Stickin’ It to the Man (click to reply)

I’m always glad to see players taking advantage of mistakes made by the house.  I devote an entire chapter to it in my book.  The following story was reported by many news outlets last week:

http://video.foxnews.com/v/1801020353001/casino-sues-big-winners-for-15m-winnings/

The story reminds me of blackjack players tracking clumps of aces through a shuffle to take advantage on the next shoe.  I’ve had very little success with that method.  Many times, however, I’ve been able to fix the cut to get the card (or avoid getting it) that was on the bottom after the dealer shuffled.  At the Cosmopolitan Casino in Las Vegas last winter, I was playing head’s up in a double-deck game when the dealer inadvertently flashed an ace of spades on the bottom.  I placed the cut card at what I thought was exactly twelve cards from the top.  It was a skinny slice, so I expected the dealer to make me re-do it.  He didn’t.  The dealer burnt the top card.  Eleven more cards until the ace.  On the first hand, we both had two-card eighteens.  Seven more until the ace.  On the next hand, I had a 2-3 against the dealers queen.  I hit for a two, then another hit which was a seven.  I had fourteen against a face. I instinctively thought about hitting again, until I realized that if it were the ace, it would not help my fourteen.  I stayed.  My only chance of taking advantage was to hope and pray that the dealer’s hand was pat.    When the dealer uncovered another queen to match his down card, I lost my bet with a smile.  I thought, “Holy Shit, the next card is the ace of spades!  Time for a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuge bet!”

Or was it?  I took an unusually long pause to think before placing my next bet.  If the next card is indeed the ace, I need to make a huuuuuuuuuuge bet!  However, if I made a mistake in the number of cards that I cut, and I was off by one card, the dealer would get the ace of spades, and probably a blackjack, and I would most likely lose a huuuuuuuuuuge bet!  But if I made a mistake in the number of cards that I cut and was off by two, then I’d still get the ace!  Thinking of all the possibilities was a little nauseating.  The dealer asked if everything was OK.  I replied sternly, “Maybe.” 

I decided to go for it.  I had been playing a $25 unit with about $300 in chips on the table.  I opened my wallet for $300 more–everything that I had at the time.  When the dealer started to give me green chips, I said, “Black will do.”  I placed $600 in the betting circle and two reds and two whites ($12) for an incentive toke to the dealer.  Every cent I had was in play.  I told the dealer as I stood, “This is my last hand.”

The suspense was killing me, but I didn’t have much time to dwell on it.  As soon as my big bet was on the table, the dealer gave me a card face down, then one to himself face down, then another to me face down, then another to himself face up, which was a jack .  His face down card was #2 off the deck.  I looked at my second down card (#3 off the deck).  It was a ten.  I didn’t look at the other card (#1 off the deck) just yet.  As the dealer started to check his down card, I stated, “I have a feeling one of us has an ace.”

“I hope it’s not me,” he replied while uncov