Passing objects to a function

[Thomas Philips]

I'd like to write the parameter list of a method or function in a way
that makes the class of each parameter crystal clear, thus decreasing
the likelihood of a programming error.

I am programming a blackjack game with Card and Hand objects, and
these in turn have methods that require Card objects, Hand objects or
both. For example, the class Hand has a method BlackJackValue that
computes the value of a hand using the rules of blackjack. I'd like to
write the method (approximately) in the form

def BlackJackValue(hand=Hand):
   adfsadf
   adfasdf
   .
   .
   .

It takes only one look at this method's definition to realize that it
requires an object of type Hand. Unfortunately, my mangled syntax
describes the way in which default parameters are passed, and does not
allow me to document the class of each parameter. What's the right way
to achieve my goal?

Sincerely

Thomas Philips