Worst Blackjack Play Ever

I have played many hands of blackjack the past 30 years, however I probably saw one of the worst plays ever at the Sahara. After watching a good comedy show, I walked across the casino floor to exit the Sahara (of course I would never play blackjack there). Occasionally I like to stop and watch a blackjack table to see all of the poor plays. On this occasion, a gentlemen had a $10 bet and was dealt a pair of 5's against the dealers facecard. He pulled off $10 in chips to double (not that horrible of a play if the true count was +4). But wait, he decided to split the 5's against the face card. Of course he was dealt 2 stiff hands which he promptly busted. Amazing!

That is pretty bad, but I've seen it done.

BIGLAR73 wrote in his TR of a drunk guy who was dealt a soft 15, took a hit and made it 20, then insisted on hitting again! Of course he busted.

I've seen people split 10s. I've seen people split 5s.

But I have never seen anyone hit on 20. Damn.

My ex-husband was playing at a blackjack table where one of the players was obviously drunk. This guy was dealt a blackjack, but he started pulling out more chips and was about to double down on his hand. Everybody at the table immediately started yelling at him to not do such a dumb thing, which thankfully he did not do.

This story doesn't add up.

If the drunk had "soft 15, took a hit and made it 20, then insisted on hitting again", the 20 that the drunk hit was a soft 20, which can't be busted with a single additional hit like you imply occurred. Impossible.

Yes, hitting soft 20 is almost always a bad play. But it can't be busted with a single hit.

When I was a newbie BJ player ( and a little drunk) was dealt a low soft hand, Hit and had 19 but couldn't figure out the total, so I hit again, dealer asked if I was sure... yep. He dealt me a 2, said: "You have 21, you're crazy, the guys in the back aren't going to believe this".

Have learned a lot since then
(and given up alcohol)

As I have played BJ over the years, I am leaning towards letting the dealer beat me - so when I have a hard 15 or 16 I sometimes stay - even if he/she has a 7-A and there is no early surrender.

I am not sure why but I feel better losing this way than going over. Maybe it is age.

I know over the long run... after 2 million hands... I will lose more hands, but I am not playing 2 million hands. I have not figured out my results doing this, and I do not do it all the time it depends on what is going on at the table.

It gets some people upset but that is why I play at a $5 table. Aside from that I usually stick with the basic strategy.

I think playing this way is better than playing at a 6:5 table and I see lots of people doing that, so to each their own. We all do dumb plays at times.



V

There are still a whole lot of ways that you can be beaten either by the Dealer's Down Card or by him/her still hitting and beating you in a whole lot of other ways when ending up with totals of 17 or more. And so with the card totals that you mentioned above, Hitting is a better option rather than Standing.

For example, with a Hard 15 Versus A Dealer's Up Card of 10, if the Player Hits, s/he has a 6 out of 13 chance (this is a 46.2% chance) of improving the hand. Now although that's not a good chance of improving the hand, the alternative is even worse. With a Dealer's Up Card of 10 Value (that's 10, Jack, Queen or King), first of all, the Dealer can either just turn over his/her Down Card and if it's a 7, 8. 9. 10, Jack, Queen, King or Ace (that's an 8 out of 13 chance -- which is about a 61.6% chance), s/he will immediately beat your total of 15 and immediately have a Standing total (and you would then lose).

But then, and second of all, if the Dealer ends up with a Down Card of 6 or Less, with that total, s/he could end up taking one or more cards and still end up beating you in a whole bunch of other ways by still ending up with totals of Hard 17 through 21 and still beat you anyway.

And so if Surrender is not an option and if you're not a Card Counter, then it is in your best interest as a Player to Hit in that instance.

RecVPPlayer

Hate to say it, but I know someone who wanted to hit a 21...Me. About three years ago, playing at Sunset Station. Now, I had had a couple of beers, but that is not an excuse, nor is it going to be used as one. Plain and simple fact, I think it became a 4-card (don't hold me to be exact, but I know I had a low soft hand and hit with low cards) "11" and I just went with it as an "11". Needless to say, the dealer asked, my buddy gave me a hard time and I did stand on the "21". Oops. Heard about it for the next couple of days while playing the game.

I think the guy just got confused and thought he was playing the last hand in a winner take all tournament and was just a little behind the leader.

Chilly is correct..... when I wrote about this clown in my last trip report he did end up with a soft 20 and then he insisted on taking another card...I can't remember exactly how it came down (combination of the expanse of time since the incident and the oxycodone that I am taking for my leg pain)...anyhow he ended up busting. I raised my eyebrows at the guy, but didn't say a word....just colored up and moved to a different table.