What constitutes a “bad” game? I’m not talking about the company at the table, or the strength of the drinks, or even the odor in the casino. I’m talking specifically about the rules variations at the blackjack table, and how it affects the house advantage. We’ve run down the differences before, and how they affect basic strategy. The sound advice from the experts is to stay away from the games that take too much away from you as a player.
But how do you know what too much is? And what if there’s no other options around?
I was at some…well…less than popular casinos recently, and a few not uncommon restrictions popped up while I was sitting some low-stakes games. The first was that the dealer always hits on soft 17. I hate this rule, but tolerate it since it tends to be fairly common around the U.S. But then the restrictions kept coming. Ace/Ten combinations in a split or double down situation was counted as 21, but not as blackjack (I later realized this is actually the norm, and I’ve gotten lucky at a few casinos that treated it the other way), I wasn’t allowed to re-split Aces, you couldn’t double down and split on Aces, and although I’m not one to play multiple hands too often, I noted a four-hand limit at the table, as well. I almost felt like the dealer slapped some handcuffs on me and wished me luck before taking my chips. Needless to say, I didn’t spend too much time playing at this establishment, but it did get me thinking.
So after sharing my story with a few friends, I didn’t get the response I expected. They were only mildly sympathetic, saying they’ve heard of worse games. I don’t know whether I find that hard to believe or not, but it was more than the rules at this place, you could just feel the shadiness around every corner. I won’t go into what specific type of online blackjack casino it was, but if you’ve ever been bullied unfairly, or made to believe the U.S. laws don’t applyinside that casino, you know what I’m talking about.
Why did I go in to begin with? I like trying new places out, seeing how they play. This would obviously be a place I don’t return to.