Last December I reported on a trend towards doubling only on 10 or 11 at both the Peppermill and the Atlantis on So. Virginia St.

To their credit, the Peppermill has gone back to double on any two cards at all tables.

The Atlantis is down to just one $5 table with double on any first two cards. Of course, it is not one of the non-smoking tables. All tables with a higher minimum are double on any two.

One odd dealer mistake did happen. I was at first base with three other players. The count was even. I drew a 6-4 vs a dealer 9 and doubled. It was not until the dealer turned over his hole card (a face card) that I noticed he had never given me my double down card.

The floor person was called. After first glaring at the dealer he then thought for a minute and told the other players they were stuck with what they had. The guy next to me wasn't very happy because he had busted and rightfully claimed my card would have changed his hand.

I was given the option of calling it a dead hand or taking the next card. The count had gone to -3 so I took the dead hand against the dealer 19. There was a lot of commotion and nobody thought to find out what the next card was before the dealer shuffled.

Did the pit guy have any other realistic options?

How did the rest of the trip go? At one point I had hands of 12-16 ten times in a row. It went downhill from there.