Good Advice is Bad Advice

30 August 2022

By Frank Scoblete

Good advice is often bad advice if you happen to give such good advice at a gaming table in the casino and such advice backfires.

“I’ve got a 12 against the dealer’s two,” said the man playing blackjack. “What should I do?” He asked me that question directly. This was over 30 years ago and I remember the moment clearly.

Without hesitating I said, “Hit it.”

Others at the table disagreed. “Let the dealer take the hit. He might bust,” said a guy who tended to make wrong decisions in close calls at the game. He was well ahead at this moment. I was behind.

The man who asked the question looked at me. “You seem to know what you’re doing. Is hitting it the right move?”

“Yes,” I said confidently.

A couple of others at the table moaned.

The man hit his hand. It all took place in slow motion now. The dealer slowly reached for the shoe holding the cards and withdrew one. He turned it over and it was a Queen. A damn Queen.

“That was a stupid move,” said the other man had who cautioned against hitting the hand.

The dealer then hit his own hand and (of course! of course!) he gave himself a nine. With a 21 he beat everyone at the table.

“Well, that was great,” said the other man. “Your advice cost everyone at this table a winning hand. Nice going buddy.”

“It was the right move,” I said defensively.

“So why did I lose?” asked the man who had asked me for advice. “I thought you knew the game? This is my first time playing and I asked you for advice. I shouldn’t have asked you. These players know how to play. You don’t.”

In some ways I am a slow learner. In other ways I am a fast learner. I was a fast learner that day. I have not given advice at a table game or machine when I am actually playing as opposed to writing. If someone asks me what he or she should do I tell them to ask the dealer “who,” I say, “is the expert at the game.”

My advice is not to give advice, not ever, even if you are a truly skilled player at whatever game you are playing when someone asks for such advice.

It is true that most players who gladly give advice will often give the wrong advice – just as the players in the above example – but that’s the way it is. Play your own game. You don’t need the extra pressure of someone scolding you because you did the right thing but it turned out wrong in others' eyes.

And do dealers always give the right advice? Usually but not always. Everyone should thoroughly know the games they wish to play and then they won’t have to ask for advice. And that is my advice to you now.

All the best in and out of the casinos!

Frank Scoblete’s web site is www.frankscoblete.com. His books are available from Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Kindle, e-books, libraries and bookstores.