The Voodoo princess

[learning to count]

As I was wonging on my recent trip I pulled up to a table where the count was high and allowed for my entry. I sat next to an older woman who was well dressed and obviously a high roller with a good sense of basic strategy and her progression style of betting. I would bet only when the TC was plus two or better. I was half sitting half standing next to her and would stop playing when the count dropped. The dealer did not seem to care either.

After some time and mediocre success on my part she turned to me and started lecturing me on the spirit or soul of the cards in the shoe. She explained that they had a "FLOW" a life of their own. If the cards liked you and your spirit was in harmony then you must stay at the game. She explained that my constant in and out was bad for her such that she dropped two hundred or more in the past twenty minutes of my "inning and outying". I asked her "so it is a kind of force that can go bad/negative or good/positive". I asked her if she had a handle of this force or power. She said she did until I came along. I answered "I am sorry that I have put a disturbance in the force but how can I control the force".

She answered, "stay or leave but stop with the inny and the outy." The count went south and so did I. Later when I stopped hitting 16 when the tc was 0 or better against a ten she started complaining about the flow. I countered with "yes I have disturbed the flow and obviously have caused a disturbance in the force if you have a complaint lady call darth vader!" She got up scooped her dozen or so chips and stalked off. A new freind of mine an elderly woman named Ruth furthered with "good I was tired of that bitches mouth!"
"Deal!"

Later on the trip I had the luck of winning big bets in front of her causing her to take a disliking of my play and personality. But like grandma ruth said "she needs to get laid". LTC

 

[Rob McGarvey]

I enjoyed reading your post! We are the few, and they are the many. All part of the scene.

 

[BradRod]

The mother hen of the table,,, just another way of being a control freak,, Mother Hens do not have to be F either..

I ran into a guy once who was telling everyone how to play their hands, he was trying to control the players in and out of the table, even the cut. He christened one player the official lucky table cutter, when that player got up to go to the bathroom during a shuffle, he held the cut card and would not even release it to the dealer until that other player came back, the pit person was on his way over when that designated player finally got back to the table.

He didnt stop talking for more than about 10 seconds, commenting about the smallest thing that happened at the table. I was trying very hard to ignore hime but, when he made a few comments about my play and i very impolitely told him to shut the F** up.

I think that started to rattle him.

One player wanted to shift to 3rd base when that player left and Mother Hen kept trying to talk him out of it because it would upset the order of the cards. When the guy finally didn't listen to him and moved anyway he got up and left in a fit of frustration.

You meet the most interesting people in this game.

 

[Splitz]

I like funny people.
I stood on a 16 v 10 because the count was positive. the next card just had to be a 4. The dealer felt inclined to point this out to me, then went on to tell me that "when you make bad plays like that you mess up the flow of the cards for everyone!" I didn't say anything... just tried to put on the most embarrassed looking face I could muster

 

[Rob McGarvey]

Play it up man. You can have a helluvalotafun playing BJ aside from the cash attack you are laying down. Next time you get 16 v 10 up you can go into "here we go again! What should I do now?" Blow everyone away when the count is sucking large and say "I like living dangerously" like Dr. Evil's #2 did when he hit his 17 because he saw a 4 with his X ray goggles. The proper play for that hand was an obvious double, but I guess he didn't want to blow his cover! ;>

F104 VooDoo "Widow Maker"

 

[Splitz]

haha
actually this lady sitting next to me kept hitting 17's... I don't think she was counting either! because the RC never went below 0! She was really annoying, she stuffed all her damn white ($1) chips in her cup holder and clamped her hand over it... when it was time for her to double down or split.. oh man... she got her chips stuck in there so we waited a good minute as she struggled with the damn thing.. who is going to steal a damn $1 chip?!?!?!

on the other hand.. this other lady, I think she was table hopping!!!! she looked like a mom! she came up to our table, and was putting down $25-$35 bets!! ($2 table) then somehow she spilt her chips everywhere.. greens flying. Everyone was nice and pointed them out to her. but she had a lot. Then she took off to another table... I dunno maybe she was just rich and lucky though!

 

[Rob McGarvey]

If she was watching the cards then you might be right, she could have been table hopping. On the other hand, she could also have been playing the tables like a lot of ploppys play the slots....one for you, one for you, one for you, until they get a win spin, then stick around to see if they hit. There wasn't anyone calling her into the table, not at the green level??

 

[Coug Fan]

You should have offered to stay in/out for a percentage of what it is worth to her (say $10 per hand). After all, if she is asking you to add value for her, then it ought to be worth something.

I once had a lady ask the dealer "can't you stop him from doing that" as I hit my 12 versus dealer 5 in a negative count. Actually, she was running her mouth so much that I may have done it even if the count was a bit positive. I made sure to point out every time my "wrong" plays hurt the table (gee, it looks like I took the dealers bust card again). That seems to get the ploppies off their asses and away from me!