Ploppy would do whatever I want him to do

BJgenius007

Well-Known Member
#1
what would you do if you were me?

Yesterday this young ploppy has been very polite and considerate since he took the seat on my right side. It seems that he doesn't want to be blamed not to take a card that could bust my hand. So if we both have stiffs and he knew I will take a card according to BS, he was always taking a card, too. Now this happened:

True count was +7, I had my max bet. He bet the table minimum as usual. He had A7. I had 11. As the dealer shown his upcard is 2, I put another $400 up front. The ploppy turned to me and told me he would do anything I like regarding his hand since I had $800 on the line, what would you do?

1. Tell him, according to the book, he should stay.

2. Tell him if I were him, I would double the A7 against 2. Just don't mention because of the high count.

3. Tell him to do anything he wants. Let the fate decide the outcome.

4. Tell him I don't know.

What would you do? And I will post what happened next tomorrow.
 

Shoofly

Well-Known Member
#2
BJgenius007 said:
what would you do if you were me?

Yesterday this young ploppy has been very polite and considerate since he took the seat on my right side. It seems that he doesn't want to be blamed not to take a card that could bust my hand. So if we both have stiffs and he knew I will take a card according to BS, he was always taking a card, too. Now this happened:

True count was +7, I had my max bet. He bet the table minimum as usual. He had A7. I had 11. As the dealer shown his upcard is 2, I put another $400 up front. The ploppy turned to me and told me he would do anything I like regarding his hand since I had $800 on the line, what would you do?

1. Tell him, according to the book, he should stay.

2. Tell him if I were him, I would double the A7 against 2. Just don't mention because of the high count.

3. Tell him to do anything he wants. Let the fate decide the outcome.

4. Tell him I don't know.

What would you do? And I will post what happened next tomorrow.
I had pretty much the same thing happen to me. When the player on my right asked what I wanted him to do, I said "I don't care." When he insisted that he would do what I wanted because I had more money out, I looked at his hand and told him the correct BS play. I thanked him for his consideration. He was a nice fellow, just trying to help.
 

aslan

Well-Known Member
#3
BJgenius007 said:
what would you do if you were me?

Yesterday this young ploppy has been very polite and considerate since he took the seat on my right side. It seems that he doesn't want to be blamed not to take a card that could bust my hand. So if we both have stiffs and he knew I will take a card according to BS, he was always taking a card, too. Now this happened:

True count was +7, I had my max bet. He bet the table minimum as usual. He had A7. I had 11. As the dealer shown his upcard is 2, I put another $400 up front. The ploppy turned to me and told me he would do anything I like regarding his hand since I had $800 on the line, what would you do?

1. Tell him, according to the book, he should stay.

2. Tell him if I were him, I would double the A7 against 2. Just don't mention because of the high count.

3. Tell him to do anything he wants. Let the fate decide the outcome.

4. Tell him I don't know.

What would you do? And I will post what happened next tomorrow.
You can do #1 but without telling him the lie. Since he just wants to please you, you just tell him to stay. You could even tell him you will cover his loss if he loses and you win, although it might be more profitable to tell him to hit or DD and take your chances at +6, than covering his loss if you should win. Of course, his not taking a hit increases your chance of getting a ten, since he would most likely get a ten, thereby lowering the count by 1.
 

NightStalker

Well-Known Member
#4
3 3 3 3 3

BJgenius007 said:
what would you do if you were me?

Yesterday this young ploppy has been very polite and considerate since he took the seat on my right side. It seems that he doesn't want to be blamed not to take a card that could bust my hand. So if we both have stiffs and he knew I will take a card according to BS, he was always taking a card, too. Now this happened:

True count was +7, I had my max bet. He bet the table minimum as usual. He had A7. I had 11. As the dealer shown his upcard is 2, I put another $400 up front. The ploppy turned to me and told me he would do anything I like regarding his hand since I had $800 on the line, what would you do?

1. Tell him, according to the book, he should stay.

2. Tell him if I were him, I would double the A7 against 2. Just don't mention because of the high count.

3. Tell him to do anything he wants. Let the fate decide the outcome.

4. Tell him I don't know.

What would you do? And I will post what happened next tomorrow.
I love your stories, keep them coming :)
 
#6
Giving advice based on the count raises questions. The dealers often know BS. Tell him to stand and maybe enjoy another round at a high count.
 
#7
I probably would have told him #1, as in, "I think the book says to stand on that one but I'm not sure" as I was looking at the dealer with a not so sure expression. Usually the dealer will pick up on it and say, you are right. Kind of puts it on the dealer and you get what you want also.
 
#8
Agree with the above.....#1 with the added "I dunno" glance to the dealer.

Mostly because I want that card for myself in that count, even though it almost doesn't make a difference in what card I get and what card the dealer gets. A small part of me says I want to see one more card, though...what if its a 4 or something else to raise the count? I'd hit my double with more confidence.....but, not more money, so maybe it doesn't matter? :grin:
 

paddywhack

Well-Known Member
#10
BJgenius007 said:
Yesterday this young ploppy has been very polite and considerate since he took the seat on my right side. It seems that he doesn't want to be blamed not to take a card that could bust my hand. So if we both have stiffs and he knew I will take a card according to BS, he was always taking a card, too.....
Sh*t, that was you. Nice to finally meet you. :laugh::laugh::laugh:
 

Gamblor

Well-Known Member
#11
As others I suggest, if your a complete bastard you would tell him to stand for your own benefit, one less card eaten and less likely to decrease count.

