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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.
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