Chancer: Burning cards?

[Chancer]

In a multideck game on the strip, playing multi boxes, I was dealt a hard 16 on my first hand and pat hands on the others. The dealer had an ace.
After declining insurance I signalled for surrender on the 16, the dealer hit me by mistake
with a 5. Of course she took it back and used it on her own hand to make 21. I complained to the pb that the card should have been burned, but to no avail. I further pointed out that had my next hand been a 16, would I have been allowed to double down or would the card have been burned? No response of course.

I feel cheated. Was I right, or was the game conducted correctly?

[Don Schlesinger]

> I feel cheated. Was I right, or was the game
> conducted correctly?

Unfortunately, there is no hard-and-fast rule for this. Different houses resolve the problem in different ways. I've seen both quite often. Sometimes, the card is simply burned. Many other times, since it is now the legitimate next card to be dealt from the shoe, to the next hand, you are entitled to it as the player. And, yes, you would be entitled to double down.

So, truth be told, the boss was within his rights to say that, if you declined the card, it rightfully would go to the dealer's hand, since you stood on your other hands. I assume that the dealer's hole card had not yet been exposed when the decision was made. That would have been a different story.

In fact, suppose the dealer quickly flipped her hole card, exposing, say, a 5 (she now has A,5).
Knowing that she would get the 5 for 21, you would be right to take that 5 for your second hand, intentionally breaking if need be, just to not automatically lose the three hands to her 21!

Don

[Chancer]