I meant to split those fives!

A ploppy sitting at 3rd base got dealt a pair of fives against dealer 6 and placed a bet equal to his original wager. The dealer thought he was doubling down and his double down card was a deuce. He then said that he meant to split those fives. The pit boss OKed it, and burned the deuce. The next 2 cards were a jack and a queen so he had 2 15s. The dealer's hole card was an eight and then the dealer drew a 6 for a 20. Everyone at the table gave him a dirty look for splitting his fives. If he simply let his double down stand, the whole table would have won when the dealer busted.

That ploppy went broke shortly thereafter and never returned to my table.

I always wondered why some players are so smart in calculating that if the other player had or had not done this or that then the rest on the table would win. I never like to particpate in such witch hunt. Or I am too lazy to do all these calculations
If you don't like to play with someone who split his 5's then play all boxes on the table. Ususually though it is the know-something guy that complaint the loudest and not the AP or the beginner who is too pre-occuppied with his own card.

I meant to too


Have said that many times after getting a 5 or 6 on my double. But of course I was only joking.

As has been said, the cards are the cards, and they fall where they may. Shoulda, coulda, woulda have no bearing in what happened. The rest of the shoe is changed because of that hand too.

You'll see an awful lot more the longer you play tensplitter.

The ploppy was actually pulling an AP move by the sound of it. Although I would classify this as cheating.

Yeah he took a shot at the dealer. Sort of the lowest form of AP'ing.

If you're saying that you think he only changed his mind about doubling only AFTER seeing the deuce, then I'll agree - it was a pretty cheap shot and technically WAS (unprovable) cheating. But there ARE several perfectly legal AP plays in which it is not only correct, but IMPERATIVE to split fives. However when I MYSELF split them, I ALWAYS make SURE THE DEALER is aware of my intentions before a card is dealt. The last thing I need is for the pit to think I'm a shot puller when I'm NOT!

So much for an AP move. No AP splits fives unless they know the next 2 cards are 5's or 6's. If the deuce is burned, the cards that come on each split five are unknown.

He had been doing stupid things all the time. He doubled for less on a hard 12, he hit a pair of aces, always took insurance, tipped red chips often, stood on a 10 to avoid taking the "bust card", always bet a red chip on the lucky ladies sucker bet which never hit.

They probably knew he was bound to go broke, so even giving him the benefit of the doubt by letting him split those fives might have kept him playing longer if he got lucky.

It was painful yet hilarious watching him blow $200 in less than an hour. It's suckers like him that pay me.

It's a form of AP called shot-taking. If the dealer did not ask whether it was a split or double, the player can get away with it, but just once.

After all this, & the dealer STILL wasn't prepared for the possibility that the guy MIGHT want to split his fives? Sounds like he wasn't a whole lot brighter than the ploppie!

There are some AP's who make a living off this whether it be blackjack, poker or other card games. New dealers are especially susceptible to this. Personally I wouldn't dare try to pull something like this as it can have serious repercussions if they can prove you purposely took a shot. Some people call it social engineering. I disagree.

I once motioned to split 8s, and drew a 5. Dealer smiled at me and said "just the card you needed" and went on to the next player. She had twenty and paid me for my 21.

Whereas there is nothing unknown about the total of 12 he already has.

It doesn't matter what the next two cards are; things can only get better (or at least can't get any worse).

I would definitely call it "social engineering", but that's because in part of my field (computer security), it's always used in a negative context.

In computer security, it almost always is considered in a negative context because it's used to hack sites or conduct corporate espionage or gain access to safeguarded info. When shot taking is done in BJ, that to me idoesn't require any social skills usually but rather just involves taking advantage of a dealer's or player's slight mistake and exploiting it in the hopes of financial gain. It's far more nefarious when done in your field though.

I am not proud to say I split my 5's on my first trip to Vegas. But this was 30 years ago and Tensplitter was not even born then so it wasn't you that was mad at me. I first heard about BS and knew that there was something about the 5's and doubling and splitting but was not sure about which.
I told the dealer split and he just turn in a long face and split my cards. After the round I just mentioned to the dealer I should have doubled instead and he just kept quiet. I told him you should have told me to double instead.
In your case it was clearly the dealers fault as he assume the player want to double. The pit boss had to correct the dealer and let the player split instead.
Nowadays I come across new players asking to split their 5's all the time. I'll tell them they can double instead and somebody else on the table would invariable say 'yea'. The dealer would then say double, the player would then look at the other players and then double. Everybody is then happy with the game.

Not cheating, AP, albeit unknowingly. zg

Not cheating. The dealer is trained to wait for a clear hand signal. If he doesn't do that there is no one to blame but the dealer.

yes, you have to laugh at these imbeciles that say "if you would/wouldn't have hit the whole table would have won". way too much time on their hand to sit there and figure that out. i love it when they get a BJ on the next hand...well guess what, you likely wouldn't have gotten that if I hit/stood on the previous hand...they never seem to mention that one.

I had a dealer make a mistake that I feel was handled inappropriately by the PC. I have an 8 on my first card, third base who is seated right next to me has a picture and the dealer also has a picture. the dealer skips my 2nd card..and give a 3 to third base and a picture to himself. So I am sitting w/ a single card 8, 3rd base has a 13 (my double card) and the dealer is sitting w/ 20. YIKES...I, obviously, get to take my bet back, which i do, but they don't give anyone else at the table that option...felt for 3rd w/ the stiff who should've had the 20...bust and loses.

I'd call that cheating by the casino.:whip: Any chance this was an indian joint?

That should've been a dead hand for everyone since the cards were dealt out of order. At the very least they should have given everyone the opportunity to take back their bet.

I'm shocked no one put up a stink.

HockeXpert