The skill factor associated with blackjack makes it unique among table games. Because of this, casinos have done everything they can through the years to alter the game and make it an acceptable revenue generator.

Depending upon how serious a player you are, there are some major differences in house rules among the four properties in the Chicago-area in Illinois that can affect your bottom line over the long run. Today we'll examine those differences.

The casinos surveyed (with the number of blackjack tables in parenthesis) were: Argosy's Empress Joliet (15), Grand Victoria Elgin (21), Harrah's Joliet (14) and Hollywood Aurora (14).

Let's concentrate on the most critical areas, starting with how much it's going to cost you just to sit down and play.

Only one property, the Grand Victoria, has $5 minimum tables that are available usually until 4 pm. Hollywood and Empress offer a $10 minimum, while Harrah's goes with $15 and only during the day.

All of the casinos deal out of six-deck shoes with the exception of Hollywood which only uses them in the high limit room while utilizing the less-player-friendly eight-deck variety everywhere else.

In the critical "cut" category, chopping two decks out of play is the norm at Empress and Harrah's, while Hollywood goes a little deeper with one and one-half to two decks. The Grand Victoria is the most generous of all with one-and one-half decks, a player advantage.

The Grand Victoria gets a demerit, however, for hitting soft 17. So does Hollywood, although not in the high limit room. The dealers at both Empress and Harrah's stand on soft 17 which is a big plus for players.

All of the properties allow players to double down on any two cards, split any pair and double down after splitting. The option known as surrender, whereby a player can salvage half his bet before a hand is played out, is not offered anywhere.

When it comes to splitting aces, however, give the edge to Harrah's where they will allow you to split them up to three times. All of the others let players do it only once, which means if you draw a third ace on one of them you're stuck with a 12.

Automatic shufflers speed up the game by eliminating the break players get while waiting for the dealer to shuffle. Dealers shuffle the cards by hand at both Grand Victoria and Empress -- advantage: player. Hollywood uses automatics at eight of its 14 tables but none in the high limit room. Harrah's has four automatic shufflers.

Continuous shufflers not only keep the game going non-stop, they eliminate any edge a studious player may get by keeping track of the dealt cards. Harrah's has five tables with this technology, something serious players like to avoid.