Blackjack or Bust
Blackjack players share some oddities
by John Grochowski
Provided adequate trials in blackjack, any hand that can be dealt ultimately will.
Of course, some hands are a lot a lot more most likely than others. The genuinely uncommon ones stick in our minds and we inform other players about them.
For this month’s “Table Speak,” blackjack players share some oddities.
BOB: I had a hand for the ages last week, and not in a excellent way.
It involved both splitting pairs and doubling down. I played it by the book, but it was an unmitigated disaster. We know that happens.
I played it correct, but I lost SEVEN BETS.
It is one particular of my favourite hands that a lot of people miss. You turn the probability from loss if you hit or stand to a small profit if you split.
I bet $25 and I split my original two-two. On hand No. 1 was dealt one more 2 and resplit.
Back to hand No. 1. Next card was a 9. I doubled and was dealt a 5 for 16.
On hand No. 2, I drew a 4, then a 5, then a 3, for 14. The basic technique play is to hit 14 against 7, as you know. I did what I need to, drew an 8 and busted.
On hand No. three, Yet another 2 came up. I split those, and an additional $25 was on the line. I drew an eight. Time to double down once again. This time I drew a 7, so I had 17.
Finally, I drew yet another 8 on the last two, doubled down again, and drew a three.
I could hope for a dealer bust, and if she turned up 10 for 17, I’d at least salvage a push on 1 double.
No such luck, but at least it was rapid. The dealer had an Ace down, so she had 18 and beat all my hands. So the final outcome: I lost two $25 bets on the first double down one particular $25 bet on the bust hand two $25 bets on the double down that was a 17 and two $25 bets on the double down that was a 13.
That’s a $175 loss on what started as one $25 bet.
This is not my very first go-round and we’ve all noticed these swings prior to. But man, it’s nevertheless exasperating.
YVONNE: I had a single of those hands that made me want they actually paid Charlies. The dealer had a ten up. I had a 2 and a 4.
Next was a 3, then an additional 3. Four cards, and I only had 12. Then I drew an additional 2, then an Ace. So that’s six cards and 15. The dealer nonetheless has that 10 up and I’m considering, wow, I have to draw a seventh card.
I actually struggled with that. There were so several low cards out currently. But I bit the bullet and signaled a hit. Miracle of miracles, it was a five. That gave me 20 and I’m considering it was all worth it.
Naturally, the dealer flipped up another 10. All I got out of all that  was a push. Beats losing, but why couldn’t it be a 6?
SAM: The casino was permitting only 3 players at the table and there have been only three chairs, all spaced out.
As the cards were getting dealt, the 1st player got a King, I was in the middle and got an Ace and the last player also got an Ace. The dealer’s card was face down.
Then the initial player got an Ace, I got a Jack, the last player got a 10 and the dealer turned up an Ace.
The dealer asked if any person wanted insurance. No 1 did, and the final player stated, “If there’s any time you’re not going to have a 10, it is with all this on the table.”
He couldn’t be much more wrong. The dealer had a Jack down and what we had was a table complete of pushes.
I know it would be a lot significantly less probably with seven players, but I think this was the only time I’ve ever seen a “full” table where each and every player and the dealer all got blackjacks on the identical hand.
HECTOR: I started six hands in a row with an Ace. I couldn’t think it. Neither could the dealer. By the fourth hand she was saying, “There’s the automatic Ace.”
I wish I could say I got a bunch of blackjacks and won big bucks, but that didn’t take place. There was only 1 blackjack. There also was a pair of Aces I split and won each hands. I lost 3 of the six hands. So there was a tiny profit with the split and the blackjack, but it felt like a letdown after all those Aces.
KATIE: A guy subsequent to me was playing the match game for a few hands, or at least it seemed like it. We were getting the exact same cards for 4 hands in a row. The 1st time we pointed and laughed about it. The second time the player on the other side of him mentioned, “Oooooh, again!” and every person picked up on it.
It wasn’t just that I’d get 17 and he’d get 17. I’d get a 9 and an eight and he’d get a 9 and an eight. I got a King of spades and a ten of diamonds and he got a King of spades and a ten of diamonds. We both had six and five against the dealer’s 9, and we both doubled down and drew 9s. Then we each had 9-7 and stood against a six, but the dealer pulled out an 18.
The dealer stated it need to be destiny, and the guy stated, “My wife would go for my destiny going beyond cards.”
