This article first appeared in the Sep/Oct 2010 issue of World Gaming magazine.
I’ve been playing blackjack 24 years, and in that time I’ve seen just about everything mathematically possible to see on a blackjack table, played by every different type of player that exists. One of the things that amaze me about blackjack is that almost all casino players play it, or at least know it and understand it. Even in Asia, where baccarat dominates, everyone knows blackjack, or 21 as it is often called. It is often claimed that blackjack is the most widely played casino game in the world.
A game called 21, where aces counted as 1 or 11, with the object being to get as high a score as possible without busting by going over 21 (sound familiar?) was around as early as 1601 in Spain, possibly much earlier. So blackjack has been around for a long, long time. Whoever heard of a casino without blackjack? In many respects, it is the casino game of the world.
Because of this omnipresence in casinos across the planet, you see all kinds of players playing blackjack – old and young, male and female, of all nationalities, and all playing styles. Let’s meet some of the typical players that are out there.
The lone-ranger: this guy (it’s usually not a girl) desperately wants the table to himself. He doesn’t want anyone to come along and mess up his game, so if anyone sidles up to the table with money in their hand looking like they are going to join in, he’ll do whatever he can to discourage them. This might include glaring, making rude comments or swearing, slurping his noodles loudly, spitting or burping (or worse), or picking his nose! Ewww…
The Grandma: sweet old Grandma, often huddled in box one (at the left end of the table from the dealer’s point of view), quietly betting her table minimum bet and trying to look invisible. If she goes on a hot run she might even double her bet or (shock, horror) triple it! Grandma usually plays pretty well, if not a touch conservatively (she probably won’t double that 11 vs 10, or split those 9s when she should). Be nice to Grandma, remember she probably really is someone’s Grandma!
The village idiot: this guy can be so frustrating! The problem is he really is a nice guy, a bit of a bumbling fool, who doesn’t understand the rules or etiquette of the game. He makes plays and says things that annoy the table, and the most frustrating thing about it is that he has no idea he is doing it. If a more experienced player challenges him, the village idiot will stare with a blank face, totally oblivious to the train-wreck he is causing.
The hothead: this guy desperately needs to win every single hand he plays, and when he loses everyone knows about it. He loudly blames the dealer, the other players for their plays or opening or closing a box, the person who cut the cards (if there was one), the pit boss, even the dealer who was tapped off the table 20 minutes ago. In fact, he blames everyone and everything but himself. When he loses a hand he goes into a rage, when he wins a hand everything is normal and as it should be.
The wannabe professional: this guy has seen the movie 21, or read a few books, or picked up a few tips from some random website, and now thinks he is God’s gift to blackjack. It’s true that a few very gifted people can win at blackjack in the long run, but the wannabe professional is not one of them. He has enough knowledge to make himself look like a professional to the civilians, but he just looks like an idiot to the casino bosses and to our next player, the iceman.
The iceman: this person is one of those rarest of players, a long-term winning professional. Do they exist? Yes. Are they a big threat to the casinos? Not really. These hard-core disciplined professionals are so few and far between that what they win hardly makes a dent in the casinos earnings. And most of them only play for medium stakes as an intellectual challenge, and to modestly supplement their income. A study I saw a few years ago estimated the number of icemen in the entire world at less than 3,000. How will you spot an iceman? Well, that’s just the thing about him (or her). If he’s doing his job right, you won’t.
