Trip Report: Downtown Grand Blackjack

Downtown Grand was one of the few Las Vegas casinos that I had never played. That all changed last month. A friend of mine was in town. We decided to play blackjack there.

Downtown Grand has favorable rules for both of its blackjack games, which is why we chose it. There is a double deck game that permits double down after splitting. The six-deck shoe adds re-split aces and surrender. Both games hit soft 17.

We chose the six-deck shoe. The minimum bet as $10. I stayed around that level, moving up into green territory on some shoes. My friend bet higher than I did.

I bought in for $300. He bought in for $500. After a few hands, a host named Tom appeared and introduced himself to us. He offered to comp us a meal without showing much action. We told him that we would be interested later after some play.

It was a rough blackjack session. Our original buy-ins did not keep us in the game long. We made re-buys and continued to run poorly.

We decided to take the host up on the offer. It was late, and Freedom Beat was the only dining option still open. We both had the New York Strip and a Tito’s and soda. Each of us had a $40 food comp, which more than covered the meals. We went back to the tables afterwards to continue the bad session.

Triple George is another restaurant that Downtown Grand hosts can comp. We will have to try it on another visit when we eat earlier. Pizza Rock cannot be comped by Downtown Grand hosts.

The host contacted me later and invited me back to stay at Downtown Grand. I plan to take them up on that offer.

Downtown Grand top choice for blackjack downtown

Downtown Grand has the best real money blackjack rules downtown outside of El Cortez. Most serious players will not give action to El Cortez because the casino is quick to back off players.

The rules are not the only reason to choose Downtown Grand over Fremont St casinos. The ease of getting comps for simply showing cash was impressive. The pit bosses made sure we had everything we needed. The dealers were all efficient and made no mistakes. The speed of the game was typically fast. The drink service was, too. Players can get higher end liquor and Red Bull at table games.

Host went above and beyond

Our host went above and beyond any level of expectations. He made sure we had our meal comps before he left. He also made sure to let us know that we had other comps available. All we had to do was ask. This was a refreshing change from having to pester some hosts for small comps on a higher level of play than what we have Downtown Grand. The entire situation was handled with an old-school mentality.

Consider giving action to Downtown Grand

Serious players should consider giving Downtown Grand a try. The combination of good blackjack rules and generous comps should keep most players happy. Craps is 10 times odds with triple on the Field when a 12 is rolled.

Downtown Grand loosened up its video poker earlier this year. This includes rolling our full-pay White Hot aces, 9/6 Jacks or Better and 8/5 Bonus Poker. These games trigger free play and hotel rooms to qualified players. The players club adds 0.2% in free play to the return.