Main Street Station is a casino in downtown Las Vegas. It is owned and operated by Boyd Gaming. It is connected to The Cal by an enclosed, elevated walkway over Main Street. Main Street Station is located one block north of the Fremont Street Experience. It is a grind joint that is frequented by players visiting from Hawaii. This gives it an interesting atmosphere as it is busier late into the night due to the jet lag of its main demographics.
Main Street Station Tables and Games
There are four blackjack games available at Main Street Station. The dealer hits soft 17 at all blackjack games at Main Street Station.
There is one single deck blackjack game. It permits double down on any two cards but not after splitting. Blackjack pays 6-5. The bet limits are $5 to $200. The house edge is 1.6%.
There is one table of Super Fun 21. It uses two decks. Players may double down on any number of cards before and after splitting. Split aces may be doubled and hit. All pairs may be split four times. Players may surrender after hitting any number of cards. Surrender is even permitted after doubling down. This is known as double down rescue. A player that makes a six-card hand of 20 or less automatically wins. A five-card or more 21 wins 2-1 automatically. Blackjack always wins, even if the dealer also has one. Blackjack pays even money, except in diamonds, where it pays 2-1. The bet limits are $5 to $200.
The most popular blackjack game at Main Street Station is double deck. There are nine of these tables. Players may double down on any two cards but not after splitting. The bet limits are $5 to $1,000. The house edge is 0.6%.
There is one six-deck shoe blackjack table at Main Street Station. It has bet limits of $5 to $500. Players may double down on any two cards but not after splitting. The house edge is 0.76%. This is the highest house edge of any 3-2 blackjack game in Las Vegas.
Blackjack players may want to take a break and play craps. Main Street Station craps permits up to 20 times odds. The minimum bet is just $5. This is the highest return on craps in downtown Las Vegas. Only Casino Royale offers higher – 100 times – in all of Las Vegas.
BConnected for Blackjack Players
Blackjack players can expect to get rated higher at Main Street Station and other Boyd Gaming casinos than on Fremont Street. The BConnected card is accepted at Main Street Station, The Cal and Fremont. The rooms are easy to acquire from table games, including blackjack. The best part is that comped rooms do not incur a resort fee. In fact, there is no resort fee at any downtown Las Vegas Boyd Gaming casino.
What’s Different?
Main Street Station offers $5 blackjack at all available games. There may be some $10 and even $25 double deck tables, but there will always be some $5 ones open. Most double deck blackjack games in Las Vegas permit double down after splitting. Unfortunately, Main Street Station and its sister casinos do not. The ease of gaining food and hotel comps at Main Street Station’s blackjack tables is something players should consider when deciding where to play.
An Inside View
Main Street Station is a great place for $5 action. Boyd Gaming’s downtown properties, which also include The Cal and Fremont, have $5 blackjack tables throughout the pits. All of these casinos offer Super Fun 21. Golden Nugget is the only other downtown property that spreads it.
There is a walkway that connects Main Street Station to The Cal. Players will find $3 blackjack there, but it pays 6-5 and is dealt from a continuous shuffle machine.
Our biggest complaint about Main Street Station is that none of its traditional blackjack games permit double down after splitting. This includes the shoe games. Boyd Gaming’s downtown properties are the only casinos in Las Vegas that do not permit double down after a split. At least all of its normal blackjack games pay 3-2. Players can find $5 games at Plaza and El Cortez that allow double down after splitting and pay 3-2 on a natural.