The Investment Club by Cooper Doug;

Author:Cooper, Doug;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rare Bird Books
Published: 2016-08-19T00:02:24+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Five

Date: Saturday, October 12, 2013

Dow Jones Open: Closed

Les was counting cards and had been for quite some time. I just didn’t see any reason to alert the pit bosses. It was their responsibility to identify and deal with the counters. Besides, even though Les was steadily winning, it wasn’t like he was backing up a truck to cart away his haul every time he sat down. And contrary to popular belief, counting cards isn’t illegal or cheating. It’ll never land you in the pokey, but it might get you banned or flat bet at the blackjack tables. The casinos, similar to a bar or restaurant, can refuse service to anyone, whether it be because a patron is rude or too drunk (which is usually the goal, so that rarely happens), or if the casino feels the patron has an unfair advantage over the house.

It’s usually easy to spot counters by how hard they concentrate and watch all the cards that are played, how they vary their bets, and when they diverge from the basic strategy. To count cards, most use a high-low method, where they count every two through six with a value of positive one and ten through ace as negative one. Seven through nine has no value. The theory is that the more cards between two and six that are played, the higher the count will be and the greater the odds of getting tens and above. Of course the house has the same increased chances of getting the high cards, but because blackjacks pay three to two, and players can split and double down for twice their initial bet, the players have a greater advantage. There are other considerations, but no point in boring you with those details here.

I’ve flipped so many cards over the years, I don’t even have to add up the totals anymore. It just happens naturally. One look at the table and I instantly know the count. It’s more visual than linear. It’s like when people are amazed by how quickly I can add up the player hands. The thing is, there’s no math involved at all. After seeing the combinations over and over, I remember the results for clusters of cards rather than adding up the individual ones. One look at a 4-K-A-A-5, I know that it’s twenty-one and negative one on the count. So when I see people not speaking to anyone, staring intently at each card, often with their lips moving as they adjust the count, and increasing their bets as the count ticks up, I know they’re counting. Occasionally pressing the bet when the count is high might just be a lucky coincidence. But doing so every time is a dead giveaway, and when players are formulaic about the increase, like betting two units at a count of two, four units at three, six units at four, and eight units at a count of five or more, or just raising their bets one unit for each increase in the count, I want to reach across the table and smack them upside the head.

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