Reed - Wild Cards: a Year Counting Cards with a Professional Blackjack Player, a Priest, and a 30,000 Bankroll

Copyright 2015 by Philip Reed

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Cover design by Tom Lau

Cover photo credit: istockphoto.com

ISBN: 978-1-63450-340-2

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63450-904-6

Printed in the United States of America

Contents

Introduction

T his isnt, as they say in the movies, based on a true story. The following events actually happened just the way they are told here, over the space of about one year from 2012 to 2013 while playing in casinos in the United States and South America. I recorded many of the interviews and used quotes in this book verbatim. I also kept notebooks filled with details and observations as I played blackjack (this is hard to do in casinos, where writing anything down is viewed with suspicion). I carefully recorded all the winnings and losses and accurately reported those figures here. However, many of the names of the characters in this book have been changed. In the spirit of full disclosure, I should also mention that a few of the events have been rearranged chronologically to keep the story flowing smoothly. While I only talk about a handful of trips in this book, it is actually based on many more trips to Las Vegas and one trip to Tunica, Mississippi, which I didnt include in this book.

With these caveats out of the way, you are now ready to read Wild Cards.

Part One:
The Feel of Money

Chapter 1

Learning the Count

Mathematicians call the dealing of cards dependent sequential events. I call it making money.

Lance Humble, The Worlds Greatest Blackjack Book

T he dealer spots us across the casino floor and watches us approach. As we settle onto the stools at the blackjack table, his hands automatically sweep up the cards fanned out in front of him.

Hey guys, he says, and starts shuffling, the cards making a soft, seductive ziiippppp on the green felt. The dealer is a young guy, powerfully built, wearing a white shirt and vest. The tray in front of him holds neat rows of colored chips worth up to $5,000 each.

Its Sunday afternoon on the Strip and waitresses here at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino are hustling drinks while flashing Vegas-sized cleavage. Around us, the party is on, showcasing a full sensory experiencepounding music, flashing lights from rows of slot machines, and screams of ecstasy from some distant craps table.

Hows your day going? Bill asks the dealer as he reaches into his front pocket for a wad of hundreds. Theres a grand in each of Bills four pockets, separated for easy access during playing sessions.

Slow, the dealer says, looking around at what, to me, looks like mayhem. There must be a game on.

Bill counts out ten $100 bills and lays them in front of the dealer. The dealer gives me an expectant look, waiting for me to put cash on the table.

I dont really know this game, I tell him. So Im going to sit this one out.

Smart man, the dealer allows.

Bills cash strikes me as a lot of money. But the dealer doesnt blink. He lays the bills out on the table so the surveillance cameras overhead can record the transaction.

Thousand coming in! the dealer calls over his shoulder. The pit boss, standing nearby, is heavyset, dressed in a dark suit, with graying hair and a face made of granite. He grunts his approval.

The dealer places the bills over a slot in the table and then uses a money plunger to ram them down into the safe below. Its jarring to see so much money disappear so quickly and irretrievably. But it doesnt bother Bill in the least. The dealer counts out a stack of green and black chips and pushes them across the table.

The pit boss slides over to our table and eyes Bill.

Do you have a card? the pit boss asks. Most casinos issue players cards to track your wins and losses and, supposedly, to award points for free rooms and meals.

No card, Bill answers, stacking his chips.

Want one?

I dont think so, thanks. Bill smiles. The pit boss smiles, too, as if they are playing a little game.

The dealer offers Bill the yellow plastic cut card and combines two decks of cards into a single stack. Bill inserts the cut card into the middle of the stack. Using the yellow card as a guide, the dealer cuts the cards in much the same way as in other card games such as bridge. Then, he puts the cards into a discard tray and, using a small notch as a guide, he slides the cut card into the remaining deck, about twenty-six cards from the end. When this yellow plastic card is dealt, the hand is finished and then the dealer reshuffles, leaving about twenty cards unplayed. The closer to the end of the deck this cut card is placed, the deeper the penetration, and the deeper the penetration, the more accurately Bill can count the cards.

Counting cards is really a misnomerBill is actually tracking whether more high or low cards have been played and translating this into a running count, which represents his probability of winning the upcoming hand. The higher the count, the more chance he has of winning. And the more he should bet. The count also tells him when to modify his play to win more hands.

The dealer burns the top card, removing it, sliding it carefully across the table so Bill cant see it, and placing it facedown in the discard tray. Bill puts two $25 green chipsa total of $50in each of two betting circles. Now, he has $100 total on the table.

Okay, good luck, the dealer says, and raps the table with his knuckles. He begins snapping out the first cards. You guys in town for a convention?

No, were just here to relax and play some golf, Bill answers, scanning the cards. He has a total of 16 on one hand and 18 on the other. The dealer has a queen up. The dealers other card, his hole card, is facedown. Bill signals he wants to stand on the 18 and hits and busts on the 16. The dealer flips his hole card over to show a 7 and, according to casino rules, has to stand since he has a hard 17. Hard hands are those that dont include an ace, which can be counted as either 1 or 11. The dealer sweeps his hand over the chips, indicating that Bill lost one hand and won the other.

No blood.

Wherere you guys playing golf? the dealer asks, laying out a new hand.

Before Bill can answer, a cocktail waitress appears. Her breasts are nearly spilling onto her drink tray due to some unseen underwear apparatus. You gentlemen want a drink? she purrs.

Ill have a martini, Bill says, placing one chip on each hand as I order a vodka tonic. Then, to the dealer: Were playing Boulder City.

Never played there, the dealer replies. Bill has an 11 on one hand and a jack and queen on the other for a 20. He slides out another chip, signaling he is going to double down on the 11. Meanwhile, the dealer has a 6, which is a weak carda bust card, according to some players. When the first card is a 6, theres a 30 percent chance that the hole card is a 10, and that the ensuing drawrequired of the dealer on 16will bust the hand.