Oct 16 2008
Hit Me
I stand at the 6th seat of a blackjack table, the green felt reflects onto the dealers pale skin and it makes her look sick. She’s a 24 year old Asian, and normally I’d be hitting on her but I don’t have time for that now. My mind is racing.
King and 5 cancel, 10 and queen cancel with the 5 and the 6, double aces is minus two and also brings the ace-five count to 12 fives and 10 aces, 2 and 3 plus 2, ten and 2 cancel. Dealer has a 3. Running count’s at +17, so the true counts a little above 3. Ace 5 wizard count is still 2 in favor. Table is good. Girl hits and gets a ten, minus one more…
I hear the girl to my right asking me what to do, I try to act casually and tell her she’s supposed to stay and smile at her. I wonder if I look normal or not. It’s hard to think how normal our faces can stay when we’re under pressure. I glance back to the table, my lips parted slightly so it doesn’t look like I’m straining. I try to look at the cards and take a mental image then glance away while I add and subtract. Can’t look out of the ordinary. You gotta look just like everyone else.
Comes to me. I’ve got a 12 against the dealer’s three. I’m supposed to hit this according to all the charts and books. But the count’s too high, the decks rich with tens. I hit I bust, I stay I win. If a deck is rich in tens and the dealer is showing a 6 down and you have above 11, you stand. If the deck is rich in low cards, you hit.
I make a swiping motion rather than using a verbal. The dealer flips her down card, it’s a 5.
Fuck. Plus one… She flips a jack, minus one. Counts still good, bet large. Plus one, minus one, cancel, neutral, plus, plus, minus…
I begin listening to the conversation at the table, the numbers becoming a sort of instinct. I say a stupid joke and flash everyone a smile. They laugh. Not a hard laugh, but one that lets me know they like me. That’s the thing, you can’t stand out. Just a stupid joke that everyone else would say, a stupid smile like everyone else would flash. Nothing unusual.
I look down at my stack, I started with 500 and am up a little over 750. If everyone knew I were counting they’d think I should be at a few thousand, but that’s not how it works. I have a 2% advantage over the dealer. That means every 100 I bet I should make 2 chips profit. It’s slow, hard work. People don’t realize it.
Minus one, neutral, neutral, plus one, minus one, minus one, plus one, minus one, ace five count is 4 in favor…
I look down at a blackjack below. The dealer pays me one and a half and smiles at me.
“Must be my lucky night,” I say as I place the new chips on my stack.
