It’s been more than a year since I played live blackjack in a casino. The game has been available since Las Vegas casinos reopened. The experience wasn’t for me until now. Most of my favorite casinos in Las Vegas are allowed 100% capacity. Masks aren’t necessary since I’m vaccinated. Lastly, the plexiglass is down.
Blackjack and other table games are a social experience for me. I’ve skipped playing blackjack games because it wasn’t the casino adventure I prefer. Playing table games didn’t work for my kind of fun.
Fewer people at the table, plexiglass, and face coverings got in the way of how I prefer to gamble. I’m almost ready to get back to the tables now.
The last part is important to me. I have no problem wearing a mask in public. I’m a recreational blackjack player looking for fun times with fun people. Booze is usually a part of the mix when I play blackjack.
Raising and lowering a mask to drink just wasn’t fun at casino bars or table games. Frankly, it’s not something I want when I’m playing blackjack. Instead of playing my favorite table games in the casinos over the past year, I stuck to machine games. I enjoy video poker but can get out of hand when I play slot machines.
I recently reinstalled a blackjack training app to knock off the rust before heading back to the casino. There’s a lot of rust in my game but I still receive an A- grade as a blackjack player. I’m not a perfect blackjack player but when I play often I’m pretty close.
My goal is to get back to an A+ so I can keep the house edge for the casino at a manageable rate. The fewer errors I have playing blackjack, the longer my bankroll will last over time. I’ll have more fun the longer I play. Maybe I’ll win a few bucks but I gamble with friends to have a fun night out.
Key Blackjack Hands
Contributing news to this website has given me an extra excuse to pay closer attention to casino blackjack. I practice playing blackjack fairly often. Sometimes it’s just a fun way to keep my mind active between pitches of a baseball game.
Something important to remember is that the overall house edge of any casino game takes place over many hands. Sometimes the correct play wins and sometimes it loses. However, over time these plays will allow for players to keep the house edge as low as possible. The odds can even swing in your favor if you can add card counting to your play.
There are two particular hands that stand out to making me a better blackjack player. Playing both hands correctly according to basic strategy continues to help make my blackjack bankroll last a little longer.
- Always double an 11: I used to be a somewhat timid blackjack player that didn’t always use this opportunity to double. Now I know better and don’t even look at what the dealer has before I slide extra chips to the betting circle. I’ve absolutely made money and had more fun playing this hand correctly.
- Hitting Soft 18: According to basic strategy, a player should hit their soft 18 (Ace and 7) against a dealer 9, 10, Jack, Queen, or King. I rarely made this play before contributing to this blog. Now I make it all the time regardless of the side-eye from other players.
I’m almost ready to hit the tables again. I’m sure a few more hands I forgot about will pop up as I gear up to take part of the Great Vegas Comeback ™.
