Newbies?

Yesterday I tried teaching a coworker how to play Pai Gow Poker. He dind't like it because he dind't win at once (newby!), so he asked that I teach him BJ. Fine, I can be the dealer. I dealt him two cards face up, and myself one card face up and one face down. Well that caused an explosion of indignation around the table (we were eating lunch, waiting for the food to be served).

Two others argued I should deal the player one card face down and one face up. Now, I don't play BJ often, but I've never seen that. cards are always dealt face up, except in one-deck games when they are dealt face down. And of course it doesn't matter what cards the player has, because the delaer plays according to a set of rules, without regard to what he's playing against.

Question: has anyone ever seen players being dealt cards like that, one face up and one face down?

I never saw it done that way, except in home games where people argue about the rules.


And the only reason for both to be dealt down in one deck games it because a skilled player can use the information to his advantage, kinda like a very short card count. In six deck games, showing all the cards doesn't add much to a counter's advantage.

Quote: DJTeddyBear

I never saw it done that way, except in home games where people argue about the rules.

I've seen that in home games, too, but never at any casino. The argument I faced was that all casinos deal that way, which is news to me. One of the coworkers, call him Lefty, lived for years in Spain, so I thought maybe he saw that kind of dealing in Europe, but I highly doubt it. Lefty's well known for making up rules on a whim.

What everyone failed to understand at first was that the dealer will hit or stand regardless of what cards the player holds. Of course I used simplified rules, like the dealer stands on all 17s. So if the player has 19 and the dealer 17, the dealer stands. End of story. If the players has 12 and the dealer 16, the dealer hits; if he draws a 6, he busts. They still wouldn't believe me at first.

And wait til I'm ready to tell you their opinion of three card poker. Would you believe an A, K, J off suit was folded?

I've seen amateurs deal one card up and one card down to the players in blackjack at home games too. When I would question it, the answer would usually be along the lines of he didn't want either side to have an unfair advantage. Then I tried to explain why the advantage is the same regardless of how the player cards are dealt, but it always seems to fall on deaf ears.

Quote: Nareed

And wait til I'm ready to tell you their opinion of three card poker. Would you believe an A, K, J off suit was folded?

Just playing the Pair+?, dealer exposed a pair or better, you are a psychic. Edit to add: My next post will be my 10oth, better make it something good.

Oh, we didn't get as far as the pair+. We didn't use money or chips at all. Maybe next time I'll print a playing surface and bring some chips along.

I tried to explain that the less cards you are dealt, the lower the possibility of a pair or higher, especially if there are no discards. Therefore in TCP a high card is the winner very often.

This all got started because one of my coworkers said he coulnd't understand casino games, and I told him I could teach him the basics of any game I know in 30 minutes or less. Hell, in TCP I can teach him strategy in 30 mins or less!

What I noticed is he gest upset if he loses, especially so if there are no discards, draws or hits, in short if he only plays the cards dealt. Worse than that, he expects to win each hand. If he truly does, then it's best for him to stay away from all fomrs of gambling.

If I'm not mistaken, there is a version of blackjack, meant to be played competitively, where the dealer has the option to stand if he believes he holds the best hand. To be honest, it's more a variation of poker than actual blackjack, only relying on point totals rather than poker hands. My grandma and I would use to play with pennies from a Folgers can, although Grandma would play by standard casino house rules most of the time.

To my knowledge, this game does not exist in a casino format, so it sounds like your coworkers just don't gamble at all. And as far as the TCP scenario, with A,K,J being folded, I have seen a player in a casino fold it. He was a much older gentleman who, for some reason or another, folded ANYTHING that wasn't a pair. Not sure why you would play the game if you're that tight; he must have been a poker player, and that particular casino didn't have a poker room.

Sounds somewhat like Extreme 21.

Quote: Nareed

I told him I could teach him the basics of any game I know in 30 minutes or less. Hell, in TCP I can teach him strategy in 30 mins or less!

You'd probably have better luck teaching the game to a trained chimp.

Quote: Nareed

Worse than that, he expects to win each hand. If he truly does, then it's best for him to stay away from all fomrs of gambling.

I'd love to see, from a distance, his reaction to a slot machine where he gets the cherries, but not in the first position...