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BJ Bob Returns

20 August 2020

More than a month had passed since I last spoke with Blackjack Bob, so it was no surprise when the video conference request arrived.

“I liked this a lot better when we used to run into each other at the casinos,” he said.

“You were always there,” I replied.

Bob laughed and said, “I hope we see those days again soon. Even with reopenings, I haven’t played yet.”

I wondered what was on Bob’s mind, since had no recent casino trips.

“I was talking with my son about the weird things you see at the tables, some of the things that made me laugh.

“One of them came at a single-deck table. This is a while ago, but it was really a sweet game. Single deck, dealer hit soft 17, but you could double after splits.”

That’s a great game, I told him. The house edge is measured in hundredths of a percent instead of tenths, just 0.05 percent with basic strategy.

“It was great, yeah,” Bob said. “But the dealer seemed to want to make sure nobody relaxed. She not only dealt fast, she flipped them hard off the top of the deck. They’d come flying right at you. If a corner caught the back of your hand, it left a mark.

“She wasn’t even hitting the table. I was playing goalie, blocking the cards with my hands. Inevitably, one flew off the table. Perfectly placed between me and another player. Didn’t hit my hands, my body, the table, nothing. It landed out in the aisle behind me.

“I knew I wasn’t supposed to leave the table and get it. The cameras wouldn’t have liked me bringing a card to the table at all. We had to call over a supervisor, and he walked onto the floor and got it.

“He asked, ‘Do you want this card?’ I’d seen it was a 6 and my other was a 10, so I said no. Then he told the dealer to give me a new card. “And throw him a changeup,” the supervisor said. “He can’t handle your fastball.”

I laughed, and he said, “I knew you’d like the story. I hope your readers at least get a chuckle. What about you? You must have seen some strange things.”

Like anyone who’s played much blackjack, I’ve seen a lot of odd events. But one that had me laughing came at a six-deck table.

It was one of those hands were low cards kept coming out of the shoe. Five of the seven player spots were filled, and one had a two-card 17 or better to stand on. Hands were stretching out for four, five and six cards.

I had 4-6-3-2-3 for 18, and counted myself lucky. A gray-haired gent with an Eastern European accent two spots to my left had 5-2-2-7-6 to bust with 22.

When he drew his bust card, the gray-haired fellow said, “All low cards! Look at them.” And he started counting all the sixes and lower that covered the table – “One, two, three, four …”

The dealer couldn’t keep a straight face. Laughing the whole time, he called back to the pit supervisor, “Hey! We have a card counter here!” The supervisor turned toward us, and he burst out laughing, too. No serious card counting going on there, just a player reacting to an unusual run of cards.”

I laughed at the memory, and Bob joined in.

“You get your run of the mill games, but every now and then you get a show, too,” he said. “There’s nothing like a live game.”

Look for John Grochowski on Facebook (http://tinyurl.com/7lzdt44) and Twitter (@GrochowskiJ).
John Grochowski

John Grochowski is the best-selling author of The Craps Answer Book, The Slot Machine Answer Book and The Video Poker Answer Book. His weekly column is syndicated to newspapers and Web sites, and he contributes to many of the major magazines and newspapers in the gaming field, including Midwest Gaming and Travel, Slot Manager, Casino Journal, Strictly Slots and Casino Player.

Listen to John Grochowski's "Casino Answer Man" tips Tuesday through Friday at 5:18 p.m. on WLS-AM (890) in Chicago. Look for John Grochowski on Facebook and Twitter @GrochowskiJ.

John Grochowski Websites:

www.casinoanswerman.com

Books by John Grochowski:

> More Books By John Grochowski

John Grochowski
John Grochowski is the best-selling author of The Craps Answer Book, The Slot Machine Answer Book and The Video Poker Answer Book. His weekly column is syndicated to newspapers and Web sites, and he contributes to many of the major magazines and newspapers in the gaming field, including Midwest Gaming and Travel, Slot Manager, Casino Journal, Strictly Slots and Casino Player.

Listen to John Grochowski's "Casino Answer Man" tips Tuesday through Friday at 5:18 p.m. on WLS-AM (890) in Chicago. Look for John Grochowski on Facebook and Twitter @GrochowskiJ.

John Grochowski Websites:

www.casinoanswerman.com

Books by John Grochowski:

The Craps Answer Book

> More Books By John Grochowski