During my time as a professional blackjack player then I have encountered my fair share of serious players. In fact I have encountered some very shrewd blackjack players who were very cute at winning money who were not counting. I saw one such play that was audacious and deliberate and it also made money. I am not sure that I would follow the lead but anyway…..here is what happened. I was standing behind the table back-counting because there wasn’t a seat available on either of the two tables that I was looking to play on. The dealer held a ten and the player next to third base was holding 14.
Basic strategy dictated that they took a card which they did but their fourteen was made up of an eight and a six. The player asked for a card and the dealer pulled a deuce to make sixteen and he then asked for another one which was another six to bust them on 22. All of this happened so fast but the player already holding 22 asked for another card. The dealer was pulling cards very quickly and before they realised it they had pulled a three. The played on third base pointed out the mistake and the dealer took the card back and scooped up the losing player’s money.
However the player on third base was holding 18 and also playing the maximum bet possible. They gladly took the three to make 21 even though they would have stood on 18. The dealer proceeded to pull a seven and stood on 17 when they would have made 20. At first I thought that this was accidental until I noticed these two same players pull the same stroke inside another casino where I just happened to be some weeks later.
