Louisiana is a major gambling destination, a state with 24-hour gambling options in the forms of both riverboat casinos and traditional tribal gaming sites.
The best blackjack games in Louisiana are dotted all over the state, from the Vegas-style tribal casinos in the Southwest to the gaming halls of New Orleans, and pretty much everywhere in between. Because Louisiana has so many places to play, it’s fair to say that you can find a good game of blackjack in most parts of the state.
I wrote this post to share what I know about playing blackjack in the Bayou State. First, I’ll share the standards I use to declare a blackjack game good or bad. Then I’ll share a long list of places to play in the state, along with details about the blackjack games available at each site.
What Makes a Blackjack Game Good?
My standards for a good blackjack game aren’t particularly high.
Sure, I’d love to find a single-deck game that shuffles every fifth hand and pays 2:1 for a natural. It’d be even better if the house would let me double down on three or more cards and allow doubling after splitting a pair. Throw in a late surrender rule, and you’ve basically got the perfect game of blackjack.
But that’s not going to happen. At the end of the day, when you play blackjack, you’re gambling. Gambling carries risks. Casinos aren’t in the business of handing out free money to any Joe Blow who walks in the door.
Rather than look for blackjack games with the absolute best most player-friendly rules, I consider a few other facts about a game before deciding if it’s “good” or “bad.”
That said, you can occasionally find 3:2 blackjack games, and I’ve found a few in Louisiana. I’ll share that information further down the page.
I won’t always skip every single 6:5 blackjack game on principle, but I will usually look for a 3:2 table for a while before I settle.
Live Dealer vs. Machine Dealer
This is all about personal preference. I may get booed out of the building for saying this, but I usually prefer to play a game with a simulated dealer, usually a machine-style blackjack game or one of the new-fangled stadium-style games you’ll find all over the place in Louisiana.
However, some players will always prefer a live table to a machine. If that’s you, you’ll want to look for Louisiana blackjack games played at a live table.
Both are available.
Bet Range
This is another category where personal preference plays a huge role – the maximum and minimum bets allowed at a table.
I Prefer Blackjack Tables With as Low a Minimum Bet as I Can Find
Plenty of blackjack games in Louisiana set the minimum bet at $5, which is perfect for my budget. However, you’ll also find tables with a $10 minimum, and in some cases even higher than that. Personally, I shy away from games that don’t let me bet at $5 a hand and will rarely play even at a $10 minimum table.
Luckily, in Louisiana, you can pretty much take your pick of your desired bet range.
Set & Setting
This is a fancy way to say that I like to take some time to think about who I want to play with and where I want to play. The setting of my blackjack game is kind of important – I don’t want to play in too much cigarette smoke, and I don’t like a huge amount of noise. I don’t care too much about luxury, though it’s nice to play blackjack in a fancy setting from time to time. As for who I’m playing with, I prefer a small table, or (as I said earlier) a blackjack machine where I don’t really have to play with anybody else.
By comparing the gambling options available to me in Louisiana in those four categories, I can pretty easily find a bunch of good blackjack games that fit with what I’m looking for. You can do the same thing with your desired features – maybe you like a loud game in a bright and noisy environment. You can have that in the Sportsman’s Paradise of Louisiana.
Where to Play Blackjack in Louisiana
I’ve found twenty-two different casinos and gaming properties in the state that host at least some form of blackjack. There may be more – this is the totality of information available to me.
Out of that list, I’ve picked the five best places to play a game of blackjack in Louisiana. I’ve played at many of these sites, though not at all of them. I’ll do my best to share the details I can find, combined with my own experience playing.
1. Harrah’s New Orleans Casino
Harrah’s New Orleans is home to the largest variety of blackjack games and tables in the state, some 58 tables at my last visit. Harrah’s runs at least two $5 minimum tables at all times. You can find both 6:5 and 3:2 blackjack games on site, though not always both versions at live tables. The best blackjack machines, the ones with 3:2 payouts for a natural, are along the exterior walls, tucked away among penny and nickel slots. You can also find a live blackjack table in one of Harrah’s many smoking patios at all hours of the day.
Harrah’s is likely to be the most crowded casino in the state, so if crowds aren’t your thing, try to visit at an off-peak time. If you want a break from blackjack, Harrah’s New Orleans hosts more than 2,000 slot and video poker games as well as a live poker room and some OTB betting options.
2. L’Auberge du lac Hotel and Casino
My favorite place to play in Louisiana just in terms of its setting, L’Auberge is about as glamorous a casino spot as you’re likely to find in the Deep South. The minimum bet at all of the standard blackjack tables at L’Auberge is $10, so it isn’t ideal for my bankroll. This spot hosts the most blackjack variants, with a few more playing options than you get at Harrah’s, but the total number of tables dedicated to blackjack varies wildly here. Sometimes you’ll find 20 tables, other times 50.
3. Isle of Capri Casino Lake Charles
Isle of Capri is a great place to play blackjack, my go-to if I’m not in New Orleans and can’t get to Harrah’s easily. Their website claims they host 51 games of blackjack at all times, though a good chunk of those games are available on stadium-style machines and not live dealer tables. The standard bet range at Isle of Capri is $5 to $5,000, though the max is far more limited at the single- and double-deck games. The stadium-style games cap bets at $100, which is fine for guys like me that like to bet $5 at a time, but not great for other blackjack players with bigger budgets.
4. Coushatta Casino Resort
Coushatta was once famous among blackjack players for its single-deck games, but those have gone extinct. Now, you’ll find double deck at the low end, though games at that table are limited in terms of bets, with a range of $5 to $100. The standard game at Coushatta is $10 – $1,000, with a 6:5 payout for blackjack and a re-shuffle after each hand.
A total of 55 blackjack games are available, though Coushatta rarely runs all 55 tables at once, mostly at peak times like Friday and Saturday nights. Coushatta is a slot lover’s dream, with more than 3,000 machines to pick from, so if you also enjoy slots like me, this might be a good fit for you.
5. Boomtown Casino New Orleans
Out of all of the smaller-scale gaming venues in the state of Louisiana, Boomtown New Orleans is the best fit for fans of blackjack. They run up to 26 tables at a time and host some blackjack machines as well, though not as many as at Harrah’s or the other flagship properties on the list. The standard bet range here is $5 to $5,000, though one or two high roller tables allowing larger bets are often available. Added bonus – Boomtown is just across the river from New Orleans proper, meaning that a person visiting The Big Easy has convenient access to both Boomtown and Harrah’s.
Conclusion
When most people think of the game of blackjack, they think of Vegas or Atlantic City, America’s two best-known gambling jurisdictions. Louisiana’s gambling industry posted $1.65 billion in revenue last year, about $1 billion behind New Jersey, earning the fifth-most gambling dollars of any US state. In other words, Louisiana gambling is big business, and the casinos opened in the state over the past couple of decades are on par with what you’d find in AC or Las Vegas.
You can find lots of great blackjack in The Creole State. Hopefully, I’ve shared some details on this page that help you plan your next visit.
