Pink-faced

16 July 2015

By John Grochowski

If you play in casinos enough, you’re going to have some embarrassing little incidents. Maybe there’s a little rule or custom you don’t know about. Maybe you’re caught up in the day and just have a brain cramp. Maybe sometimes you’re just a victim of circumstances, doing nothing wrong, but a comment by a dealer or a player makes you go red.

I’ve certainly had my share. There was the time I was caught up in counting my chips after a big win and found myself on the wrong side of the tables. Fortunately, it was a small, friendly place that just turned me in the right direction.

Thanks to readers who have contributed some tales of their own.


Jack: This was the first time I’d ever played Caribbean Stud in a casino. I’d read about it and sort of knew the rules, but going live always throws some curves at you. One player got six cards instead of five. The dealer called the pit boss over, and he voided the hand but let everybody else’s hand stand.

Another player said, wait a minute, this happen last night and they voided the whole table. I chimed in with that’s what they should do, because the extra card has a ripple effect and changes everybody’s hand. The pit boss disagreed, and I guess I lost my temper a little. When I calmed down, I was a little take aback at letting myself get carried away and this crazy person’s voice that was coming out of me.

But you know what really left me sheepish? The dealer was really nice, and I had her the next night at a blackjack table. The first thing she said to me was, “Do you play Caribbean Stud, too?” She knew, and she probably wanted to make sure I knew she was dealing to a maniac.


Darin: This is a good one. I was in a casino that had a nice little fun book. There was a coupon where you could win $10 for a $5 bet in blackjack, and another one for craps, and for roulette and baccarat.

I went to the craps table and put $5 and the coupon on don’t pass. My plan was that I’d hope to win the one bet, get the extra payoff and move on to something else. I don’t really play craps much.

Anyway, the dealer said they wouldn’t take the coupon on don’t pass. I questioned that, because it didn’t say anything like that on the coupon. He said, “We made that a policy, because people were just using the coupons on don’t pass to try to steal a free nickel. Why don’t you just move it to pass.”

Well, stealing a free nickel, as he called the extra $5, was just what I was trying to do. But I moved my bet and my coupon over to pass, and it worked out good. I won $5 on my bet and $5 on my coupon. Then I picked up all my money and walked away.

I could see the smirks on the crew and on the faces of other players as I did it. I’d “stolen” the “free nickel” just like they were trying to keep me from doing. I shouldn’t have been embarrassed about it. I did risk $5 of my own money and live up to the terms of the coupon. Heck, I lived up to the altered, unwritten terms of the coupon. But with those smirks, yeah, I was embarrassed.

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