Palms throws down gauntlet
The Palms Casino Resort has fired a shot across the bow of the Las Vegas gaming industry by changing its blackjack payouts to give bettors a better edge against the house.
including those on the main casino floor and in the six-table high-limit room
The off-Strip casino’s gambler-friendly change introduced on Valentine’s Day means Palms will pay patrons 3:2 on all its blackjack tables, including those on the main casino floor and in the six-table high-limit room.
Prior to Valentine’s, while some Palms blackjack tables offered 3:2 payouts, like is common across Strip casinos, other tables featured the house-favoring rate of 6:5.
Strategic move?
For patrons looking for increased value, 3:2 tables pay $15 on a $10 wager, while 6:5 tables only pay $12 on a $10 bet.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, Palms Vice President of Gaming Scott Hager said the changes to blackjack payouts “reflects our dedication to providing top-tier table games and ensuring an exceptional experience” for casino goers.
Hager’s statement doesn’t directly reveal Palms’ strategy behind its move to 3:2. Player advocate and co-owner of VegasAdvantage.com John Mehaffey, however, believes the casino’s executive has acted on a competitive opportunity offered by a legacy left behind by the industry as it emerged from COVID.
To bounce back from the pandemic, many casino operators raised table minimums and introduced house-friendly games like triple-zero roulette and, of course, 6:5 blackjack.
Mehaffy believes casinos like Palms are acting on customer pushback from the post-COVID price hike and have “found the price point where there was pain.”
better than having nobody in here”
“Maybe they’re walking some of that back in the name of value, because they realized we can’t make a profit at $5 but maybe if we get $5 players in here, we can get them up to $10 to $15 players, and that’s better than having nobody in here.”
Palms holds sway
Palms’ aggressive move comes after a baptism by fire for the first Native American tribe to both own and operate a Vegas casino resort.
The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians acquired the property from Station Casinos in 2021 for $650m despite it being shuttered because of the pandemic since March 2020. The property only reopened in April 2022.
Then came the murders. Just three months after the Station deal, the tribe had to deal with a possible double murder-suicide in one of Palms’ hotels. Last year, sex worker Larissa Garcia was brutally murdered at the resort.
According to media reports, Palms stated the new 3:2 blackjack offering means the casino will not raise its table game minimums.