If you’ve seen table games at a casino, one of the things universally present at a table is a game’s minimum and maximum bet levels. Minimum bets vary by casino and can reflect a variety of things, such as the cost of labor in a given market, what sort of player the casino is chasing, and the day (and time of day) a player is choosing to play.
Generally, minimum bets go up in the evenings and on weekends at many casinos. Higher end casinos have higher minimum bets than those catering to budget players. And table minimums in more expensive to operate markets will often reflect that in minimum bet levels as well.
Traditionally, minimum bets reflect what must be bet on the main bet, and does not incorporate side bets. But more recently, we’ve seen examples where the minimum bet is inclusive of side bets.
The first time we encountered this was on a Carnival Cruise Line ship that had a $6 minimum Blackjack bet. However, you could accomplish this, for instance, by betting $5 on the main bet and $1 on the side bet. It seemed like a way to encourage a bit of side bet action, which generally comes with a higher house advantage.
More recently, a casino we visited in California owned by Caesars featured a Free Bet Blackjack table that had a $15 minimum bet – but that too could be spread across the various bets, like the Pot of Gold side bet or the Push 22 bet that makes the game special. The fact that they allowed it to be spread around in $1 increments as long as the minimum was met was pretty nice, given the proliferation of $5 minimums on many table game side bets.
This leads us to note that while unusual, it can be good to just double check what’s required to meet the minimum bet, because you might trip across examples like we did.
UPDATE 5/29/26: While on a recent visit to Las Vegas, we noted at both Vanderpump (formerly Cromwell) and Horseshoe similar language on their Blackjack table confirming main bets and side bets together can be added up to reach the minimum bet requirements. A pit boss at Vanderpump told us this was the rule at every table there except Free Bet Blackjack.
Since the California and Nevada casinos that had this rule were owned by Caesars, this may be a rule set growing in casinos they operate, so it’s particularly worth it to double check when visiting their properties.
Of course, on tables like roulette, minimum bets can often be structured where all your inside or outside bets must meet the minimum. So you may have to bet $10 minimum across numbers or on a single red/black (for example) to meet the table minimum.
Our colleague John Mehaffey, who regularly surveys table conditions in Las Vegas, also noted that in some instances like poker games, a casino may occasionally allow you to bet just on the side bet in lieu of the main bet at all. However, the minimum requirement for doing that may exceed the minimum required for the main bet.
His most recent survey of Jerry’s Nugget included an example of this, where the main game minimum bet is $3 per space, but if you wish to solely bet on the Trips side bet, you must bet $5.
Have you encountered any unusual minimum bet rules at a casino you’ve visited? We’d love to hear about them – share in the comments!
