Still need more convincing? Then you owe it to yourself to walk over to the kitchen table and deal yourself some blackjack with a pinochle deck, where the smallest card is a 9. Take full advantage of all those high cards by splitting 10's every time the dealer has a 9 showing. Double down with Ace/9 against a 9 up and always take Insurance. Keep score for 40 or 50 hands. It it'll become obvious what's happening.

You see, with no cards smaller than a 9, everybody is always dealt a pat hand, except for a pair of Aces. You can never bust (except by suicide)! That was the dealer's sole advantage--that he always takes your money immediately when you bust, even if he breaks later in the hand himself. With all else being equal, it would now be an even game. Aah, but all else is not equal!

Why not? For one thing, the dealer can still bust. How? What about when he turns over this hand?