Got a free look at a card

[mrbill]

Yesterday I was playing at a $10 table head to head against the dealer. I'm not comfortable counting in a casino yet so I was flat betting $10. I am currently using the KISS count but frequently lose the count.

I lost the hand that the cut card came out on. The dealer didn't remember that the cut card was out and didn't notice I didn't have a bet out and dealt me a card. Once she noticed that she had to call the pit critter over.

She came over and asked what happened then offered me a chance to make a bet and play the hand, knowing that my first card was a 7. After recovering from the surprise, I said no thanks so they did the shuffle and went on.

My question is, if the card would've been and A, should I have placed a bet and played the extra hand? If so, what should I have bet? The only thing I know is, if I was successful in keeping the count, the count was positive.

 

[Automatic Monkey]

Yesterday I was playing at a $10 table head to head against the dealer. I'm not comfortable counting in a casino yet so I was flat betting $10. I am currently using the KISS count but frequently lose the count.

I lost the hand that the cut card came out on. The dealer didn't remember that the cut card was out and didn't notice I didn't have a bet out and dealt me a card. Once she noticed that she had to call the pit critter over.

She came over and asked what happened then offered me a chance to make a bet and play the hand, knowing that my first card was a 7. After recovering from the surprise, I said no thanks so they did the shuffle and went on.

My question is, if the card would've been and A, should I have placed a bet and played the extra hand? If so, what should I have bet? The only thing I know is, if I was successful in keeping the count, the count was positive.

You played it right. If the card was an ace, bet 50% of what you have on your person, up to the table limit. Buy chips if you have to. If it's a 10, bet 10% of it. If it's a 9, place a normal bet. Anything else, tell them to keep it.

 

[Sonny]

This can be a very strong AP technique. If you get a good hand then play it out. If it is a bad hand then you don’t have to play it. I remember AutoMonkey used to use a similar technique. When the dealer gave him the cut card he would hide it (under a napkin, behind a stack of chips, etc.). Then he could play deeper into shoes with good counts and use the above technique at the end of cold shoes. I think even the Grifter had a similar trick for 6:5 games. He would sit down and play three hands off the top. If he got good cards he would play them out. If they were bad hands he would suddenly notice the 6:5 sign and protest until the PB let him take his bets back.

Exploiting dealer errors like this can be a huge advantage even for straight BS players. There’s a good article on Arnold Snyder’s site that gives more info on these techniques:

http://www.blackjackforumonline.com/content/Dealer_Error.htm

My question is, if the card would've been and A, should I have placed a bet and played the extra hand? If so, what should I have bet?

An ace as your first card gives you an EV of over 50%. That means if you bet $100 you would expect, on average, to win $50 on that hand alone. This is a huge advantage. Getting a ten is worth about 13% and all other cards put you at a disadvantage.

-Sonny-

 

[Sonny]

An ace as your first card gives you an EV of over 50%...Getting a ten is worth about 13% and all other cards put you at a disadvantage.

Slight correction: As AM pointed out, getting a 9 gives you a small advantage (about 1%).

-Sonny-