For this Critical Play, I played Blackjack online(on the Washington post website, weirdly). I played against the computer as the “house”, so I wasn’t playing against real people, but I have in the past. The game was fairly simple, and relies heavily on chance. It all depends on your hand – whether you get lucky with the draw. Both with the initial draw, and with the further hits you might take. The whole game is based on the probability of drawing the exact cards you need from a deck before the house, and this makes it a very chance-heavy game. Compared to slot-type casino games, Blackjack feels more transparent due to its simple, deck-based nature. We all know the probability of a deck of cards – there’s a certain trust that I had in the deck to be fair because it had been shuffled and because I was familiar with the mechanics of how a deck works. Unlike the machines in the reading, there was no mysterious chip or mechanic hiding the truth of the probability. There were just 52 cards, and I could generally predict my chance of pulling one if I wanted to. The more you play, the more you feel like you get the deck and can predict the chance of success with taking a hit or choosing to stand, and that familiarity can lead to getting more and more addicted to the game as you feel you gain skill and knowledge of the machinations of the game, making you “more” likely to win.
But just because I felt like I could trust a deck of cards more than a slot machine doesn’t mean Blackjack lacks addictive elements- in fact, it feels like the supposed trust in the deck can make it a player feel like they have a higher chance of getting lucky, even if it’s untrue. It’s an easy game to play with a low barrier to entry. But, it still requires more skill than slot machines – though are still betting on random chance, the game feels as though you are making an educated guess based on your hand, which makes you feel smarter and more involved with the process. This can add to the addictive feeling, since you can easily get into the “zone” the more you play.
