The Kid wasn't ready yet
Dear Mark,
My spouse and I have a dinner riding on your response. Because
we live in a very small town with limited video rentals, we need
an answer from you to the following question. I say the Cincinnati
Kid lost his final wager in the movie of the same name. My husband
believes he won and became the reigning poker player of New Orleans.
Who is right? Lou J.
The Cincinnati Kid's (Steve McQueen) full house of Aces and
10s was no match for the straight flush, eight through queen of
diamonds, that Lancey (Edward G. Robinson) had.
The Kid: "I'll call your five thousand and raise what I
have in front of me."
Lancey: "Call your thirty-five hundred and raise you five
thousand."
Great dialog and suspense at the end but by poker playing standards,
Lancey, by raising, then trying to draw to an inside straight
flush, would be ridiculed today by even the most amateur poker
player. He should have folded. But as Lancey said, "It gets
down to what it's all about. Making the wrong move at the right
time."
Incidentally, the final wager was not at the poker table but
pitching pennies with a local shoe-shine boy. "The Kid"
lost that bet also. "You try too hard, man" said the
shoe-shine boy. "You just ain't ready for me yet."
Maybe you can squeeze two dinners out of your husband. Enjoy
your dinner, Lou.
Dear Mark,
For someone learning card counting strategies in blackjack, what
do you feel will be the greatest obstacle I will encounter? Jan
S.
As you didn't identify yourself coming from either Wall Street
or WalMart America, let's put aside the pitfalls of being under-capitalized.
The greatest obstacle when making frequent, multiple, table-limit
bets is that your play will be closely monitored. First, plan
on the eye-in-the-sky (observation) analyzing your play. When
casino security assesses that your biggest wagers always correspond
with higher counts, believe me, you'll feel the heat of a camera
over your shoulder. If the trend continues, the phone ringing
in the pit will be about you, not who the pit boss likes in tonight's
Red Wing/Flyer game. Finally, a decision will be made about your
play. Yes, the death blow. A polite banishment to nickel slots.
It generally goes like this: "Hi, Jan. You're just too good
for us. You're welcome to play any of the other games we offer
but we don't want your action in blackjack."
To avoid exile, Jan, you will need to learn how to conceal your
high-count bets without using so much camouflage that you will
counteract your advantage.
Dear Mark,
I know you can bet on the horses, but can you bet on motorsports
in Nevada? I would really have liked to place a bet on my favorite
driver in the recent Daytona 500. Dave D.
Quick rule of thumb, Dave. If a professional sporting event is preceded by the national anthem, by golly, you can get action on it in the Silver State. Besides major racing events like the Daytona or Indianapolis 500, many sportsbooks will take wagers on the whole NASCAR and CART season.
Dear Mark,
In Montreal, the dealer gets only one card on the deal. Does this
change
that delicate balance of the game, particularly when you are on
third base sitting with a hard 16 and looking at a dealer's up
card of 10? Tom M.
Nay, Tom. The main reason the dealer recieves just one card is
strictly for casino security.
Dealing one card averts both the unscrupulous dealer from tipping
off customers to their hole card, or when checking the ten/ace,
inadvertently flashing what's hiding in the hole to an over-observant
card sharpie.