Play a game of chance with other people, preferably online. Poker, slots, etc. Note how people talk about these. Do they talk about luck as if it is part of their identity (“I’m just not lucky!”) or as if they can get a lucky streak? With a game of Poker, there is a play the player elements… do they attribute winning to skill even if it was luck?
For this critical play, I chose to play blackjack online. Blackjack is a traditional card game that is ubiquitous in gambling locations. However, it does not have specific credited people, unknown creators. This game is playable in physical casinos, browser versions, and on any apps. Its target audience is anyone that enjoy gambling, probability, and tension.
The core mechanics of blackjack are simple. The player tries to get as close to 21 as possible compared to the dealer without going over. Face cards are worth 10, each numbered card is its own number, and aces can be 1 or 11. Therefore, when I was playing I felt like the next card could very much be the card that will help me win or I just lose right away. This urgency and tension gave me a sense of thrill.
Through the MDA framework, the mechanics are dealing cards, betting, hitting, standing, and comparing the final total to the dealer’s. These create the dynamics of risk, regret, and hope, resulting in a great amount of suspense. When I won, I felt like it was so easy and felt like I was supporting my own ego. When I lost, especially bursting myself, I would blame myself as if I knew the right decision but chose not to follow through. This revelation of human natures makes this game so interesting for me. It makes me wonder if there is truly skill needed for blackjack although I know it is also a profession.
When I was playing, I noticed how fickle human nature is: I would affirm myself as unlucky if I lost or blamed the dealer. However, when things went well, I was feeling smug and arrogant.
Compared to other games of luck though, like poker, blackjack has less social interactions like there is less social deception and less chance to guess their actions through their eyes. In blackjack, you are playing against the dealer and probability. However, blackjack seems to be more complicated than slots. Therefore, it seems to be in that middle gap.
Ethically, blackjack made me consider how gambling games like it create the illusion of control. With each turn when I would choose to hit or not, I felt like there were no external factors affecting my decision—I am making all these decisions without any external nudges and manipulations. Nevertheless, this sense of control that is illusion makes it hard to draw a line between if it was actually manipulation or not.
This was when I was super mad with the decision I made to keep hitting, while getting more arrogant with each card.
