Next to Island Flavors (a restaurant that had lunch specials from prepared food from a hot table), this is a small casino, located in the U.S. Virgin Island of St Thomas, Port Charlotte Amalie. We missed it the first time when we were headed off of our boat, but because we took a little time coming back, we noticed a sign that said it had Blackjack. This got my brother's attention and we walked in. It's basically a full bar, with casino video games in the back. But they are very modern games, all dealing with cash...gambling is legal in St. Thomas (though the casino on our boat had to be closed while we were in port): blackjack, baccarat, routlette....all automated. (no craps though0.
There is one virtual blackjack table in the back, able to take 7 people at the table. In terms of rules and odds, it's very good. Yes, they hit on soft 17, and double downs only give you one more card, and no six cards under, BUT give full 3:2 on blackjack, surrendering is allowed and minimum bet of $1.
I ended up playing $1 hand for almost 25 minutes on a $20 initial buy-in, and stayed close to even the whole time...so this is absolutely a great way to waste time playing blackjack, without losing a lot of money. When my brother was ready to leave, I was up $0.50, so considered that a win. The bar was pretty busy, and there are waitresses but were focusing on eating customers.
You can cash out directly from the machine, and then take your ticket (which looks exactly like what you would get in Vegas) and take it the cashier. She was not there for a while, but when I came back around, somebody had called her and was second in line. No issues getting my buy-in back and we were on our way. read more