Spanish 21 and Effect of Dealer's Collusion

I was recently on a cruise, playing Spanish 21 at a $6 minimum. First of all, has anyone seen a $6 minimum before?

Secondly, after bet-toking $1 every few hands, the dealer grew quite fond of me. Apparently I was the only player that had tipped him the entire cruise.

Here is what he did, unsolicited, quietly and under his breath:

1. On a dealer ace, briefly ten-check, and then offer insurance. Sometimes, he told me I should take insurance. Each time he did this, he had blackjack.

2. On a dealer ten, briefly ace-check, and then offer surrender. Sometimes, he told me I should surrender. Each time he did this, he had blackjack.

3. On a dealer ten, if he had a ten underneath (apparently via the mirror device, they can only see if it is a ten/face card or an ace), he would tell me I should keep hitting if I had anything lower than 20.

Given this dealer behavior (which I know is wrong), and given stingy spanish 21 rules (no re-doubling, H17), and assuming proper strategy, was I playing with an edge?

Oh yeah, definitely. Even just the insurance offer would do it. But he was cheating. That's a recipe for trouble.

Luckily walking the plank and keel hauling are no longer deemed reasonable

Haha,

I did not stay long once this started.

Quote: teddys

That's a recipe for trouble.

That's more like a recipe for one of you to be swimming with the fishes.


Then again, many cruise casinos are very lax about security and protecting the game....

we should report more of these stories. maybe it will cause to casino to ban tipping; wouldn't that be supreme

Maybe working conditions on the boat are that poor. The floor person would leave the pit, and head to the other pit (there were just 2), whenever I began toking heavily...