[VLM]

Any multi player game with hidden data lets you troll the other players. So if its the dealer and two or more players sharing a deck you can mess with them.

Everyone counts cards so under extremely rare circumstances given card count X you can play as if the count is X+1 or X-1 thus mess with the minds of people who accurately believe the count to be X, possibly leading to an advantage, if, statistically, they're in a position where being one off in the count is worse for them than it is for you, or if you're in such a bad spot that it doesn't matter if you signal something false you're doomed anyway.

Most of the people claiming to shuffle track, are not. Still, you got three guys watching the dealer shuffle by hand, then two can troll the third by pretending and the third's all like "what did I miss?" maybe panic and do something dumb.

Its not as much fun as poker, no.

[ghaff]

But there are effectively no other players as far as you're concerned. You're playing against the dealer/house who makes purely rule-based plays.

[VLM]

Three players off the same deck is not unheard of, I suppose it depends on state regulators and casino policy.

I agree theres no direct me vs you money transfer but plenty of "we're all gonna start with $500 and whoever has more at the end of the night is the winner".

Although I would agree with you in spirit, if you want to feel like you're playing poker, theres no point in simulating it poorly with blackjack unless theres extenuating circumstances (one of your buddies is nuts for the game, or thinks he's gods gift to the card counting art, etc)

[jknightco]

It doesn't matter how many people are playing off the same deck, you're only playing against the dealer, and they're following protocol. When its your turn, its you vs. the state of the game.

You can add rules on top of a game all you want (e.g. we're all gonna start...) but that doesn't change the actual game that's being played.

[dnautics]

What's the hidden data in blackjack? All the cards are face up except the one dealer card.

[VLM]

New player : Whats card counting?

Intermediate player (where its possible to mess with people) : I'm not good at this, whats the count now?

(edited to note: I think external card counting devices like a phone app are illegal everywhere, which does leave some of the fun in the game)

Experienced player : Everyone is effectively perfect at card counting making it boring again.

Something I don't like about blackjack as a game is casinos minimize the entertainment of the game by having like six decks that are shuffled constantly, how super boring why not just play slots or set your cash on fire and watch it burn. If you play it at home with one deck multiplayer and no shuffling foolishness its a moderately entertaining arithmetic game with multiple meta levels of "press your luck" although the house doesn't have guaranteed boring income under that format, which is why casinos won't play that way. Its a game that's too much fun not to be made boring, or something like that. Casinos could take sex and make it boring. Not a fan.