My latest for Forbes considers possible downsides of changes to blackjack:
For about two hundred years, blackjack was the casino equivalent of a benchwarmer. Into the 1950s, the most popular casino game in Las Vegas was craps, a rollicking, social game that was seen at its most colorful in Guys and Dolls. When the dice were hot, craps was a party, and when they weren’t, everyone suffered together. Blackjack, by contrast, is a game that pits each player individually against the dealer and often each other. A novice player who deviates from basic strategy and hits when standing is advised might be castigated for “taking the dealer’s ten.” Crapping out, by contrast, can only be blamed on the whimsy of luck, which, as Sky Masterson knew, isn’t always a lady.
Read it all: Blackjack’s Rise And Fall Shows What Drives Customers Away