Hello all,

I recently played at a casino a bit off the beaten path and found an interesting opportunity. A few dealers seem to have a good bit of trouble understanding what constitutes a soft vs. hard 17. To illustrate using a (slightly changed) example from when I played:

I had an 11, dealer showed a 6. I double, catch a 4 for 15. Dealer turns over a 10 in the hole for 16, then pulls an Ace for a hard 17. I wince but notice the dealer pausing as if considering something. Something clicks in my head and I yell, "C'mon! Nine! Nine!" Dealer pulls a 7 and then a 10 to bust.

I had a few other opportunities to pull this sort of stunt and realized I could completely control the dealer during this sort of situation. Anyway, dealer ended their shift, but I know their schedule and intend to come back when I have the chance.

A few points:

1) Can anyone quantify what kind of advantage this gives me? I ironically was never in a position where the dealer had a two-card S17, so I am unsure if they would be controllable in this instance as well or if it was only instances with several cards that happened to have an Ace where they could be controlled. Calculations for both would be helpful, or if there is any literature beyond "the Book" that could assist me with this, I would be glad to hear it.

2) Any other general advice based on your own experiences (how to properly milk this, how long probably before the dealer gets fixed assuming I don't pull the stunt in front of bosses, etc.?)

Thanks in advance,
Houyi