Craziest thing I've ever seen

Dyepaintball12

Well-Known Member
I have been playing BJ for about a year now, and have seen some crazy stuff people will do. Splitting tens, standing on 14s against 10s and stuff like that, but I mean yeah thats normal for ploppies I guess.

But I was at my casino last weekend and was playing with this girl who refused to take advice. She would stand on 13s vs 10s, hit 15s against 6s and all that. But my favorite move she did that made everyone at the table gasp for air was this play:

She gets dealt a soft 20, and the dealer is showing a 10. She thens reaches for her chips and im sitting there like what the heck is she doing? She then progresses to DOUBLE DOWN on a soft 20, and GET AN ACE for a 21.

Craziest thing I've ever seen. (also hurt like 3 players at the table with that move)
 

ihate17

Well-Known Member
doubling blackjack twice during the same shoe

Dyepaintball12 said:
I have been playing BJ for about a year now, and have seen some crazy stuff people will do. Splitting tens, standing on 14s against 10s and stuff like that, but I mean yeah thats normal for ploppies I guess.

But I was at my casino last weekend and was playing with this girl who refused to take advice. She would stand on 13s vs 10s, hit 15s against 6s and all that. But my favorite move she did that made everyone at the table gasp for air was this play:

She gets dealt a soft 20, and the dealer is showing a 10. She thens reaches for her chips and im sitting there like what the heck is she doing? She then progresses to DOUBLE DOWN on a soft 20, and GET AN ACE for a 21.

Craziest thing I've ever seen. (also hurt like 3 players at the table with that move)
Paintball:
Casinos will never go broke because of those players. They can offer a blackjack game where the house edge is under .3% and make well over 3% because it is a game where your decisions effect your results (sorry but not the results of others longrun)

At a Vegas casino, on a $100 minimum table not long ago I witnessed a guy double his blackjack twice on the same shoe, draw a 4 each and lose each time. Both were on $500 bets, which means he already knows the dealer does not have blackjack so he is risking $1,000 to win just $250, since he had won $750 and no longer had any risk. Had to be the worst bet in the casino.
Same table, different player, he splits 6's vs dealer ace on a $5000 bet, turning it into a $10,000 loss.
These things also go to prove that the size of your bankroll and the size of your blackjack ability have absolutely nothing to do with eachother.

ihate17
 

Canceler

Well-Known Member
Almost the same story, but no double down...

This guy just wanted to hit his soft 20. All of us at the table, including the dealer, spent some time trying to talk him out of it. But, he insisted, so she hit him, with an ace. After that he picked up his chips and moved to the next table. Probably looking for a table where there weren't so many bozos that were going to try to tell him how to play!
 

EasyRhino

Well-Known Member
Wouldn't doubling on a soft 20 be a good index play with a really high count vs a weak dealer card?

Last weekend I played, I split tens, then doubled one when I got a soft 21.

With $10 bets, playing like that is a blast. With $500 bets, I'd want to set myself on fire.
 

ihate17

Well-Known Member
Hi Lo indices for doubling soft20

EasyRhino said:
Wouldn't doubling on a soft 20 be a good index play with a really high count vs a weak dealer card?

Last weekend I played, I split tens, then doubled one when I got a soft 21.

With $10 bets, playing like that is a blast. With $500 bets, I'd want to set myself on fire.

The following are the indices for doubling.
Dealer card count
6 +4
5 +5
4 +6
3 +8
2 +10

These indices are nearly identical to the indices for splitting 10's and the play will draw close to the same amount of attention.

ihate17
 
EasyRhino said:
Wouldn't doubling on a soft 20 be a good index play with a really high count vs a weak dealer card?
Yes and no. Yes, it can increase your EV, but no, usually not enough to make up for the increased variance. Plays like that usually amount to putting an extra $100 on the table for an increase in expectation of 10 cents.

EasyRhino said:
Last weekend I played, I split tens, then doubled one when I got a soft 21.
See above!


EasyRhino said:
With $10 bets, playing like that is a blast. With $500 bets, I'd want to set myself on fire.
Uh oh, I see what you mean! But what the heck are you doing with $10 bets out when the count is high enough to split 10's? Those counts are your payday.

Splitting 10's makes a lot of players nervous, but I feel a lot better doing that than doubling 10 vs 10. However both plays are quite valuable.
 

Kaiser

Well-Known Member
Just got back from the casino... a guy sits down at the table and gets dealt two 10s, dealer has a 2. He asks to split, and the dealer says "sir, are you sure? that's basically a winning hand." He mulls it over, asks if he's allowed to do it, and the dealer says yes, but that no one really ever does it. So he stays, and the dealer OF COURSE draws a 6 card 21. Dude was pissed. So he goes on a 10 splitting mission after that and loses his stack. :)

I also saw a guy dropping big bets, and he said he was down 2 grand. He does pretty well with another $200 buy in, takes it up to about $950. He starts putting down 3 $100 hands. Breaks even after about 4 hands, then gets a pair of 8s against a 9. Splits, gets another 8, splits again. Loses all 3 hands.

Next round he has 3 good double down hands (I think a 10, 11, and 9 versus dealer's 4). So he's got $600 on the table... dealer pulls a friggin' 21. He lets out a big f-bomb, gets told to watch his language by the dealer (not the first time) so he tells her to shut up, dealer calls the pit boss over... dude was steaming. :flame:

I also had a guy hitting 17s. He hit his hand like the dealer had a 10, no matter what she had. He'd hit a 15 or 16 no matter what the dealer had.

