Dealer Peek on 10

[Midwestern]

any poker/psychology gurus care to give advice on the following?

Dealer has 10 up and always peeks for an ace. if no ace, we obviously play out rest of hand.

is there any kind of information to look for in the dealer's reaction, facial expressions that we can use to determine the strength of his down card?

my first gut feeling is that if the dealer has a "sleepy" reaction, that he has a pat hand, meaning hard 17 or above and will stand.
if the dealer shows interest, i.e. "awake" reaction, he knows he has to act after the players.

my feeling is that if you find a dealer that broadcasts a pretty good Tell, this can be worth a lot of money in that you probably won't bust out as much trying to catch up to a dealer 10.

 

[farmdoggy]

So you think you can see dealer tells?

I did at one point too, and I very well may have been for that day... But the situation never repeated itself. Check http://www.blackjackinfo.com/bb/showthread.php?t=18994 ... Check the cards, and how the dealer is peeking at his cards...

 

[Sucker]

I'll assume that you're not talking about a casino that uses the "peeking" device (whereas your theory is completely useless); and you really HAVE found one of the very FEW places that still manually check:

Steve Forte wrote the definitive book on this subject, called "Read the Dealer"; about 30 or so years ago. Last time I was in the Gambler's Book Store I remember seeing a copy still on the shelf.

According to Steve, the FIRST thing you have to do is to determine whether or not the dealer is rooting for you, whereas his body language will be the opposite of what it will be if he's trying to BEAT you.

Then, if you DO find a dealer giving off tells; the information is often only marginally useful. One misread with a max bet out, and your whole DAY can be ruined!

Bear in mind that even a 100% 1st-baser (when you know the EXACT card) is only worth about 2.5%, and that includes splitting face cards vs. a ten and hitting hard 17; among other heat-producing plays.

 

[Midwestern]

I'll assume that you're not talking about a casino that uses the "peeking" device (whereas your theory is completely useless); and you really HAVE found one of the very FEW places that still manually check

ill have to ask the dealer whether or not the mirror is indeed the black/white dot or if it's a real mirror.

after reading some of the other posts on dealer tells i think i might be barking up the wrong tree here

 

[Sucker]

ill have to ask the dealer whether or not the mirror is indeed the black/white dot or if it's a real mirror.

after reading some of the other posts on dealer tells i think i might be barking up the wrong tree here

There are several different types of peeking devices, some of them use a mirror and some do not. But ALL of them are designed in such a way that the dealer cannot see WHAT the card is, but only whether or not it's a BJ.

After all; that was the sole reason the peeker was invented - to keep the dealers honest. Back in the day when the dealers had to lift the card and manually check for BJ, there were a few dealers who were either so sloppy that the person sitting in the first seat could also see the card ("first-baser"); or worse yet - were dishonest enough to purposely tip off a friend playing at the table.

 

[Dyepaintball12]

Yeah I think most devices don't show the value of the card, just whether or not its an Ace/King.

I know the Palazzo in Vegas just shows the dealer a "P" if its a blackjack because someone asked the dealer.

 

[Automatic Monkey]

Also, the dealer puts the card in "portrait" or "landscape" depending on whether he has an ace or 10. The dealer could put his 10 in the peeker as if it was an ace and see if he has a 20 but that would be very obvious to the eye.

In places where the dealer still peeks visually you can manipulate the dealer. Also, clumsy use of a peeker can lead to holecard opportunities in any game. One of the ideas I am experimenting with is soiling cards in pitch games to make the peeker malfunction and cause the dealer to flip his hand without really having a BJ.

 

[MangoJ]

Better way is to open a card manifacture, where you mark the cards sold to the casino....

 

[Sucker]

Better way is to open a card manifacture, where you mark the cards sold to the casino....

All card manufacturing companies already DO that.

 

[Cardcounter]

Dealer usually peeks by machine so not even they know what they have. All they know is if they have a blackjack or not.

 

[bigplayer]

any poker/psychology gurus care to give advice on the following?

Dealer has 10 up and always peeks for an ace. if no ace, we obviously play out rest of hand.

is there any kind of information to look for in the dealer's reaction, facial expressions that we can use to determine the strength of his down card?

my first gut feeling is that if the dealer has a "sleepy" reaction, that he has a pat hand, meaning hard 17 or above and will stand.
if the dealer shows interest, i.e. "awake" reaction, he knows he has to act after the players.

my feeling is that if you find a dealer that broadcasts a pretty good Tell, this can be worth a lot of money in that you probably won't bust out as much trying to catch up to a dealer 10.

Dealer can't tell anything from the peeper. It only shows something if there is an Ace under the 10. Otherwise it shows nothing. The dealer never knows what is in the hole unless he is cheating somehow.