When checking into my hotel in Vegas, the cashier seemed
very impressed that first my room was complimentary and that second
I had a package waiting for me. I took the package up to
my room, and opened it, seeing a book called "Gambling for
the Complete Idiot". I flipped open to the section on blackjack
and where I read something like "The number of decks makes absolutely
no difference, except that the more decks there are the less time overall
is spent on shuffling." Hmmm... what an appropriate title.
I figured it was a gift from my hotel/casino, until I saw that
inside there was a business card from some guy at Vegas World. That
kind of freaked me out. I certainly wasn't staying at Vegas World,
so how did this Vegas World employee get my name and hotel? Was
Vegas World tapping into rec.gambling?! On the card was written
"Mike, up to 7%!!!! Come on down!" After a few seconds it finally
clicked. Steve Jacobs was somewhere in town.
Later, I was playing at Four Queens, dug in at third base counting
cards, when all of a sudden "Presto!" says a guy towards first
base, flipping over his blackjack. Could it be? I didn't
quite know how I could ask his name without tipping off the
pit that something funny was going on. So I watched a little
longer. Everyone at the table started saying "Presto!" for
blackjacks, and so I dismissed it as a coincidence.
Then the guy towards first base starts talking about how he's
going to leave and play video poker or go to Vegas World, and
I thought "It's him!" However, he then spread to two big bets
in a terrible count, so I dismissed the video poker and Vegas
World references as additional coincidences.
Then he gets up, walks over, tosses a red chip to me, and says
"Hey Mike, bet this one for me." I couldn't help but smile to
realize that I had finally met Steve Jacobs.
I left soon afterwards to go meet Steve at the cashier. Another
guy gets up from the table and follows me. I had seen this other
guy stand on hard 7 and hit soft 21 in the space of a few minutes, so
I was convinced he was not a rec.gambler, much less a counter, and
I was about to rudely tell him to take a hike. But Jacobs and jj
(who was also there) introduce him as indeed someone I knew from
rec.gambling, who was clearly operating on too little sleep... I
won't mention any names.
--Hall
"But maybe I don't have to."
