Girl party blackjack

7 July 2016

By John Grochowski

Tales of casino bachelor parties have come rolling into my mailbox ever since the days when my prime contact with readers came through snail mail.

Of late, I’ve also started to receive bachelorette party stories. There aren’t many – I receive stories mainly where gambling is the focus. A bachelorette trip like my niece’s, centered on pools, nightclubs, shopping and dining, doesn’t move readers to write.

A woman named Anna e-mailed me to say she did gamble during a friend’s bachelorette trip. She also wound up with an unwanted guide on how to play.

“I was in Vegas for a bachelorette party, just hanging out with the girls,” Anna wrote. “A few went off on a shopping trip, a few more went for the slots, but three of us decided to play blackjack.”

Blackjack was Anna’s game of choice, and she was well familiar with the game’s ins and outs.

“I learned how to play on my dad’s computer, and I’ve played in casinos since I turned 21, so I knew what was going on,” she said. “The other girls were relying on me to tell them what to do.”

It turned out Anna wasn’t the only source of advice at the table, and that turned out to be a sticking point.

“There were two guys at the table. One was an older guy. He was nice, asking us how we liked Vegas, but he mostly minded his own business and played his cards.

“The other was more our age, and he told us, ‘I’m your man here. I know everything there is to know about this game. You girls just follow me and don’t be afraid to ask.’”

Anna wanted to be polite, but she also wanted to make sure he knew she didn’t need any help playing her hand.

“I told him thanks that we’d be OK on our own, now let’s win some money.

“Nothing happened for a few hands, but then one of my friends, Becky, had a 16 on the same hand the young guy had a 16. The dealer had a 7 face up, and the guy signaled to stand. Becky asked me, ‘Is that what I do?’ and I said, ‘No, hit that one.’”

According to Anna, that’s when the would-be adviser became more adamant about offering his expertise.

“The guy laughed and said, ‘You’re not going to listen to that, are you? Close call like that, you have to let the dealer take the chance on going bust.’”

As experienced blackjack players know, Anna had this one right. With a 7 face up, the dealer busts only about 26% of the time. By standing on 16 vs. 7, Mr. Advice was accepting a 74% chance of losing.

Regardless of whether you hit or stand, 16 vs. 7 is a tough situation, and you’ll lose more often than you win. However, if you stand, you average 48 cents in losses per $1 wagered, and if you hit you cut that to 41 cents per dollar.

“Becky looked like she didn’t know what to do,” Anna said, “but I told her, ‘They’re your cards and it’s your money, so do what you want, but when I used to try to stand on that on my dad’s computer, it would always tell me to hit.’

“That’s when the older guy finally said something. ‘The ladies are right, you know. The strategy card says to hit.’

“Becky finally hit, and she won. I think the dealer was happy just to get the game going again.“


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