Aces
have three pips, one pip directly in the center
of the card and
one each just under the A at each end.
As
for the 2-10 cards, each has two more pips than
the number that
represents its rank. For instance, for a 10 of
spades, you'll find the
rank total of 10 pips in the center area of the
card, plus one more pip
(two total) under the rank number on each end.
As
a former pit boss, to thwart card counters, I
also counted down the
deck, but from a distance. And although from across
the pit it can be
hard to distinguish the corner number 5, you can
become quite skillful
at reading the pip patterns on the central part
of the 2 -10 cards with
just a little practice.
Dear
Mark,
I believe only you could probably answer this
question as you're Polish
and you know a thing or two about gambling. What
does the Polish word "pushka" mean,
and how does it relate to gambling? Stanley G.
A
wordsmith I'm not, knowing a thing or two is questionable,
but,
Stanley, let me take a whack at it. Here goes.
The
first time I heard the word pushka was while dealing
blackjack; a
player used it when we pushed on an 18. The player
said it was Polish
for us having the same hand. Although my parents
spoke Polish around
the house, it was only the curse words related
to cleaning my room that
I retained, but I figured encyclopedic mom would
be a good etymological
source to clarify pushka. But no, she said, a
push, as in meaning "the
same kind", is rodzaj in Polish. So that
didn't square.
Years
later, I actually came across that word once again,
but this time
it was related to the game of poker. A poker dictionary
said that a
pushka was an arrangement between two or more
players to share part of
the pots they win. But more specifically, it was
defined as a box-like
container where shared chips are placed. Pushka
partners could place a
certain amount from each won pot into the container,
and split the
contents later. That dictionary stated the word
pushka supposedly comes
from the Polish word for box via a Yiddish translation.
Well,
Stanley, that sort of flies because "box"
in Polish is puszka
(but with z in lieu of h); defined properly, a
tin can or a poor box.
As for the Yiddish interpretation of the word,
a quick Google search
acquainted me with the fact that there is a tradition
amongst Jews to
place pushka (h instead of z) charity boxes in
their home, office and
children's bedrooms, where individuals can drop
coins in on a daily
basis.
Of
course, Stanley, we all know that casinos have
those same pushka
"charity" boxes under each gaming table.
Your hard-earned money finds
its way into those boxes every time you change-up
paper into casino
chips.
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