Why Does the Joe Pesci Character in Casino Throw Tens at the BJ Dealer?

In the movie Casino, Joe Pesci’s character is playing late-night blackjack while waiting for a marker. Over and over he is dealt face cards. This infuriates him. Throws the card back at the dealer and calls the card a stiff. Why isn’t he happy with the 10? Am I missing something?

Good question. And the answer is just as interesting, at least to us.

It took watching the video (youtube.com/watch?v=-3f_GvkMBqk) a few times and discussing it with a particular blackjack expert to realize what was going on.

Nicky Santoro, Joe Pesci's character based on Tony "the Ant" Spilotro, is playing single-deck and has already been dealt his first two cards. You don't see his two original cards as the dealer is laying down the first two face cards, which Santoro throws back at him and, after a string of profanities, says, "Hit me again." You do see the two cards in his other hand the third time Santoro demands, "Hit me again."

So what's going on is Santoro's hand is already a stiff, 12-16. The face cards the dealer keeps hitting him with will, of course, bust any stiff total. Santoro keeps refusing to accept the bust cards.

That explains the main problem of Santoro's use of the word "stiff" to describe the king that we see and, initially at least, think is the only card in the hand. So now we know that director Martin Scorsese was as interested in casino verite as he was in good film making, at least when it came to blackjack procedures and terminology.

Of course, the whole scene -- throwing every hit card back at the dealer, while cursing out and threatening him -- is also intended to build up tension in a character we already know is inclined to some serious violence, which quickly comes to fruition with a bald head and a wall phone (poor Don Rickles playing casino manager Billy Sherbert).

Which is why we don't really mind, even from an accuracy point of view, that Santoro vehemently flouting the rules by rejecting his hit cards and demanding new ones doesn't get him 86'd like it would any other casino blackjack player in the universe. It's simply great movie-making in every way.

[Editor's Note: We'd like to thank the inimitable Arnold Snyder for his nonpareil take on this scene. He adds, "I like how Santoro rips the phone off the wall, then goes back to the table and says, 'I got a marker coming.' I highly doubt Tony Spilotro ever tried anything that nutty in a mob casino, even if he knew the boss. But then, this is the Hollywood version of who he was."]

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Kevin Lewis Aug-05-2019

A terrible movie

That movie was excrement on film. Almost nothing about the way it portrays Vegas is accurate. The characters are all extremely unlikable--the only one with anything resembling a moral center--Ace--was a stone cold fool. Hollywood has not yet managed to make a movie that portrays Vegas accurately, or even a scene that portrays a casino game correctly.

But then, I suppose, an accurate portrayal of Vegas--the same bets repeated over and over and over, pennies shaved off the tourists' bankrolls every single time until "shareholder value" is realized, makes for poor drama.

O2bnVegas Aug-05-2019

authentic

There was one authentic portrayal.  The Twilight Zone episode where the slot machine comes to Franklin's hotel room and chases him out the window to his death.

Kevin Lewis Aug-05-2019

Vegas is the Twilight Zone

Yeah, Candy, but for that very reason, Vegas casino-hotels' windows don't open :)

Jackie Aug-05-2019

Gee Kevin

Maybe you should make an accurate Vegas movie.  Start with the conspiracy of all the strip casinos to jack up prices with spa, resort, parking, and pool fees.  Then show the reduced EV in 6-5 BJ and changes in other games like higher stakes requirements for poker.  You could have a field day exposing Vegas for what it really is, that is if the conspirators don't get wind of your diatribe and do something about it.  ENJOY!

Kevin Lewis Aug-05-2019

Not a groovy movie

Well, Jackie, I just implied that an accurate Vegas movie wouldn't be interesting. 99.9% of Vegas is prosaic, workaday, and mundane. It's similar to how poker is portrayed in the movies. The climactic hand, the hero beats the villain's straight flush with a royal flush. In reality, the hand that wins the WSOP main event is usually one pair. Watching a real life poker game is like watching paint dry. Reality is boring, so you don't see it in the movies.

Jackie Aug-05-2019

But Kevin

Your movie would expose the villainy of Vegas.  Bad guy stuff always sells in the movie business especially with you being the hero that shames them all.  Go for it!

Aug-05-2019

It's just a film, Kevin

 Why did it bother you so much considering it's simply a Hollywood portrayal of a Vegas from another era? You need to switch to decaf.

Michael Aug-05-2019

Kevin's only happy...

...when he has something like this to complain about.

Kevin Lewis Aug-05-2019

I'm amazed...

...at the breathtaking presumption of making a value judgment about someone you don't know and have never met. In any case, you're wrong. I am also happy when I'm having sex with supermodels (I try to keep it down to twice a week).

Ray Aug-05-2019

Not the intent

The intent of this movie, (and most movies that have Vegas in it) is to portray the mobsters, and Vegas is the background. It's easy to pick apart any movie that uses a major city as its location. We over-analyze all Chicago movies here in Chitown, too. It's entertainment. It's trying to grab your attention, not necessarily paint an accurate picture of a town.

jeepbeer Aug-05-2019

Casinos and Movies . . .

I've never walked out of the movies with more money.

Jackie Aug-05-2019

@jeepbeer

It's the candy, popcorn, and drinks that bankrupt you. I sneaked my own snacks in and see more than one movie. Before the chain cinemas double features with a cartoon in between were commonplace for a single admittance fee, snacks were reasonably priced too.

Aug-06-2019

No, Kevin...

You're amazed that readers find your outlook to be that of one sad and spiteful person who gets his kicks from finding fault in everything that is Las Vegas. You say "we don't know you". Well, your posts tell us a lot. If there is indeed another side, you haven't done a good job of displaying it. Just sayin' .

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