There’s no doubt that playing blackjack in a casino is fun. It’s always amusing to see our favorite game outside of the casino in the real world.
Blackjack recently made an appearance during NHL All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas and a regular-season NBA game in Philadelphia. While the NHL game involved some kind of skill, the NBA version showed a player with less blackjack competency.
Blackjack At The NHL All-Star Game
During NHL All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas, the league left the main venue, T-Mobile Arena, for a couple of Skills Competition events.
The Fountain Faceoff on the lake in front of Bellagio was a great backdrop for an event. The competition that was a bit more intriguing was the blackjack game called 21 in 22.
The blackjack-style competition took place right on the famed Vegas Strip. In this competition, players shot pucks at a full deck of oversized cards on a rack. The object of the game was to reach a hand of 21 without going bust.
The two players that did this in the least number of shots would move on to the finals. The player who wins two rounds is crowned Puck Shark. The event was affectionately referred to as Hockey Blackjack.
Joe Pavelski of the Dallas Stars took on Steven Samkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning in the final round. Pavelski showed the most skills by not missing a single shot in both rounds. He walked away as the winner of 21 in 22.
The event was fun but it was a surprisingly chilly night in Las Vegas. The players didn’t hid that they were chilly and made sure we knew it.
Kudos to the NHL for creating a unique event and using a great background like Bellagio for its NHL All-Star Weekend. You can watch the full NHL 21 in 22 competition here:
76ers Live Blackjack Game
The Philadelphia 76ers recently had a promotion for Parx Casino during a home game. This promotion had a fan in attendance playing blackjack with 76ers mascot Franklin the Dog dealing.
The goal for the player was to get as close to 21 without going over. The player, Austin, hits to reach 17. Since the dealer had a 7 showing he hit again to get to 20.
Regardless of the game, most people would stop with a 20 and the dealer showing a 7. However, the player seems to be egged on by the emcee to take another card.
Austin took another card which turned out to be a Jack. It’s nearly impossible to get a 30 unless you’re a recreational blackjack player from New Jersey but that’s what happened.
Even though the player busted, he still received a gift for participating. As you’d expect the internet had a little too much fun mocking the bad blackjack play.
It’s always fun to see blackjack games in the wild. Even though the player misplayed the hand, it seems like he had a good time and received a prize regardless of the result.
You can see Austin’s blackjack game below:
