Favorite Blackjack stories

I wanted to share some of my favorite blackjack stories.

I was at Mystic Lake in Minnesota about 12 years ago playing 6-deck, at 2B. Both dealer cards were exposed by accident, and it was an 18. The kid at 3B had a 17 and he waved it off. The rest of us were adults, and we explained to the kid that he would lose for sure if he didn't hit it, and he said, "But you are not supposed to hit a 17." We finally talked him into hitting, and he got a 3. The kicker to the story: I was telling a group of people the story a few days later, and a woman said she wouldn't have hit it cuz it would have messed up the card flow. LOL, LOL, LOL.

Around the same time frame I was at Harrah's Prairie Band (Now Prairie Band, the Indians dropped their Harrah's affiliation) north of Topeka, KS. You know how when you have a 3 card hard 11, there is no decision to be made, and a kid had a 3 card hard 11 and the dealer dealt the next card (10, for a 21) without a signal from the kid. In all seriousness, the kid said, "I didn't ask for a hit." The dealer, of course, said, "Would you like me to take it back?"

One time I couldn't talk a woman out of splitting tens. She ended up winning one, and losing the other, and said, "See, I pushed". Of course she would have won if she hadn't split.

The Crazy Al stories will have to wait until later.

Oh I know some too...

I was playing BJ a week ago and one gentlemen didn't want hit his soft 15. He waved it off and I really wanted to say "Are you crazy?" Later that evening 2 kids joined the Table and made some really stupid plays like hitting a hard 17. Of course he lost the whole table sighed and they laughed. If only I could laugh when loosing money...

Just the morons who tell me I shouldn't have taken that bust card. Guess what? If I had known what the card was I wouldn't have taken it.

Not Blackjack (which I hardly ever play), but I've got a few good Baccarat stories.

About eight or nine years ago, at the LV Hilton big tables, my s/o and I sat across from a couple who were tossing a coin to decide whether to bet Player or Banker. Everyone thought it was hilarious, with the dealers and other staff joking about taking action on the coin tosses. The best part was that the couple got on a serious streak, so everyone at that end of the table was betting on the coin tosses by the end of the shoe.

Playing at the LV Hilton about two or three years after that, sat down shortly after the shuffle at seat 5, Chinese gentleman in a suit at 3. I stupidly make a comment about how it's nice that I'll have an open spot next to me, saying the word "four" out loud as I do so. Chinese gentleman gives me a look that sends chills down my spine. Any time he turns over a four for the rest of the evening, he hisses at me.

At the MGM a year or two later, seeing another Asian gentleman not just ripping up cards, but eating them. At the Hilton on the same trip, seeing an idiot sticking his Baccarat pen through winning cards and throwing it like a missile at the Caller, then requesting the pen back so that he could do it again on the next hand. Over and over again.

I read a news story very recently about somebody getting slapped with a fine for letting an idiot dance on the Baccarat table. NGC regarded the casino as having put the other players at risk.

My buddy likes to double hard 12.

Quote: slyther

My buddy likes to double hard 12.

Some of the, to be polite, non-standard plays, I can kind of see what the player might be thinking, but on this one there is no rationale whatever as far as I can tell. Have you recommended your buddy to quit doing this? Several years ago there was a player named Skip, from Oklahoma, who announced to the table in advance that he does this. I asked him why on earth would he do that, and his reply was that there was only one card that could hurt you. I explained to him that the whole concept of the game was based on the fact that there were 4 times as many of those as any other card, and he went, "Gee, I didn't think of that."

My favorite argument I got in with a dealer/floor supervisor was in regards to soft 13.

The dealer (who had just been promoted to supervisor) told a player that his favorite hand to double. The reason: There was only a 9 value card made the hand worse. I explained that, on a DOUBLE DOWN, a 10,J,Q,K,A,2,and 9 all meant the same thing; you needed the dealer to bust. He said, "If you get an A, you have fourteen, that's better than 13." Again, I explained on a double it didn't mean anything, since you couldn't pull another card, so a 14 at that point was the same as a 12. He got REALLY belligerent with me, getting other players involved to defend his awful logic.

I colored up my chips and left. While I don't play at that casino much now, if I saw him supervise or deal in the pit, I would move to another pit if I could.

There was a story posted here some time ago. The gist was that a high roller made a rude remark to a $10 player, then behaved rudely throughout the game. At the last the high-roller asked to ride the $10 player's bet, whereupon the latter busted on purpose thus loosing the boor thousands.

I hunted around for it but didn't find it.

Quote: Nareed

There was a story posted here some time ago. The gist was that a high roller made a rude remark to a $10 player, then behaved rudely throughout the game. At the last the high-roller asked to ride the $10 player's bet, whereupon the latter busted on purpose thus loosing the boor thousands.

I hunted around for it but didn't find it.

It's here:
https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/questions-and-answers/casual-corner/1680-gambling-jokes/#post16672

Quote: DJTeddyBear

It's here:
https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/questions-and-answers/casual-corner/1680-gambling-jokes/#post16672

In my own thread no less.

Thanks for finding it.

Quote: Tiltpoul

My favorite argument I got in with a dealer/floor supervisor was in regards to soft 13.

The dealer (who had just been promoted to supervisor) told a player that his favorite hand to double. The reason: There was only a 9 value card made the hand worse. I explained that, on a DOUBLE DOWN, a 10,J,Q,K,A,2,and 9 all meant the same thing; you needed the dealer to bust. He said, "If you get an A, you have fourteen, that's better than 13." Again, I explained on a double it didn't mean anything, since you couldn't pull another card, so a 14 at that point was the same as a 12. He got REALLY belligerent with me, getting other players involved to defend his awful logic.

I colored up my chips and left. While I don't play at that casino much now, if I saw him supervise or deal in the pit, I would move to another pit if I could.

Wow, what an effing moron. Of course, when most players double a hard 11 and get an ace, we think its worse than a 2 thru 5, but it isn't (except for the fact that it wastes an ace)

According to the Wizard, when playing at a spanish 21 table with a re-double option, if you double down on hard 11 vs. 7 or 8 and receive an ace (hard 12) you're supposed to double down again. I did this and ya people thought I was crazy.

Quote: ikilledjerrylogan

According to the Wizard, when playing at a spanish 21 table with a re-double option, if you double down on hard 11 vs. 7 or 8 and receive an ace (hard 12) you're supposed to double down again. I did this and ya people thought I was crazy.

I've done that a few times. I get more comments when I double a soft 18.

Quote: Nareed

There was a story posted here some time ago. The gist was that a high roller made a rude remark to a $10 player, then behaved rudely throughout the game. At the last the high-roller asked to ride the $10 player's bet, whereupon the latter busted on purpose thus loosing the boor thousands.

Woooow... that was actually pretty ballsy and kinda cool that the $10 player did that. Hmmmm... my "following the asshole guy to different tables at Bellagio just to piss him off" story doesn't come close but this sounds like something I would do! ;)

I'll keep that one in my back pocket for later.....
Muahahahaha

Dealing at the Fiesta during a rapper's convention of sorts:
Dealing BJ to newbie, I flip over an A-6, say "Dealer has soft 17, hitting...." and get a 10. "Dealer has 17." End of story.
Player says, "No, my man - you still got an Ace - you gotta hit it 'til is BUSS." I said "no I don't..." and proceeded to take-and-pay.
They were something else on the crap tables: "Lemme get a C & E, OFF on the come-out." Or...
"My Field bet is off for two rolls"
"No it's not...Field bet if off if you pick it up." Then they tried to pick it up when a 5 is rolled before I could take it as a loser....a big no-no. That's not how it works...

Quote: HotBlonde

Woooow... that was actually pretty ballsy and kinda cool that the $10 player did that. Hmmmm... my "following the asshole guy to different tables at Bellagio just to piss him off" story doesn't come close but this sounds like something I would do! ;)

I wouldn't have followed the rude guy around like you did. But I would bust on purpose to pay back such a creature.

