dealer ran out of cards

[Avincow]

I remember a unique situation that happened a long time ago that I never thought about until today. There were 3 players at a 6:5 single deck table table. I was just watching since I don't play sucker games. Well anyway, The dealer dealt out everyone's cards, a player hit his hand, and guess what? That was the last card in the deck! The dealer was like, 'oops, sorry guys, I gotta cancel this round.'

At the time, bells and whistles were going off inside my head. I was like '100% penetration!?? That's gotta be worth something!' But then I reasoned that it was a 6:5 game, and so I walked away and played something else.

Now everyone says not to bother with the 6:5, so I never thought about this game ever again. But just today, someone referred me to the single deck game selection page on bj21. And it said:
"6/5 BJ, of course, should be avoided by everyone. Possibly with very deep penetration (perhaps 8 rounds heads-up?) and casino tolerance of a huge bet spread, it could be beaten. But such conditions are unlikely to be found, and searching for them is probably going to be a waste of time."

Well, looks like I happened to find such a game. Assuming I can find this dealer again, and he is dealing me 8-9 rounds, is this game worth anything? Looks pretty good to me on CVCX if I use a 1-6 spread.

[Dog Hand]

Before Katrina, a Biloxi casino used to offer a 6:5 SD game with S17, DA2, DAS, and "100%" (actually 96%) pen: the dealer would keep dealing until she reached the last card, at which point she would collect the discards, shuffle, burn a card, and continue dealing.

When I could get the game heads-up, I would play with a modest $5-$100 spread. Many times I knew the dealer's hole card when we got to the shuffle. The game was also susceptible to "end play" as well.

It was a very profitable game back in my red-chipping days ;-)

Dog Hand

[Avincow]

That is very funny. I didn't even know that was possible. Maybe I won't walk so fast past these 6:5 games anymore, you know, just in case..

What do you mean by 'end play'? Is that where you're counting and you can know if the last card is a high card or low card, or you can guess what the last few cards in the deck will be?

[Freightman]

That is very funny. I didn't even know that was possible. Maybe I won't walk so fast past these 6:5 games anymore, you know, just in case..

What do you mean by 'end play'? Is that where you're counting and you can know if the last card is a high card or low card, or you can guess what the last few cards in the deck will be?

In some cases, the exact card(s) - sorta kinda exponentially helps with play decisions - in other words, you can ignore basic and index play as a result of additional info that is available. Example - last card - monster bet with 12v2. If, for example, playing halves and count is now +1/2. Very safe to double (may not be good for longevity though) for the guaranteed 21. Possibilities are endless.

Hell, make that 12v10 with 1 card left at halves count of +1/2. Double that monster for the guaranteed 21.

[Pete]

That 6:5 100% pen game is still in Biloxi. 2 tables $5-$500 and $10-$1000. Same rules as stated above, last time I checked. Not sure what their tolerance is but I was playing 2 hands spreading 2X $10 to 2X $100. Didn't want to push it furthur than that.

[Freightman]

That 6:5 100% pen game is still in Biloxi. 2 tables $5-$500 and $10-$1000. Same rules as stated above, last time I checked. Not sure what their tolerance is but I was playing 2 hands spreading 2X $10 to 2X $100. Didn't want to push it furthur than that.

Likely less heat with 6:5 - actually sims pretty good when dealt yo the end.

[mushin]

On the topic of the hand being canceled. Double check the rules for the area. In my area they are required to shuffle and complete the round.

[Sharky]

running out of cards was commonplace at that cherry dd game on the island...til we killed it.. ;(

[moo321]

In order to exploit this, you'll want to learn hole card strategy, and get "The Book", as it has charts for this situation.

[21forme]

get "The Book", as it has charts for this situation.

Don't need "The Book." Our very own Norm has charts of HC strategy somewhere in his online collection of a million charts. I'll leave it to someone else to find them

[Avincow]

Well it would be nice if 'the book' was actually available on Amazon or something. Can't I just use this http://wizardofodds.com/games/blackjack/appendix/16/

[Avincow]

Of course, too bad that page doesn't give variations for surrender, h17 and no das

[Avincow]

Don't need "The Book." Our very own Norm has charts of HC strategy somewhere in his online collection of a million charts. I'll leave it to someone else to find them

Didn't see your post before I posted, I will have to give that a look