worth it because there were so many bonuses, but I was skeptical. Later the law changed and the ante went away. Some time later I spoke with a gambler who said it was actually the best blackjack in the country when it had an ante because the casino did not care about counting. He said players who were 86'd elsewhere were allowed to count out loud at Canterbury because the casino did not care if they won. There is no way for me to verify that now, but it sounded plausible.