The Game Of 21
I should assume that the reader has a working knowledge of blackjack, but being a casino habitué for forty years I have learned to assume nothing.
Blackjack is a simple game built on a simple concept. The player's object is to get a higher total than the Dealer, but not to exceed the sum of 21.
Today, partly to frustrate card counters, most casinos use a "shoe" that contains six or eight decks of cards. The shoe is an elongated plastic or wooden box with a clear plastic cover. It allows the dealer to deal from it, one card at a time. Once the decks of cards are shuffled and "cut" by the player, the cards are placed in the shoe, and the game is ready to begin. It must be said that cutting the cards is not a gilt-edged guarantee that the cards aren't stacked. The hand is quicker than the eye, and a good "mechanic" can easily "fix" a deck right in front of you.
Later I'll tell you about an episode that turned me off forever from playing blackjack in any hand-held dealing games.
To begin a game of blackjack, the player places his bet on the designated space on the cloth in front of him. The dealer then deals a card face-up to the player and a card face-up to himself.
The dealer now deals a second face-up card to the player, but for himself he deals the card face-down and tucks it under his open card. This is the dealer's hidden "hole" card. The numerical value of the cards dealt corresponds with what is printed on them, with the exception of the picture cards (Jacks, Queens, and Kings), which are all counted as ten-pointers, and the Ace, which has a value of one or eleven, player's choice.
Now the cards are out. If the player gets an Ace along with a ten or picture card, he has a "blackjack," and promptly receives one-and-a-half times his wager. If, however, the dealer also gets a blackjack, it is a "Mexican Standoff"—a tie game that neither dealer nor player wins or loses. In fact, if the player and dealer have any identical amount, it's a "push" and nobody wins.
If neither the dealer nor the player gets a blackjack, the game proceeds. Depending on his two-card total, the player may request a "hit," meaning an additional card, or several "hits," depending on his judgment of his two-card count and the dealer's "open" card. This is an advantage for the player, as he has the discretion of hitting or standing pat (staying) with his hand, while the dealer is boxed-in with iron-clad rules that compel him to hit any total up to and including 16, and requiring him to stand on any total of 17 or more. In other words, if the player has 18 and the dealer has a total of 17, the dealer cannot draw another card to try to beat him. The dealer's advantage, however, is that if the player draws and "busts" (gets a total of more than 21) the dealer takes his money even if, after dealing to other players, he draws and busts too.
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Blackjack – Wont Power Part2
Yesterday at my local fish store I bought a pound of Alaskan crab claws. Like a cat loves cream, I go ga-ga for crab claws. I suspect that, to exploit this weakness, a clever casino-baited trap was set for me, and I was always eager to fall into it. In Las Vegas decades ago I used to win pretty regularly at "my" Sahara. It was my cash-cow. I'd then go off to the Thunderbird, now just a Vegas memory. The T-Bird wasn't one of my A-list casinos, but I'd often head straight to their small and cozy seafood bar for their mouthwatering King Crab claws.
When I bussed into Atlantic City, there was only one casino I always made sure to stop at: Resorts International. You guessed it, they had a cozy little seafood bar where I gorged myself on their succulent King Crab claws. Any gambling money I have spent there was really snapped up by the crabs!
Going to a casino for a meal can be an adventure. At Resorts I always went the same route: Right off the bat I'd win a couple of green chips, just enough for me to pig out with a plate load of King Crab claws, a bowl of clam chowder, and a small bottle of red wine. (Yes, I know it is de rigueur to have white wine with fish, but I happen to like red wine with my crab claws, thank you.) Most of the time I easily made my modest meal-money goal, and then headed straight to the seafood bar with my two green chips. But occasionally, just occasionally, disaster did strike, and it ended up costing me a king's ransom for my plate of King Crabs.
For me, the seafood bar was a fur-lined bear trap. For you, the bait may take a different shape. There are a hundred other casino enticements, promotions, freebies, and star entertainers, to name a few—all designed to get you inside. Loss-leader buffets, gratis gifts, a complimentary pull on a Million Dollar Slot, even free money, just to lure you in. Some casinos will go so far as to refund your cash on adverse slot machine action. I once got suckered into such a promotion . . . but that's a chapter in itself.
Watch Walt Disney's cartoon feature Pinoccbio, where the littie wooden boy gets lured onto Pleasure Island, only to end up being turned into a braying ass. Make sure you don't get brainwashed by casino enticements into doing stupid things too. Don't empty your wallet and turn yourself into a horse's ass.
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