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A couple of months ago I spent some vacation time in Paris and, while I was there, I checked out some of the blackjack action. In case you are interested, here is what I found. (Warning; there will be some controversial concepts, like playing blackjack for fun.)
There are not any casinos per se within the city of Paris, but there are several clubs where a form of blackjack is played. I played at two of them; the Cercle Gaillon and the Aviation Club. Both are close to the Champs Elysee. Of the two, I preferred the Aviation Club. The Aviation Club does have a dress code (in theory I think you're supposed to wear at least a sports jacket, although in practice you can get in if you are just reasonably well dressed and groomed), and it looked classy. The Cercle was also very well presented, and the decor had a younger vibe.
The first thing to notice at the table is that they do not play the usual blackjack - they play what they call "Pok 21", which is a variation allowed under Parisian law. In Pok 21, you have to make a poker bet as well as a regular blackjack bet. The minimum poker bet was 2 euros, and the minimum BJ bet was 20 euros. The game is played in the normal fashion until the dealer has finished paying (or collecting) the BJ bets, at which point s/he deals enough additional cards so that his/her hand has 5 cards, and this hand is judged as a poker hand. If the dealer has jacks or better, the players are paid, and if not, then the poker bets are collected. I did not know the house edge on the poker bet, but I guessed it was substantial. (As an indication, on one hand the dealer got 4 of a kind and the payoff was only 20-1.)
The next thing I noticed was that the decks are slightly different - I was quite surprised to see an "R", "D", and "V" on the face cards. It was easy to figure that the king is the "Roi" and I guessed the queen is the "Dame", but it took a while to get that the jack is called the "Valet".
Based on the house edge at poker and the cut card being placed at about 2-2.5 decks out of six, I figured it would be hard to play this game for an advantage. I guess you might be able to by just wonging back bets, but there were only 2 tables open so that wouldn't be easy. (You'd also have to find some players you trusted; the level of play was generally atrocious. I saw one guy split 10's against an ace, for pete's sake. The blackjack Gods were too kind to him though; instead of meting out full justice, which would have seen him bust both hands and then watch the dealer bust, he drew a 5 on the first 10, stood that hand, and then drew another 10 on the second (which he declined to resplit.) The dealer drew a 9 to go with his A, so the guy lost one and pushed one. Of course, the dealer would have busted if he had just stood on his 10's. Despite the generally poor playing acumen of all players, they felt free to hoot him away from the table.)
Since I was on vacation, I decided to play for fun.
The other rules are fairly standard for Europe; ENHC, DA2, DAS, s17. For a moment I thought there might be a rule that favored the players when I saw the dealer immediately pay a blackjack when he had a 10 showing, but it turned out that he just made a mistake. There is no insurance and no even money. When I asked whether they allowed surrender they looked at me like I had sprouted a second head. (I resisted the temptation to say, "Come on, this is France, surely you understand the need to surrender sometimes.")
In addition to the lousy pen, 5 cards are burned at the beginning of the shoe. I don't know whether they are aware of shuffle tracking or it is just tradition, but the slug is broken into 3 pieces which are distributed among the played cards. I found the poker hand to be an added burden since I usually take the time after the dealer's hand has been shown to calculate the TC and my bet, but the dealer's poker hand is dealt at lightening speed after the BJ hand, so I had to adjust my habits to count those cards.
The Aviation Club also has a large group of backgammon tables that looked to be played without a house, although I'm sure the house must have collected some fee. Not knowing what level of opponent I would encounter, I did not play. It also has a large poker room, sitting room, and a formal restaurant.
In summary, the game played in the clubs of Paris might be beatable by a "more advantaged" player than myself, but I played for fun, figuring that I had a close to even game. I enjoyed them, possibly because a run of luck on my big bets meant that I emerged a winner, and will play again on my next trip, though again realizing that I am only playing for fun.
