I have read books on blackjack, and learned the statistics. However, many times when I play it seems like the card distribution is rigged. I have played an entire shoe of blackjack where the dealer got a ten or ace as his first card 80% of the time. There are nights where the statistics of probability are absurdly violated.
By the way, this isn’t just my impression. I have actually kept count. Also, I had my friends keep track. It just seemed like a slaughter. Even worse were the few opportunities we appeared to have to recoup our losses. But almost every time those opportunities were reversed by the croupier. I had two eights that I split against a four. Should be close to a guaranteed win. I received another eight. Seems even better, right? So now I’m playing three hands and I drew well. The dealer “magically” got 21. But this is not an isolated instance. As I said, it was like a slaughter. No matter what we did, the dealer would somehow get a winning hand.
A few nights ago I played, with just one other player at the table. In two entire shoes I got one blackjack. Almost every hand I received was a 13, 14, 15, 16, so even when I got a face card it was paired with something bad. In cold contrast, the dealer regularly got two tens; fast and quick wins.
Another thing that seems suspicious is that as soon as they change the croupier for a certain person I have identified as “unbeatable”, everyone immediately starts to lose. It is like flicking on a light switch. How is this possible? The cards did not change, but certain croupiers seem to be like money-making machines for the casino.
However, I can’t contemplate how the casino could cheat. I see the card shoe directly in front of me. Still, I know from magic shows that what we think we see is not always the truth.
Some details: I am playing in Europe. They use five decks, and a regular, manual card shoe (not the machine).
Any suggestions for beating the house? Any little tricks you can suggest? Any books you recommend I read?
