Some Splitting Pairs Memories
It doesn't take me long to gauge a player's strength. Give me five or ten minutes and I'll know just what kind of player he is fool or expert or somewhere in between.
Most players know something about the game, like my backer, but they don't know enough to take advantage of those extraordinary moments when you can really hit the casino. I began with $2,000 to test the waters, and started off with $100 bets, playing one hand.
It was a comfortable table, but the dealer was hot, and I was coming in second best. The floor man drifted over to watch the action, but the three of us at the table were all losing, so he moved away to hold a spirited conversation with a cocktail waitress. As he was talking to her, I was counting down my chips. I had $900 left. I pushed out $100 on the first round of play, and pushed with the dealer.
A number of small cards came out, but no aces. On the second round, the deck was plus 5 (there were 5 more tens in the deck than small cards valued from 3 to 6) and I put $500 out. I ended up with another push, with the dealer making a five-card 18 to tie me. Now the deck was plus 8, and the dealer was still holding the cards and not getting ready to shuffle up. I guess he figured he was invincible, for the other two players had taken a bad beating on the first round of play, and now had reduced their bets to $50 each.
My $900 didn't even give the dealer pause. He shot out the cards, and showed a 9. The other two players stood on their totals, but that could mean anything. They'd been standing on 16s against any high dealer's card, and sometimes with 15s.
heard
of my reputation
spirited
conversation
my
partner muttering
muttering
behind me
a
huge handbag
the
floorman nodded
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