Dear Mark,
My spouse and I have a
dinner riding on your response. Because we live in a very small town
with limited video rentals, we need an answer from you to the following
question. I say the Cincinnati Kid lost his final wager in the movie of
the same name. My husband believes he won and became the reigning poker
player of New Orleans. Who is right? Lou J.
The Cincinnati Kid's (Steve McQueen) full
house of aces and 10s was no match for the straight flush, eight through
queen of diamonds, that Lancey (Edward G. Robinson) had.
The Kid: "I'll call your five thousand
and raise what I have in front of me."
Lancey: "Call your thirty-five hundred
and raise you five thousand."
Great dialog and suspense at the end but
by poker playing standards, Lancey, by raising, then trying to draw to
an inside straight flush, would be ridiculed today by even the most
amateur poker player. He should have folded. But as Lancey said, "It
gets down to what it's all about. Making the wrong move at the right
time."
Incidentally, the final wager was not at
the poker table but pitching pennies with a local shoe-shine boy. "The
Kid" lost that bet also. "You try too hard, man" said the shoe-shine
boy. "You just ain't ready for me yet."
Maybe you can squeeze two dinners out of
your husband. Enjoy your dinner, Lou.
Dear Mark,
For someone learning
card counting strategies in blackjack, what do you feel will be the
greatest obstacle I will encounter? Jan S.
As you didn't identify yourself coming
from either Wall Street or WalMart America, let's put aside the pitfalls
of being under-capitalized.
The greatest obstacle when making
frequent, multiple, table-limit bets is that your play will be closely
monitored. First, plan on the eye-in-the-sky (observation) analyzing
your play. When casino security assesses that your biggest wagers always
correspond with higher counts, believe me, you'll feel the heat of a
camera over your shoulder. If the trend continues, the phone ringing in
the pit will be about you, not who the pit boss likes in tonight's Red
Wing/Flyer game. Finally, a decision will be made about your play. Yes,
the death blow. A polite banishment to nickel slots. It generally goes
like this: "Hi, Jan. You're just too good for us. You're welcome to play
any of the other games we offer but we don't want your action in
blackjack."
To avoid exile, Jan, you will need to
learn how to conceal your high-count bets without using so much
camouflage that you will counteract your advantage.
Dear Mark,
I know you can bet on
the horses, but can you bet on motorsports in Nevada? I would really
have liked to place a bet on my favorite driver in the recent Daytona
500. Dave D.
Quick rule of thumb, Dave. If a
professional sporting event is preceded by the national anthem, by
golly, you can get action on it in the Silver State. Besides major
racing events like the Daytona or Indianapolis 500, many sportsbooks
will take wagers on the whole NASCAR and CART season.
Dear Mark,
In Montreal, the dealer
gets only one card on the deal. Does this change
that delicate
balance of the game, particularly when you are on third base sitting
with a hard 16 and looking at a dealer's up card of 10? Tom M.
Nay, Tom. The main reason the dealer receives just one card is strictly for
casino security.
Dealing one card averts both the unscrupulous dealer
from tipping off customers to their hole card, or when checking the
ten/ace, inadvertently flashing what's hiding in the hole to an
over-observant card sharpie.
