My luckiest blackjack hand.
Playing fist base on a shoe game with two other players. Do not really remember the guy in the middle but the guy at third base was unforgettable.
I nicknamed him the Zen Master (very different techniques than the Zen Grifter I believe), as he was an elderly man who gave the pit a Japanesse passport to get a rating card.
He always had tons of chips in front of him. He used them to scientifically figure out his bet and to decide if he should hit or stand. It went as follows; he takes a big stack of chips and divides them in half. If they divide equally he bets one of the stacks, if they do not divide equally he bets the table minimum. Hit/stand is decided by the same proven scientific method, even stack stand, odd stack hit (or was it the other way around?)
Anyway, this is going on for half an hour and everyone at the table was winning. No great counts till the shoe with the lucky hand.
I have a max bet out and get 9,9 vs a dealer stiff. I land up splitting to 4 hands, get two double downs and now have 6 bets on the table with a high hand of 15. The middle guy stays with a 20 and Zen Master has a 4,2. He now grabs his traditional stack of chips, divides them (all this time I am looking towards the ceiling for divine guidance or some kind of help) and comes to the conclusion that the Gods have determined that he stay on 4,2.
The dealer tells him he should hit and so does the pit but between the fact that he did not speak English and he had already determined what he was going to do, he stood.
Now as an AP, I know it makes no difference if he stays or hits. In fact since the shoe was positive, his not hitting lets the shoe live an additional one card probably, but if there was ever a time for a ploppy act, to show false hope in the flow of the cards, this was it. I know there is nothing the pit can do, but I am in near tears, pointing out the thousands I have on the table to the pit, begging for some kind of help that I know will not come from them, but definately looking like the superstitious player who knows that this guys wrong play will cost me dearly.
Dealer turns a 10 in the hole and hits a 9 for a bust. I win! Next card out of the shoe is a 4 which would have made a hand for the dealer and a big loss for me. Upon seeing the 4 hit the board, the Zen Master looks at me, smiles and gives me a little bow, which I return deeper in reverance to his great powers.
Unfortunately for him, I played with him two other times that trip and he got his butt kicked each time (ya think it might have something to do with how he plays) but I often tell this story to people who complain about the effects of other players.
ihate17------but I love the Zen Master