I personally tell him the truth, "I would double that". I'm not at the BJ tables to get every damn advantage possible (although I might have an ulterior motive to get the ploppy to like me, I have had ploppies just give me money). Unless I don't like the ploppy :grin:
 

MangoJ

Well-Known Member
#12
aslan said:
Of course, his not taking a hit increases your chance of getting a ten, since he would most likely get a ten, thereby lowering the count by 1.
Huh ? I really think this is superstition. Does hitting the hand decreases the chance of dealer getting ten ? (and hence taking his bust card?)

It would marginally help your current hand if he would hit his hand (to the extreme, until he busts). This way you could update your count and make a better decision. However, since you are unlikely to not double your 11 anyway, the hit carc is very much worthless to you.

I would tell him to stand, first it is BS, second is: he doesn't eat up a card, which increases the chance the shoe (in + count) will last a round longer before the cut card.
 
#13
Ya, one more card wont change the count enough for you to change your strategy. So, I'd ask, do you believe in karma? ...and would the dealer have any idea why you'd tell him to double?

He seemed to be (overly) considerate. If the dealer was clueless or didnt care, I'd tell him to double. (or offer to double for him if thats allowed).
 

BJgenius007

Well-Known Member
#14
Gamblor said:
As others I suggest, if your a complete bastard you would tell him to stand for your own benefit, one less card eaten and less likely to decrease count.

I personally tell him the truth, "I would double that". I'm not at the BJ tables to get every damn advantage possible (although I might have an ulterior motive to get the ploppy to like me, I have had ploppies just give me money). Unless I don't like the ploppy :grin:
Did I mention I like this guy? Am I going to make the mistake of the day? Watch the result show on 8 PM Saturday, 7 PM Central.
 
#15
I would tell him "Whatever you want to do." Maybe doubling would have been +EV but he might not be able to afford it, and you might also miseducate him into thinking that is correct basic strategy.

I've stopped telling civilians when to split because a split is sometimes only a good play if you know how to play the resulting hands.
 

aslan

Well-Known Member
#16
MangoJ said:
Huh ? I really think this is superstition. Does hitting the hand decreases the chance of dealer getting ten ? (and hence taking his bust card?)

It would marginally help your current hand if he would hit his hand (to the extreme, until he busts). This way you could update your count and make a better decision. However, since you are unlikely to not double your 11 anyway, the hit carc is very much worthless to you.

I would tell him to stand, first it is BS, second is: he doesn't eat up a card, which increases the chance the shoe (in + count) will last a round longer before the cut card.
Superstition? The count is what it is. If the count will likely go down if he hits then your chances of hitting a ten or ace are slightly reduced. What's superstitious about that? If the most likely outcome of his hitting is to remove one more ten from the available cards, your chances of getting a ten are reduced no matter how little.
 

Gamblor

Well-Known Member
#17
BJgenius007 said:
Did I mention I like this guy? Am I going to make the mistake of the day? Watch the result show on 8 PM Saturday, 7 PM Central.
If you like him, tell him whats good for him. Screw trying to get every minor advantage, call it karma or whatever, but the world certainly works in certain ways, pays dividends later in ways you can't anticipate. IMHO.
 

MangoJ

Well-Known Member
#18
aslan said:
Superstition? The count is what it is. If the count will likely go down if he hits then your chances of hitting a ten or ace are slightly reduced. What's superstitious about that? If the most likely outcome of his hitting is to remove one more ten from the available cards, your chances of getting a ten are reduced no matter how little.
The expected running count will drop, that is very true. But the expected true count will stay, simply because the true count is a representation of the remaining deck composition (the running count isn't). Since the expected deck composition does not change when drawing a random card, the expected true count won't change.

This scenario is exactly equivalent to "taking the bust card".

I think on the board is a lengthy discussion about this, even with simulated data proving that the expected true count will not change after removing random cards.
 

BJgenius007

Well-Known Member
#19
BJgenius007 said:
what would you do if you were me?

Yesterday this young ploppy has been very polite and considerate since he took the seat on my right side. It seems that he doesn't want to be blamed not to take a card that could bust my hand. So if we both have stiffs and he knew I will take a card according to BS, he was always taking a card, too. Now this happened:

True count was +7, I had my max bet. He bet the table minimum as usual. He had A7. I had 11. As the dealer shown his upcard is 2, I put another $400 up front. The ploppy turned to me and told me he would do anything I like regarding his hand since I had $800 on the line, what would you do?

1. Tell him, according to the book, he should stay.

2. Tell him if I were him, I would double the A7 against 2. Just don't mention because of the high count.

3. Tell him to do anything he wants. Let the fate decide the outcome.

4. Tell him I don't know.

What would you do? And I will post what happened next tomorrow.
What happened next is that I pointed to the cards on the table and there weren't face cards. I said I sense ten is coming and encouraged him to double. He did and got an ace. He made 19. Now my turn. I got a six. That made my total 17. Dealer drew two more cards to 18. He won and I lost. By the way, if he stand and other people played the same way, I would get to 12 but the dealer would bust his hand.

For me, if ploppy asked, 80% of the times I told them the correct BS play. 20% I said I don't know. Only 1% of the times I told the truth. But in this case that 1% became my mistake of the day!
 
#20
aslan said:
Superstition? The count is what it is. If the count will likely go down if he hits then your chances of hitting a ten or ace are slightly reduced. What's superstitious about that? If the most likely outcome of his hitting is to remove one more ten from the available cards, your chances of getting a ten are reduced no matter how little.
What are the next two likely cards. The odds most likely don't say 2 tens. If you say 2 tens what difference does it make. If not which card is your ten. That is a fifty fifty chance (if you think the order of unseen cards make one more likely to be a ten than another you have a lot to learn). Pure ploppy superstition.
 
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