Blackjack Present and Future
Gambling is currently the leading industry in the United States. It brings in well over $500 billion annually, much of which is illegal. Practically everyone has the "itch" to participate at one time or another. Among gamblers, card playing is the number one activity. It is difficult to determine the number of blackjack players, but one would expect it to be in the millions, and climbing.
Nevada and Atlantic City continue to expand the number of casinos, and with lotto fever sweeping the country the expansion of casino gambling is inevitable. An article titled "Heartland's Gaming Explosion" by Frank Kolar in the February 1990 Win magazine discussed how Iowa, North and South Dakota, Michigan, Wisconsin and Ohio were looking to casino gambling as a solution to the economic crunch. Already, some of Mr. Kolar's predictions have come true. In addition to the states mentioned, Colorado recently legalized gambling on a limited basis in three Rocky Mountain communities.
They report business to be booming and many more casinos are planned. Blackjack, slots and video poker are offered at the three mountain towns of Cripple Creek, Central City, and Blackhawk. As of this writing, Cripple Creek is the only town of the three that offers a poker table. There are currently six casinos in Central City and eight to twelve are planned. Compared to the casinos of Nevada and Atlantic City, these establishments are strictly mom and pop operations. However, the profits from the slots and blackjack tables have exceeded all expectations and there will be no problem getting new investors to open additional casinos. The fever to legalize casino gambling has spread so fast that several states have legalized it and begun operations since the early chapters of this book were written! As with Colorado, all of the states that are legalizing casino gambling are doing so on a limited basis with low-stakes blackjack as the main attraction.
Because the game of blackjack can be beaten, it is the leading game in Nevada and Atlantic City. This game is the featured game at all of the casinos of the "expansion" states and indications are it will continue to be so.