Analysis of a hand

Well, I've written about seeing The Hoover Dam while in Vegas and the movies I watched on my way to Vegas. So what did I do while IN Vegas? Short of going to the dam, I pretty much gambled and the game of choice was blackjack. Four hours on Friday and six hours on Saturday. That's a lot of gambling, let me tell ya.

So did I win? For the entire weekend, I was winning money for a grand total of 15 minutes. Unfortunately, it wasn't the LAST 15 minutes that I was gambling. In fact, it was the first 15 minutes. It's tough to quit while ahead if you know you're going to be at the table for another 10 hours. Actually on Saturday, about three hours into my time at the table, I came near to breakeven for the DAY, but was still out my losses for Friday. So I kept playing and lost my limit for the day. Good fun though. You meet a LOT of fun people at a table in Vegas if you're there for six hours.

After winning almost every time I played last year, how did lose? Hands like this one:

Dealer has a 4 showing.

Great card for me as there is a good chance that the down card is worth 10 giving the dealer 14. An 8 or higher and the dealer would bust. Nice.






My cards are 8 and 8, and I'm playing the hand for $15.


So I split the 8's into two separate hands for another $15 (you can do this if your two cards are the same but you don't HAVE to do it).





First card on the first 8 is a king. 18.
Sweet. Likely a winning hand even if the dealer doesn't bust.








First card on the second 8 is ANOTHER 8!
So I split them again for another $15. The people at the table are loving it because they know the odds are hugely in my favor.








First card on the second 8 now is a 3, giving me 11. I double down for another $15!!! When you double down you only get one card, but chances are it will be worth 10 (any face card or a 10) and that would give me 21.





The dealer gave me a 6 though. Still, 17, not a bad hand, and I'm still betting that the dealer will bust.








The next card on my third 8 is a 7, giving me 15. No biggee. I could hit, but the dealer probably has 14, so I'd rather see her take the bust card.










So all totaled, I have $60 out on this hand.

The dealer turns over her hole card:



and it's an ace. So she has 5 or 15, still not great.






She hits.


It's a 5. She has 20. I lose all the bets. Unbelievable.








Those are the hands that if you win for the weekend, you need the dealer to bust two or three times. Last year, that was happening. This weekend, the dealer turned more 13's, 14's and 15's into 20's and 21's than I've ever seen. Ugh. Truly traumatic. These types of hands cause people who are watching you play and thinking about sitting down, to head over to the craps table instead.

Things I'm grateful for:
#64 Goose Island brewery and in particular Pere Jacques beer. Mmmmmm.
#65 Facial tissue. In particular, Puffs Ultra. Good stuff.
#66 My friends who are all good, well intentioned, nice folks. Guess that's why they are my friends!!