So at one point I have Mr. 10 Splitter on my right, and a guy on the left who hits 17s but once in a while would stand on a 12 against a 10. At least both guys lost their money and buggered off.
 

EasyRhino

Well-Known Member
Automatic Monkey said:
Uh oh, I see what you mean! But what the heck are you doing with $10 bets out when the count is high enough to split 10's?
The count wasn't high, it was near-neutral. I wrote off the money from that play as my entertainment expense for the evening.

Unfortunately/fortunately, I do not have the huevos to split tens when I have a max bet deployed.
 

tedloc

Well-Known Member
Check out Fred Renzy

Dyepaintball12 said:
I have been playing BJ for about a year now, and have seen some crazy stuff people will do. Splitting tens, standing on 14s against 10s and stuff like that, but I mean yeah thats normal for ploppies I guess.

But I was at my casino last weekend and was playing with this girl who refused to take advice. She would stand on 13s vs 10s, hit 15s against 6s and all that. But my favorite move she did that made everyone at the table gasp for air was this play:

She gets dealt a soft 20, and the dealer is showing a 10. She thens reaches for her chips and im sitting there like what the heck is she doing? She then progresses to DOUBLE DOWN on a soft 20, and GET AN ACE for a 21.

Craziest thing I've ever seen. (also hurt like 3 players at the table with that move)[/QUOTE]

A stupid play by a player only affects their hand. Unless you can see the dealer hole card, it is impossible to to tell them what to do, so you can win.
 

shadroch

Well-Known Member
tedloc said:
Dyepaintball12 said:
I have been playing BJ for about a year now, and have seen some crazy stuff people will do. Splitting tens, standing on 14s against 10s and stuff like that, but I mean yeah thats normal for ploppies I guess.

But I was at my casino last weekend and was playing with this girl who refused to take advice. She would stand on 13s vs 10s, hit 15s against 6s and all that. But my favorite move she did that made everyone at the table gasp for air was this play:

She gets dealt a soft 20, and the dealer is showing a 10. She thens reaches for her chips and im sitting there like what the heck is she doing? She then progresses to DOUBLE DOWN on a soft 20, and GET AN ACE for a 21.

Craziest thing I've ever seen. (also hurt like 3 players at the table with that move)[/QUOTE]

A stupid play by a player only affects their hand. Unless you can see the dealer hole card, it is impossible to to tell them what to do, so you can win.

That is so wrong.Obviously the woman hurt those players that hand. What Mr Renzi and many others say is that a bad player will have no effect on you IN THE LONG RUN.Not in a one hand series.Over time,that womans stupid moves will even out,but in any one decision,any one move can hurt you.
 

QFIT

Well-Known Member
Well, extend that logic. Afterall, every event that occurs in your life will affect every card you will ever see thereafter. If someone sneezes while the dealer is shuffling, the shuffle will change slightly. That will affect the hands you will receive. That will affect the play. That will affect the exact second that you leave the table. That will change every hand you will be dealt for the rest of your life. But, on losing a hand five years later, would you say that you might have won the hand if some lady hadn't sneezed five years in the past? It might be a true statement - it just has no relevance.
 

sagefr0g

Well-Known Member
other players making proper or improper plays may hurt your hand or help it
but like so many situations you don't know when it's going to hurt you or help you. all things being even there is no justification in concerning your self about it. after the fact you can bemoan or celebrate what they did :rolleyes: .
the other night two guys sat at my table and they were both hitting when they should have been standing and standing when they should have been hitting. i found it amusing. they cleared the rest of the table for me so i got better penetration out of the deal.
 

shadroch

Well-Known Member
QFIT said:
Well, extend that logic. Afterall, every event that occurs in your life will affect every card you will ever see thereafter. If someone sneezes while the dealer is shuffling, the shuffle will change slightly. That will affect the hands you will receive. That will affect the play. That will affect the exact second that you leave the table. That will change every hand you will be dealt for the rest of your life. But, on losing a hand five years later, would you say that you might have won the hand if some lady hadn't sneezed five years in the past? It might be a true statement - it just has no relevance.

Are you saying the woman didn't hurt anyone?
Obviously you don't know until the hand is played out if her taking a card affects your hand,but there is no denying that in this case her taking the card hurt the player.Over the long run,as it is a 50-50 call,50%of the time she would take a card that helps and 50% of the time she would take a card tht hurts.
 

JohnGalt1

Active Member
Two instances--

One guy stared at an A3 for a long time, then waved his hand that he was standing.

Two drunks were doubling on every hard 12. They said they were only going to draw one card anyway so they mightas well have double the money out. The dealer had to tell the pit every time they did it. Finally the pit said to not tell him anymore and walked away.
 

Kaiser

Well-Known Member
Wow, my casino never tells the pitboss any kind of weird plays. In the past week I've seen people double a hard 13, split 10s, hit 17s, and the dealer just asks the person a time or two "if they're sure", and that's it.
 

Preston

Well-Known Member
EasyRhino said:
I've had a few dealers (new ones?) announce every time I surrender any hand. It's annoying.
start waving a white flag every time they make the announcement. It should shut 'em up.
 

Canceler

Well-Known Member
EasyRhino said:
I've had a few dealers (new ones?) announce every time I surrender any hand. It's annoying.
Where I play, they always announce surrenders. It must be house policy, for whatever reason.
 

EasyRhino

Well-Known Member
Canceler said:
Where I play, they always announce surrenders. It must be house policy, for whatever reason.
When I split the tens the dealer announced it to the PC, who was fairly close and took a few steps closer. Then I then doubled on the soft 21, the dealer just kind of looked at the PC and said "buh... huh?".

Hah. Stumped her!
 
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