Maryland Casinos Allowed To Boost Their Advantage By Lowering Blackjack Payouts

Some gamblers who streamed to the gleaming new MGM National Harbor casino and resort, which opened this month to capacity crowds, left frustrated.

At many of the tables, instead of paying $37.50 to winners who hit blackjack on a $25 bet, the dealers paid out $30. At blackjack tables, where hardy players can bet on scores of hands an hour, that $7.50 can add up.

MGM National Harbor boosted the casino’s advantage at those tables under a new regulatory regime that gives Maryland casinos more flexibility to determine their own rules governing such things as payouts and wagers for blackjack, roulette, poker and other table games.

State officials and casino executives said the new regulatory process cuts down on bureaucratic red tape and gives the casinos leeway to offer a wider range of products — the reduced payoffs are typically at tables with lower minimum bets that appeal to the more frugal gambler.

Click here to read the rest of the article written by Jeff Barker over at Baltimore Sun

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