Bad dealers

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Bad dealers

December 10th, 2013

I've commented before on my horrors of incorrect blackjack strategy decisions imposed on my play from outside - see the Casino Barcelona article, when it turned out that another player had been calling my hands on account of my sitting in the "wrong" seat.

Playing the other day, I was at one point dealt a 12 against the dealer's 6. To ask for a card I either slap the table, point to my two cards or just say "card". To stand pat, I give a negative side-to-side wave of the hand.

On this occasion, I gave my usual hand gesture to indicate no more cards, and promptly received a ten from the dealer, who had evidently misinterpreted my gesture. I immediately remonstrated loudly:

Me: "I said no card!"

Dealer: "You made a gesture for a card."

Me: "No no no no no no no no!"

The pit management crew have surveillance equipment immediately to hand behind the tables, making it easy to check on disputes. The dealer consulted with one of the staff, who went to his camera equipment to replay the incident; he then came back to the table, had a word with the dealer and removed the ten card I hadn't asked for, having evidently been satisfied from the recorded evidence that the situation was as I'd claimed.

The dealer, unsurprisingly, didn't apologise.

I would have left the game if the staff had refused to correct the error. This actually raises the question of which outcome was better for me: playing the hand incorrectly but then playing no more, or playing the hand correctly and continuing?

In terms of the expected value of 8/4 against dealer 6, standing is worth -15.25%, and hitting, -17.26%. Hitting is therefore 2% worse. With a house edge on my otherwise optimal play of a tad over 0.5%, I would "earn" the casino that additional 2% in four further hands of play. Since the outcome in my favour resulted in more than four additional hands played, they actually made the right decision in terms of their profit margins, even though the outcome ostensibly favoured me.

The other point to consider is that it's a very player-friendly situation where you can apparently ask for a card, then reject it if it busts you but keep it if it helps - if I'd been dealt a 9, for 21 total, I wouldn't have made a fuss. There are far too many imponderables to make this a strategy you could ever deliberately employ, not least of all that it would be deceiptful. Still, when the situation occurs through no fault or design of your own, it's satisfying to know that you've profited from it.

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