Florida casino blackjack rules

South Florida blackjack comes in two flavors, and the distinction matters more than any strategy decision. Only the Seminole tribal casinos, Hard Rock Hollywood, Coconut Creek, and the Seminole Classic, offer banked blackjack with live dealers. The pari-mutuel properties, Hialeah Park, Magic City, and Gulfstream Park, offer electronic blackjack where you play against a machine. The strategy is the same; the pace, minimums, and atmosphere are not.

Across all of them, the table rules are set per table, not per casino. A property can spread a $15 6:5 table ten feet from a $50 3:2 table, and both can change minimums between the afternoon and the evening shift. Any guide, including this one, is a starting point. The felt and the placard on the table you are about to sit at are the final authority.

Each guide below lists every rule with its source and the date of the report, and says plainly whether the information comes from the casino itself or from player reports. Where information is unknown or disputed, the page says so instead of guessing.

Five checks, thirty seconds, and you will never sit at a bad table again.

1. The payout line. "Blackjack pays 3 to 2" is the game you want. "Blackjack pays 6 to 5" adds about 1.4% to the house edge all by itself. Why 6:5 is a ripoff.

2. The soft 17 line. Printed right under the payout: "Dealer must hit soft 17" or "Dealer stands on all 17s." It changes a handful of plays and costs about 0.2%. Get the chart that matches.

3. Surrender. Usually absent. If the placard lists late surrender, a few painful hands get cheaper.

4. Decks and penetration. Six or eight decks is standard. Watch how deep the dealer goes before shuffling: deeper penetration is better for counters and irrelevant to basic strategy players.

5. Minimums and mid-shoe entry. The placard shows the minimum and maximum. Some tables bar mid-shoe entry, which matters to counters and not at all to everyone else.