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Why play blackjack? The answers are as simple as can be. The game of blackjack has the best odds in favour of the player of any casino game (except for the dice game known as "craps"), and a skilful player may improve these odds even further by making the right decisions during play. This is not the case in craps as a skilful blackjack player may improve the odds beyond the most favourable craps odds a player could possibly enjoy. Also, dice games are prohibited by law in casinos in certain states such as California, and absent from many casinos around the world. Secondly, because player skill is a very important factor in determining the outcome of a hand in blackjack, it is the most fun, enjoyable and challenging game one can play in a casino. It is one thing to beat the house with your luck, but it is a real thrill to beat the house with your brain. So, this is one of those rare occasions when fun and profitability coincide – and who can resist that?
Why are the odds so good for a skilful player in a blackjack game? Because the odds between the player and the house change with every hand, and that change depends upon what happened in that previous hand – which can be noted by an alert, intelligent player. Most gambling games are not like that and many people are either unable or unwilling to think logically enough to notice the difference. For example, imagine a lottery game where in each round, a player must choose six numbers from one to forty-nine (making a total of fifty numbers to choose from), in any combination of numbers that he wishes. Six numbers are drawn randomly one by one from among the fifty available numbers, and if the player gets all his chosen numbers picked he wins the jackpot. Now, the chances of any particular six numbers being drawn from fifty numbers at random is about fourteen million to one (if this system sounds familiar to you, that is probably because I have just described the British national lottery). Now, you try telling British lottery regulars that they have exactly the same chance winning the jackpot by picking the numbers one through to six as they would with some more evenly and seemingly "randomly spread" numbers, say, seven, sixteen, twenty-three etc. You may – or may not – be surprised as to how few will believe you! One of them will probably say that if a certain combination of numbers has not come up in all the lottery draws of the last few years, then that must mean that such a combination has a relatively higher chance of appearing in the next draw.
What mistake are these lottery players making in their logic here? They are thinking that there are a finite number of numerical combinations, and that when one is drawn it is discarded and therefore removed from the game which continues through to the next draw (the mistake lies in this latter supposition). They are thinking that the numbers have "memory". Of course they are wrong, the odds for any one number out of fifty to be drawn randomly is, surprisingly, one in fifty; the odds for any particular six numbers to be drawn randomly from fifty are about one in fourteen million, and from draw to draw that never changes. Ironically, though, there is a game where when a number is drawn it is removed from the game, so to speak, and the cards do have "memory". The faulty logic of the lottery players is correct here. This is, of course, the game of blackjack!
Imagine that a standard deck of cards is shuffled and a hand of blackjack is played. The cards that were played in the hand are then taken out of play and not returned to the deck of cards which is then used to deal the next hand to the players. The odds in favour of the player have changed – possibly for better, possibly for worse – depending upon which cards have been removed from the game. For example, if the discarded cards were mainly low-value cards, then the odds move in favour of the player, because that means they player is a little more likely to receive a high-value card during the next hand and so he will probably get closer to blackjack. A player can, and should, take note of what is happening with the cards and bet accordingly. What makes the game even more delightful is that even after the player has bet, there is usually still a further test of skill for him to face – the decision as to whether to "twist" (ask for another card) or stick with his current hand in the hope it will be enough to beat the other players. He has to estimate not only the likelihood that one of the other players is holding a higher value hand than his, but also whether the remaining cards are tending more towards higher or lower values. Then he makes the final call, and the hand ends elegantly with the inevitable moment of truth.
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