Blackjack and Global Pandemics

Back in the 1990s, I knew a guy who worked as a blackjack dealer in Vegas. Naturally, I asked him about counting cards.

He told me the casinos' attitude toward card-counting had quickly changed from "kick'em if we catch'em" to "let'em keep losing." Because, he said, most people who tried to count cards just weren't very good at it, but tended to play longer (and lose more) than regular players who followed the basic, reasonably sound, strategies.

I try very hard to keep that story in mind when I see someone leaping to a broad conclusion from limited data (or, especially, a single datum). Especially in a casino as big as Planet Earth and with a game as complex as COVID-19.