Dear Mark,
I have not seen any Basic Blackjack Strategy that suggests doubling down on a
hard eight. All I have read or seen on Basic Blackjack Strategy states you only
hit the hard eight. Do you have a professional's view of the decision to
double down on eight? I do not remember you addressing this issue. Dan J.
Because single deck games are harder to find than the proverbial needle in
a haystack, current writings on blackjack, (as well as on blackjack basic strategy
cards) are created for multiple deck games. Usually they all suggest the same
thing: Hit your hard eight against any card the dealer is showing. However,
Dan, if you happen to stumble upon a single deck game, it is commonly recommended
that you double down on a hard eight when the dealer is showing a five or a
six.
Dear Mark,
Do all casinos use the same dice size on their crap games? Mickey H.
Most dice on crap games today are the size of a three-quarter inch cube, but
the size can vary up to a sixteenth of an inch because different companies make
dice.
Up until the early sixties, dice were somewhat smaller, measuring about five-eighths
of an inch. The increase in size was for a few different reasons, the foremost
being complicate life for the cheaters. It is much harder to "palm"
or "switch" the bigger dice. Another reason is that as crap tables
grew larger to accommodate more players, it became advantageous to have larger
spots making it easier for the dealers and players to read the numbers.
I once positioned a five-eighths inch die next to a three-quarter inch cube
at the end of a crap table, and what a difference an eighth of an inch makes!
even with my botched lasik surgery.
Dear Mark,
A quick question about Texas Hold'em: Let's say the five community
cards are all hearts. For example, the board shows the 6, 7, 8, 10, and Jack.
In my hand, I have the Ace of hearts. Do I get to play my Ace of hearts and
take the pot, or am I screwed and the pot is split? Our poker group had a minor
argument the other night and would like clarification. As long as I have played,
we have played that if you can make a higher flush, then you win. Andrew R.
Correct you are, Andrew, in that your pocket Ace of hearts ranks supreme and
you can marry it with the just four of the other hearts on the board (the five
face-up cards in Texas Hold'em). Your Ace-High Flush would be higher than
any other flush whose highest card ranks lower than the ace. If ever the highest
card in the flushes of two opponents is the same, the hand is counted down to
the next highest card to see which flush is higher. This countdown can continue
until the final card of the hand determines the higher flush.
One exception (there's always one, n'est pas) to your specific example
would be if someone were holding the nine of hearts as one of their two pocket
cards. They trump your hand because that player would have cards in sequence,
making their hand a Straight Flush.
Gambling quote of the week: I believe that some good poker players
actually employ a degree of extrasensory perception (ESP). While I've never
studied the subject in depth, it seems to me there's too much evidence
to ignore that ESP exists or that most people have it to some degree. Doyle
Brunson, How I Made $1,000,000 Playing Poker (1979)
