Blackjack with my Poker Stack– The Pump and Dump
The second time I noticed this pattern of play, I knew I was doing something right and then doing something wrong. No attempts to count the cards, but a feeling from trying sense the inpending outcome of the next hand. On both occasions I was able ‘beat’ the first dealer until they rotated, then the cold-decking is delivered at the hands of the second dealer, usually some stone-faced woman in her mid forties who is short on humor and long on hard stares and cusp remarks. All this is perversely exciting and mysteriously intriguing, so I feel that taking on the game of Blackjack is much like a having either a crack addiction or being raped by a 800 pound gorilla; this game decides when it’s done with you and not vice v3rsa. That is precisely why I feel bad about my bad poker discipline, engaging in non-plus EV games of chance. There is an excuse for that, I simply lost patience with the waiting list for 2/5 NL at the brand new poker room at MD Live. I started donking on 5c/25c/50c/$1 slots, trying to reproduce a recent jackpotting success at Charles Town, which is a magic story itself…basically me calling the jackpot (like Babe Ruth) on the 2nd-to-last spin while my mom was tugging at my shoulder to leave. “Nickels mom, these machines are heating up, I can feel it!” I was down to my last five dollars, when I hit for 1500, Like a Boss. But back to the Blackjack, I can tell you it was Pump and Dump with my chips, I build a big stack of during the first dealer, second round I get it air-lifted. Is it not knowing when to stop and walk away? Perhaps, the only way to win is not to play.
TL;DR:
Got impatient with long waiting list.
Played Blackjack with poker money
Beat the first dealer!
wiped by the second
Didn’t profit
Kicker: Missed the train and had to take the bus
Bad beat: Missed the bus and had to call a cab, which I barely had cash left to cover
Win?: Great play experience. Honing experience into skill.