Quote: Nareed

I wouldn't have followed the rude guy around like you did. But I would bust on purpose to pay back such a creature.

Don't forget to split 10s,too. That always gets 'em.

Quote: benbakdoff

Don't forget to split 10s,too. That always gets 'em.

No. When you try to get cute things may backfire. Suppose you split tens, and the drunk boor is stupid enough to supply the money for it, and you get dealt aces?

Quote: benbakdoff

Don't forget to split 10s,too. That always gets 'em.

I doubled down on a blackjack once just for fun. I'm curious what the people at my table thought of that.

I'm actually pondering if it makes sense to give up a little house edge to increase variance, on those decisions that are a close call but in which you bet more. Close calls on doubling and splitting, that is.

When I say "makes sense" , I don't mean that somehow the house edge doesnt matter, but this game sort of suffers from the lack of variance.

Quote: HotBlonde

I doubled down on a blackjack once just for fun. I'm curious what the people at my table thought of that.

You did not observe reactions? Everyone reacted in silence?

Quote: JuniorWiz

You did not observe reactions? Everyone reacted in silence?

I think from what I remember people didn't really react. I thought it was fun and I won.

Quote: Nareed

No. When you try to get cute things may backfire. Suppose you split tens, and the drunk boor is stupid enough to supply the money for it, and you get dealt aces?

Two words: Double down.

Quote: waltomeal

Two words: Double down.

I dont' play BJ, but I seem to recall the phrase "No double after split" in many bad rules.

Two bored casino dealers are waiting at the crap table. A very attractive Blonde woman from South Alabama arrived and bet twenty thousand dollars ($20,000) on a single roll of the dice. She said, ‘I hope you don’t mind, but I feel much luckier when I play Topless.’

With that, she stripped to the waist; rolled the dice; and yelled, ‘Come on, Southern Girl needs new clothes!’

As the dice bounced and came to a stop, she jumped up-and-down and squealed ‘YES! YES! I WON! I WON!’

She hugged each of the dealers…and then picked up her winnings, and her Clothes, and quickly departed.

The dealers stared at each other dumfounded. Finally, one of them asked, ‘What did she roll?’

The other answered, ‘I don’t know… I thought you were watching.’

What are the odds Dan would have been watching the dice ?? LOL

Quote: HotBlonde

I thought it was fun and I won.

Certainly courageous of you to risk a known win of X for an unknown chance at 2X. Of course had you lost you might now have a different opinion as to the degree of fun that was had.

I played BJ for decades. What I constantly saw was people quitting
while they were ahead, chortling to everybody about it, and a hour
later I see them at another table losing it all. Saw this happen hundreds
of times, greed gets the best of most people, they have zero discipline.

Quote: EvenBob

I played BJ for decades. What I constantly saw was people quitting
while they were ahead, chortling to everybody about it, and a hour
later I see them at another table losing it all. Saw this happen hundreds
of times, greed gets the best of most people, they have zero discipline.

But Bob, they were playing with the house's money !! LOL

When asking about a play, many players and even some dealers say, "Do you hit a 12 against a dealer 12?" rather than "12 against a 2". I call them out on it virtually every time.

When asking about a play, many players and even some dealers say, "Do you hit a 12 against a dealer 12?" rather than "12 against a 2". I call them out on it virtually every time.

Haw about the dealer's who say " A deuce is my Ace" ?

Quote: EvenBob

What I saw was people quitting while they were ahead later I see them at another table losing it all.

Well, if they've already had dinner and didn't win enough for a hooker, what else were they going to do in a casino but go hit the tables again? Cadge free drinks from the bartender by feeding his tip jar and a VP machine?

Quote: buzzpaff

Haw about the dealer's who say " A deuce is my Ace" ?

And I bet most players and many dealers think a dealer is "supposed" (more than 50%) to bust a "bust" card

Quote: FleaStiff

Certainly courageous of you to risk a known win of X for an unknown chance at 2X. Of course had you lost you might now have a different opinion as to the degree of fun that was had.

That would be a known win of 1.5X for an unknown chance at 2X

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How about when all players have 13 thru 16 and dealer has a 2 thru 6 up and some player says, "Well, somebody has to take a hit. If no one is going to, I will"

Had an interesting scenario develop a year ago.

Dealer is showing a 4 and every one at the table has to stand(17,18,15,etc.)

I'm sitting at the last spot with A-8 and the person to my right has a 12 and ponders for a few seconds.

The dealer all of a sudden deals him a card, without a hand signal, and he gets a 2.

He props up and yells "Wait! I didn't ask for a Card!"

So the pit boss comes over, tells the dealer to pull back the 2 and asks him what he wants to do?

He says "Stand...obviously"

The pit boss then asks me what do I want to do?

Puzzled, I asked "Am I getting that 2 if I hit?"(thinking they may burn that card because it's been exposed)

He said "Yes, that is the next card. What do you want to do?"

I quickly grabbed a green chip and said "I guess I'll Double" Dealer gives me the 2 on my A-8, for a free peak 21!

She proceeds to turn up her card, and it's a 6, giving her 10. She draws another 2 and then a 7!

So it went from I was slated to lose with 19, got a free Double Down 21 and beat the dealer's 19.

Good for you - you'd think they'd have a rule in place to burn such cards. (...though strictly speaking, a push isn't "losing"...)

What did the table said ? Because you took the dealers bust card.

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Quote: 24Bingo

Good for you - you'd think they'd have a rule in place to burn such cards. (...though strictly speaking, a push isn't "losing"...)

I've seen it go both ways before. Once I witnessed the dealer showing a 9 but exposed the next shoe card, and it was a 10. Seat 1 had 13 and seat 2 had 10. So the pit boss didn't give them the option to take or leave THAT card. He just said, burn the 10 and deal the next card to Seat 1. He had no choice but to hit his 13 and pulled an Ace, then a 10. Seat 2 doubled down and got a 4! Of course the dealer had a 19, so there was some barking from the guy who lost Double.


Another time, a lady wanted to hit a 12 vs a 3, but the dealer assumed she would Stand.

So he turned up his 13 and caught an 8.

The lady quickly said, "Hold up, I didn't give signal and I was going to hit!"

The pit boss ruled that the dealer's hand won't change and the 8 stays for 21.

He said, however you can hit your 12 if you want but you won't get the dealer's 8, you get the next card!

She started a big fuss, and to defuse the situation he offered to let us take back our bets and call it a dead hand. So we lucked out.

Obviously the player should have said something before she drew the card but after the dealer flipped over the hand.

My question, what is the math on hitting and standing your 12 against a dealer 13?

Sorry, you are perfectly right - got the math wrong :)

Quote: DRich

Obviously the player should have said something before she drew the card but after the dealer flipped over the hand.

My question, what is the math on hitting and standing your 12 against a dealer 13?

According to Wong in Pro. BJ, I can't remember the exact numbers right now but, I do believe you wind up losing less if you hit. Remember it's not about winning, rather it's about losing less.

My favorite blackjack story....It's something I call the perfect shoe, that occurred early last year. I have posted about the experience on another blackjack site, so my apologies to those of you that are members of both sites, but in accordance to the topic of favorite blackjack stories, I though some may enjoy it. The term 'perfect shoe' is not meant to imply that I won every hand that shoe. I did not. Lost a number early on when my smaller bets were out. But once the count reached a point that I had my max bet out, I did not lose a single hand out of 30+ rounds, except for one split situation where I won one hand and lost the other. Another aspect that made this a perfect scenario, was the timing of the exits by the other players. Two players were with me at the table for a few early rounds helping to eat all the small cards that came out. They both left at just the right time to leave me to play the remainder of the shoe when all the high cards were coming out. Just perfect. Here is the re-post.

I have let a few days pass before posting about this event for obvious reasons. I actually have debated whether I should post about it at all, as I know doing so has absolutely no positive value for me and could have negative consequences, however to be honest, I am just bursting to share this event. I have shared it with a few non blackjack playing friends and while I know they are extremely happy for me, they fail to really appreciate the enormity of the event. So I post, minus names, places and time details.

It was the second shoe of the day for me. A 6-deck game with really decent penetration. The first shoe, also at this table was uneventful as the count hovered around zero. Didn't go low enough to exit, didn't go high enough to raise my bet. Myself and one other player both playing a single spot were joined in the second round by a third player wagering 2 hands. The small cards began to come out. The count grew. I began to increase my wagers up my betting ramp. Lost some hands, won some hands. With all the small cards appearing, I was actually holding my own. The count reaches my max wager point. About this time the player wagering 2 hands, and losing most, exits. Thanks! Small cards are still coming out. But, I am placing my max bet and winning. One hand I drew a 5 card 20. A couple other hands, my 4 card hand beat the dealers 4 card hand. The gent I had played the previous shoe with has had enough and exits, leaving only myself.

The true count hits double digits. I decide to increase my max bet by 50%, which I know sounds kind of oxymoron-ish. My max bet is actually determined by a betting level that I wish to stay under, to avoid heat, rather than by bankroll limitations, as my bankroll can actually support a bigger max bet, so this is a move I have built into my plan for certain extreme situation and this most definitely qualifies. Probably most of you would have increased even more, but I stick to my game plan.

Anyway, by the end of the shoe I have played at least 30, maybe 35 hands at max bets, with 20-25 of them being this 'super max bet'. I pushed two hands of 20, one which seemed like a win, (more on that in a minute) and had one split that ended up as a push with one win, one loss. I won every other hand, including a number of doubledowns. Ironically, No blackjacks. By the time the dust had settled I had won 870 units or the equivalent of 54 of my original max bets. This is an astonishing amount to me. More than 1/4 of my total income for each of the last 2 years. (not combined) More than I made total in my first 2 years of play of fulltime play. I don't see how I will ever come close to this feat again. I may someday play at a higher level with much greater max bets, than I do now, which could allow me to make more than this on a single very good shoe, but I don't believe I will ever play 30 some hands at max bet and not lose a single hand.

Now, how can a push with max bet seem like a win? Let me tell you. I had a 10 vs dealer 10 and with a double digit TC the play was to double. By this time a gentleman from the pit had taken a mild interest in the game and I decided not to push the envelope by doubling as called for. I hit, drew a 2, hit a second time and drew an 8 to push the dealers 20. Had I doubled, I have a 12 and lose my double. The push seemed like a win to me.

Update: I had a medical situation in the fall of last year which sidelined me for nearly 3 months. Because of this my years total both in rounds played and money won were off from other years, so this 15 minutes of play ended up accounting for nearly 1/3 of my win for the year.

My favorite personal blackjack story is actually a losing one.

It wasn't a big swing and only $50 bet (if memory serves) but I once hit a single hand EIGHT TIMES.

Ace-2 starting hand, against a dealer Queen. Hit.

Ace. Hit again.

Two. Hit it.

Ace again. Geez. Seventeen, but it's SOFT against a Ten, so HIT.

Five. Aieee, hard twelve, starting over: so hit it.

Ace. WTF! Hit again!!!

Two. AAAAAAAAAAH, HIT!!!

ACE!!!

Oh fer the luv of...

"Hey floor, can you gimme a special rule 9-CARD CHARLIE over here???"

HIT IT AGAIN, GODDAMMIT

THREE!

So I finally landed on HARD 19 with this, a ten-card hand.
A - 2 - A - 2 - A - 5 - A - 2 - A - 3

Dealer flipped over a JACK :-(

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Quote: Ibeatyouraces

Obviously you left after this hand I'd hope, right.

Well, y'know it was a decent game with good rules overall. 6 decks, and this hand was early in the shoe, so yeah five of the aces wasted on this one stupid hand but still nineteen left. And TC unaffected, RC after this hand only -2 (my hand neutral, all cancels out, so only the two dealer tens -1 -1).

So, really, why leave?

But, yeah, actually, I'm pretty sure I did take a break after this anyway, LOL. Some days you just shouldn't play.

-DBJT

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