Valley View Casino Blackjack Review

Valley View Casino is one of the five tribal casinos north of San Diego and thus offers more competitive gaming options than the more isolated places you can find in the area. The casino is owned and operated by the San Pasqual Band of Diegueno Mission Indians and was first launched as a casino only, but has since expanded to include a hotel, both of which are located within a very short distance from Harrah’s. And apart from regular and VIP accommodation, other amenities include six restaurants and a retail shop.

Gaming at Valley View

Valley View Casino has a medium-sized gaming floor (7,500 square feet), which includes a non-smoking gambling area that is much larger than the one found in other neighboring casinos. The key prize of their gaming offer is their 2,000 slot machine collection, which the casino claims to be “certified loose” but doesn’t state by whom. Other than that you can also find 4 different blackjack games, their custom “Richer” roulette, Pai Gow, Texas Hold’Em and 3-card poker, as well as Keno. They also have a club membership program with which you can get a free buffet pass on your first visit.

Single Deck Blackjack

Although there’s only a few of them, Valley View, just like its nearest competitors, offers the bad single deck Blackjack tables with 6:5 payouts. Playing at these tables is definitely to be avoided, especially with their betting limits which have the minimum set at $15. The max bet, on the other hand, is $500.

The single deck games have the dealer hit on soft 17 and allow for doubling down after splitting. There’s also no re-splitting aces here or a surrender option and the casino doesn’t allow for mid-game entry, not that you would want them to. The house edge is 1.45%.

Double Deck Blackjack

The double deck tables at Valley View are one of the main reasons why the casino has been frequented by Blackjack players, as they have decent rules. However, you can only hit the table for a $25 minimum, so if you want a cheaper game you can find other places nearby. The max bet is capped at $1,000, though.

Dealer hits on soft 17 at the double deck games and you can double down on any two cards and double after a split. However, splitting any pairs is allowed only once, which raises the house edge a bit, and there’s no surrender option.  The penetration here is mostly up to 0.9, but it can vary, while the house edge is approximately 0.45% with optimal play. There’s also no mid-game entry, so forget about wonging.

Six Deck Blackjack Switch

Valley View used to have a good 6 deck game but they’ve now changed it to switch versions. There’s only one-two tables open at a time and the betting limits are set at $10 – 500.

The dealer hits on soft 17 at the switch tables and you can double after splitting and re-split up to four times. However, per the standard rules, if you switch cards and get an A+10 your 21 will be considered a push against the dealer’s 21 or 22. The house edge is slightly worse than the eight deck tables and the double decks, around 0.58%, to be more precise.

8 Deck Blackjack

Most of the Blackjack tables at Valley View are reserved for spreading 8 deck games, which if you aren’t an experienced advantage player there’s really no point in trying to keep up with. The minimum bet at these tables is set at $10, while the max you can bet is $500.

The dealer hits on soft 17 at the 8 deck games and you can double after split and re-split aces. Late surrender is also allowed here, which, combined with other rules, gives the game an approximate house