A funny card counter story

Possibly a lot of you have heard this -

In the casino early days, a player was at the BlackJack table with a single deck.

He had a 20 count, and there was one card left in the deck. He said "hit me."

The dealer was trying to be "helpful" and kept trying to talk him out of it,
Finally after 10 minutes of wrangling, the player said:

GIVE ME THE ****ING ACE ! ! ! ! !

Of course they asked him to leave - - -

I wonder if this really happened ?

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Quote: Ibeatyouraces

Possibly. Back in the early days, SD games were dealt all the way through the deck.

I still don't know if I buy it. I mean he still doesn't know the dealers hold card. So we'd have to figure last 2 cards were aces and if thats the case why wouldn't the counter double. I mean he is already calling attention to himself by hitting.

Well he knew he would get a SURE 21, but if he stood at 20, there was a small chance the dealer could beat him with a BJ or 21 score.

after he gets the last card, the deck gets shuffled before the dealer gets his hand.

Perhaps this was before they could make a player stop if they suspected "counting."

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Quote: Ibeatyouraces

Maybe he was holecarding :-)

Yeah but doesn't answer the question why wouldn't he double if he knew he would geta 21.

In my beginning days counting I was raising my bet into a favorable shoe. A cocktail waitress walked up to me and asked me if I needed anything. I looked at her and said, "Plus three".

And, btw, the story is BS. No counter would hit a 20, soft or hard. Someone watching a weak dealer carefully and being able to see the next card to be dealt, knowing it was an ace, may take a hit but he would be too stupid to be a card counter. A card counter would never do that.

I've heard this and probably every other story in casinos here and abroad. They always seem to get embellished along the way and you would not believe how many people claim to have witnessed them firsthand. I've never witnessed any of them and I have put in considerable casino time.

We've all heard the mildly graphic one about the female dealer admonishing the guy who wanted to split 10s. In the case of the OP, the dealer is not going to take ten minutes to do anything, let alone persuade a player to make a certain decision, and no counter worth his salt is going to foolishly out himself.

Could it happen? Sure. I played the exact game that Tammy describes with excellent rules and very little heat for many, many years. Aces were not the only cards side counted.

And, if you want a true story, one day my luck was running so bad I doubled down on an 11 and broke.

I've personally seen someone hit on a hard 20, but it was a hand or two into a shoe. They obviously weren't counting, just stupid.

Quote: 1BB

I've heard this and probably every other story in casinos here and abroad. They always seem to get embellished along the way and you would not believe how many people claim to have witnessed them firsthand. I've never witnessed any of them and I have put in considerable casino time.

We've all heard the mildly graphic one about the female dealer admonishing the guy who wanted to split 10s. In the case of the OP, the dealer is not going to take ten minutes to do anything, let alone persuade a player to make a certain decision, and no counter worth his salt is going to foolishly out himself.

Could it happen? Sure. I played the exact game that Tammy describes with excellent rules and very little heat for many, many years. Aces were not the only cards side counted.

I am almost 100% certain that the OP story is quoted by no less a person than Edward Thorp in Beat The Dealer, who I am (also) almost certain mentioned seeing it first hand. The circumstances were a single deck game being dealt to the bottom, and he had seen the burn card and knew with 100% certainty that the last card in the deck was the 4th ace.

i've seen a player accidentally signal for a hit with a 3-card 20, and the asshole dealer immediately gave him a card. poor customer service.

Quote: CRMousseau

I am almost 100% certain that the OP story is quoted by no less a person than Edward Thorp in Beat The Dealer, who I am (also) almost certain mentioned seeing it first hand. The circumstances were a single deck game being dealt to the bottom, and he had seen the burn card and knew with 100% certainty that the last card in the deck was the 4th ace.

Now that you mention it, that sounds familiar. I have the book but you're right so I won't go looking for it.

I think that story came out of Thorp's book.He was talking about Jess Marcum.He was using end play.And he didn't double because you couldn't double on twenty. This was in the 50's in Cuba IIRC.I see moose beat me to it.