Eight decks · blackjack pays 3 to 2
Velvet Rope Blackjack
Behind the rope, past the coat check, there’s a long table and a dealer who never hurries you. The aim is old and simple: finish nearer to twenty-one than the house without going over.
How to play
Choose your stake per hand — 10, 25, 50 or 100 Velvet Chips — and press Deal. You receive two cards face up; the dealer takes one face up and one face down. Then it’s your call. Hit to take another card, Stand to keep what you have, or Double on your first two cards to double the stake and receive exactly one more. Once you stand, the dealer turns over the hidden card and draws until reaching seventeen or more.
Counting your hand
Number cards count their face value. Kings, queens and jacks count ten, and an ace counts eleven unless that would take you past twenty-one, in which case it quietly becomes one. A hand with an ace still counted as eleven is called “soft”: a soft seventeen can take another card without any danger of going bust. An ace with any ten-value card as your first two is blackjack, the best hand at the table.
Payouts and rounds
An ordinary win pays even money, so a 10-chip hand brings back 20. Blackjack pays 3 to 2, so the same 10 chips bring back 25. If you and the dealer finish level it’s a push, and your stake comes straight back. Going over twenty-one is a bust and the hand is lost at once, even if the dealer busts afterwards. Cards come from an eight-deck shoe that is shuffled whenever it runs low, and every card is drawn at random.
From the Club’s story
The velvet rope came from a picture house that closed its doors decades ago. It now hangs between two brass posts in front of the card room, and the porter unhooks it for anyone who is 18 or over and fancies a hand. Legend has it the dealer once worked the card room of a transatlantic liner. He neither confirms nor denies it, though he does shuffle as if the floor might tilt.
Questions about Velvet Rope Blackjack
Can I split pairs?
Not at this table. Velvet Rope Blackjack keeps to hit, stand and double, which keeps each hand brisk and easy to follow.
Why did the hand end straight after the deal?
If either side is dealt blackjack, the round is settled at once — there is nothing left to decide, so no more cards are drawn.
Does the dealer ever hit on seventeen?
Never. The dealer draws on sixteen or less and stands on every seventeen, soft or hard.
Other rooms in the house: