[DeadMoneyDad]

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And its the same thing that distinguishes poker from blackjack. Other than the limited surrender option in some casinos, every blackjack hand must be played to the final card. Hence the cards always decide the winner; though skillful betting and hitting/standing improve your odds (for some folks even to +EV), skill acts never CONTROL whether you win or lose a hand in blackjack.

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How is intentionally busting then not the same 'skill element' as folding preflop? I have to say this is where I find the argument for poker very awkward. Saying that a poker hand ended because someone applied their skill element of folding sounds retarded. I can end a blackjack hand by repeatedly hitting until I bust and that would be the complete opposite of skill.

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I could be completely wrong but the skill game argument of poker vs blackjack has less to do with the amount of skill involved than the fact that in blackjack you are playing against the house, where the house has a built in advantage.

A very "skillful" player can beat the house in blackjack, but there aren't that many and the house will soon ban them, just ask Andy Block among others.

Poker on the other hand is played against other players. Yes in a raked game the house always makes money but it doesn't gain an advantage from less skilled players the way it does in blackjack.

In poker the better your skill level, the more profitable the game is over the long run. Yes this is also true in blackjack but ultimately in blackjack there is an insurmountable wall that is the house's advantage.

So the fact that you can fold rather than double down in blackjack is about the only way to both increase your bet as well pretty much ends the similarities between the two games. There is no further betting nor folding in blackjack and after the first move the game is entirely dependent on chance, in poker the additional betting rounds acutally increase the amount of skill to ultimately win the most pots.

In additon in blackjack no matter how badly you play a hand it has no influence on the outcome of future hands, you can really mess up someone else sitting at the table for that hand, in blackjack, but your skill level displayed never changes the dealers strategy for future hands. This is what is missed by most people who have learned poker from watching it on television.


D$D