Lessons learned at the blackjack and roulette tables

My nerves steeled after reading up on blackjack and roulette, thanks to some handouts I picked up explaining the rules of each game, I decided it was time to try my luck on my visit to the Muckleshoot Casino.

I settled on a blackjack table with a friendly looking crowd including a smiling young couple and a beefy man with a cigarette in one hand.

The object of the game, as I understood it from the brochure, was to reach 21 points or at least come closer than the dealer's hand (aces can count as either 1 or 11, jacks, queens and kings are 10 points and numbered cards whatever their face value). It seemed easy enough on paper. What I did not take into account was the speed of the game and the intimidation factor. The other players held huge stacks of chips — if they lost a few here and there, what would it matter? — and there I was with a paltry $20 worth.

Even before the dealer dealt each of us our first two cards in a blur of hand motions — mine were a Jack and a three — I was feeling out of my league.

My goal was to see how far $20 would get me, and it seemingly took 20 seconds to find out: not very far. With 13 points total, I made a scratching motion with my fingers to draw more cards. You lose if your additional drawn cards push you over the 21 mark, though. I got a 9 right off: 22 points.

OK, enough of that, I told myself. I should have bet smaller amounts, and studied up more. On to roulette.

The game is beautiful in its simplicity — numbered grid on a felt table, shiny wooden wheel studded with red and black numbered slots, little white ball set to motion with a cool flick of the dealer's wrist. No calculations to make in your head. No strategizing.

A display box showed the winning numbers from previous games and the other four players examined it before picking numbers they didn't see on the board. I chose numbers corresponding to family members' birthdays.

Again, I set a limit of $20 worth of chips. One newcomer laid a crisp $100 bill on the table — I saw this often while visiting the casinos — and the dealer slid him a few stacks of chips to enter the game.

As the white ball spins, you can keep placing chips on numbers until the dealer waves his palms above the table to halt betting. The anticipation hits you in the gut, whether you're betting a few 25-cent credits at a slot machine or $100 at the tables.

Casino chips may look like play money, but they represent paychecks and bank accounts, I kept thinking. What am I — and all these other people — doing here?

Suddenly, the ball rolled down toward the red and black numbered panels and skipped over them until settling on 31. The dealer placed a marker on the two chips stacked on that square on the board. The dealer removed everyone else's chips, then slid the lucky but unsmiling woman her winnings.

I decided to skip the drama of betting more money and watch the human drama instead.