In another thread on one of the boards here the subject of "atmosphere" came up as it relates to a blackjack table. Some prefer playing at a table that is quiet (or dry or cold) in terms of interaction between players and with the dealer. Others prefer a more party-like or social (or lose or open or relaxed) feeling. I tend to be somewhere in the middle. Anyway, I made a comment in that thread about an open atmosphere leaving more room for annoying behavior on the part of my tablemates. So I thought it might be interesting to ask others to share some of their more memorable experiences with others at a blackjack table.
I'll start with these:
I was playing on a cruise ship and opened a table late one evening. I was sitting in the center of the table; and this group of six or seven guys came in, splitting up and sitting on either side of me. They were all together, and had even played all together with our same dealer on a previous night. So there was a lot of "party" feel to the table. At some point, they started doing "the wave" whenever the dealer busted. Sitting in the middle of their wave, I had no choice but to join in or look like a real party pooper.
Another evening, on that same boat, I was playing head to head with a dealer who wasn't very talkative and couldn't speak English all that well. SO the mood at this table was somewhat quiet and somber. Then this other guy sits down with his wife; and he's trying to be something of a show off. He started in with ther dealer and would explain in great detail what his reasoning was behind every decision he made. I wanted so bad to just tell him to shut up and hit already.
I played at a table once in Las Vegas where the strangest thing happened. The dealer was winning so much that it actually became "entertaining" to lament how bad the table was.
I played with a drunk guy once who was being obnoxious to the dealer. When the guy called for a hit on a hard twenty, rather than asking if he was sure, the dealer just made some comment about "looking for the ace" and slapped down a bust card.
However, my most memorable and most annoying table tale is one of a young kid in Vegas who was supposedly on his first trip to a casino. He was loud, a little intoxicated, blowing smoke all over the place, and generally trying to draw attention to himself in everything he did. Whenever his turn came to cut, which seemed like all the time (single-deck game at a full table, so there was a lot of cutting), he had this whole routine he'd run through with the cut card before inserting it into the deck. While the dealer held out the deck and waited, the guy would first slowly run the cut card up each stack of his chips, from the table to the top of the stack. Then, he'd run the cut card up his bet and around on the table in his betting spot. Then he'd start at the top of the deck and run the card all the way to the bottom before finally putting it in. The first time, it was interesting, because it was different. But when it continued deck after deck, it got real old. Of course, when he saw that it attracted attention, especially when he saw some of us start to get annoyed, he just became that much slower and that much more dramatic about it.
I guess it takes all kinds.
I'll start with these:
I was playing on a cruise ship and opened a table late one evening. I was sitting in the center of the table; and this group of six or seven guys came in, splitting up and sitting on either side of me. They were all together, and had even played all together with our same dealer on a previous night. So there was a lot of "party" feel to the table. At some point, they started doing "the wave" whenever the dealer busted. Sitting in the middle of their wave, I had no choice but to join in or look like a real party pooper.
Another evening, on that same boat, I was playing head to head with a dealer who wasn't very talkative and couldn't speak English all that well. SO the mood at this table was somewhat quiet and somber. Then this other guy sits down with his wife; and he's trying to be something of a show off. He started in with ther dealer and would explain in great detail what his reasoning was behind every decision he made. I wanted so bad to just tell him to shut up and hit already.
I played at a table once in Las Vegas where the strangest thing happened. The dealer was winning so much that it actually became "entertaining" to lament how bad the table was.
I played with a drunk guy once who was being obnoxious to the dealer. When the guy called for a hit on a hard twenty, rather than asking if he was sure, the dealer just made some comment about "looking for the ace" and slapped down a bust card.
However, my most memorable and most annoying table tale is one of a young kid in Vegas who was supposedly on his first trip to a casino. He was loud, a little intoxicated, blowing smoke all over the place, and generally trying to draw attention to himself in everything he did. Whenever his turn came to cut, which seemed like all the time (single-deck game at a full table, so there was a lot of cutting), he had this whole routine he'd run through with the cut card before inserting it into the deck. While the dealer held out the deck and waited, the guy would first slowly run the cut card up each stack of his chips, from the table to the top of the stack. Then, he'd run the cut card up his bet and around on the table in his betting spot. Then he'd start at the top of the deck and run the card all the way to the bottom before finally putting it in. The first time, it was interesting, because it was different. But when it continued deck after deck, it got real old. Of course, when he saw that it attracted attention, especially when he saw some of us start to get annoyed, he just became that much slower and that much more dramatic about it.
I guess it takes all kinds.
