Blackjack Dealing Pit Boss
Dear Mark,
In my short years playing blackjack, I have never seen a pit boss
come over and deal a hand until last year. I was playing with my family on a low
risk table ($5 minimum), when after about 40 minutes, the female dealer at our
table motioned to the pit boss, talked to him for a second, then finished her
hand. She spread out the cards, thanked us, and left urgently. The pit boss she
talked to stepped up and started to deal. Another pit boss watched his shuffling
from the pit area.
You have to believe me that we were a little nervous and
wondering what was going on. The pit boss was extremely friendly while he dealt
the cards, joking with us, etc. After several sets of cards, a different female
dealer came back.
My question to you is, what would cause a pit boss to come
over and do such a thing? We are all amateurs when it comes to playing 21, and
we were not cheating. Aaron S.
And neither was the pit boss, Aaron.
There was absolutely, positively no cheatin¹ going on. No need to be so suspicious.
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Besides, once you become a floor supervisor, you lose your dexterity for dealing
seconds or off the bottom of the deck.
Ya know I¹m jiving you Aaron,
right?
Dear Mark,
Should you always hit your 15s and 16s against
a 17? Also, should you always stand on a soft 18? Caroline S.
The
dealer¹s chances of having a 17 or more when he shows a 7, 8, 9, 10 or ace
are between 74% and 83%. For that reason, correct basic strategy dictates that
you always hit your 15 or 16.
Bringing us to that soft-18 query:
For
every one million hands of 18 you receive, you will lose 280 more hands than you
would win. That tells you, Caroline, that 18 is a losing hand over the long haul.
This is why basic strategy cards advise hitting a soft 18 against the dealer¹s
9, face (10) card and an Ace, but doubling when the dealer shows a 3, 4, 5 or
6. Dear Mark,
Can you tell me
how multi-deck blackjack alters the odds, compared with single hand blackjack?
Tom P. Compared to a single deck
game, the two-decker handicaps your play by 0.35%, (with four decks 0.48%, six
decks 0.54%, and eight decks 0.58%.). So, given the choice, I recommend playing
on a game with the smallest number of decks. Dear
Mark,
Do you get more blackjacks on a single or multiple deck game? Jay H.
Blackjacks, which pay
3 for 2, occur more frequently on a single deck versus
multi-deck games. Allow me, Jay, to illustrate.
Let¹s say your first card is an Ace. On a single
deck game, 16 of the remaining 51 cards, or 31.37
percent, are the face or 10-value cards that would
complete your blackjack.
On a six-deck game, 96 of the remaining 311 cards,
or 30.87 percent, would give you your blackjack.
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