“Are you ready for some Monday night football”? Do those words sound familiar to you ladies? Well, get ready! We are only a few weeks away.

Hi Pilgrims. And to you smart alecks who had Spain in the World Cup; I forgive you. Yours truly had Germany all the way through, and thought we would fill in that last bracket. Alas, it was not to be. At any rate, enjoy your day in whatever time zone you may be in; And may visions of “scheckels” dance in your heads!

All kidding aside, Pilgrims, it's time to start squirreling away that two or three hundred you're going to deposit into the Sports Book so that you can bet on line. Just remember; College Football in a couple of weeks, followed shortly thereafter by the pro's. Time flies when you're having fun.                                                                                                       Here's a couple of things to think about. Firstly, Mon. night Football will be a double header the first couple of weeks. Secondly, don't forget those “futures” bets. Now is the time to get those bets in, while you can still get decent odds                                                             And now, something for you ladies to keep an eye on. Remember Mark Bulger? Does St. Louis Rams ring a bell? Well, girls and boys, this is the guy who took Kurt Warner's job a few years ago. This is a QB who consistently put points on the board. The unfortunate part is that when he put 30 points up, his defense let in 34 for the opposing team. Mr. Bulger is now with Baltimore, and if they allow him to start, he will shine. Remember, Baltimore has one hell of a good defense. This is now a team that can take their division. Keep an eye on this team. Perhaps, a little “futures” bet???                                                                         In a couple of days we hope to have a posting from “Memphis Walter” on our bulletin board. This is an older man whose head is an encyclopedia of college football. We will pay very close attention to some of his college predictions.

Got to run, Pilgrims. The Casino beckons, and it's time to take care of some of my bad habits! Will post again in a couple of days.

Even God takes one day of rest from His activities. And so, it came to be, that yours truly, Ol' Mordecai, took a days rest away from the Casinos.

Good day, Pilgrims. I do hope that the World Cup Soccer matches are at least providing some sort of stimulant to replace football and the NFL. Not to worry; We will have college football in a couple of weeks.
 
As some of you may know, yours truly, works for Station Casinos. As one of it's  many “perks”, Stations decided to throw a Pizza bowling party for all it's employees. What a refreshing idea! One and all met after work at the Bowling Lanes and enjoyed a fun afternoon. It turned out to be a day filled with Pepperoni Pizza, Beer(ugh) and lots of laughs, without taking the scoring with any kind of seriousness. And, as a side benefit, a good place to meet some ladies. If they're bowling, they are usually fit and trim, if you get my drift.
As is my habit, I started searching the Internet  for articles pertaining to Bowling. We specifically narrowed the search down to those articles pertaining to Senior Citizens and Bowling. Of course, we found a great site. The site is Bowling For Seniors. Very relevant for me, since we belong to this proud age group. The main body of the Blog, although interesting, is nothing that we don't already know. But, as usual, we found the side bar to be much more of interest. The link which talks about the therapeutic  effects of bowling is extremely interesting. Well worth the read. Also, in that same side bar, is a link to Bowlers of Yesteryear, for you long time aficionados. If you are a senior, and if you are a bowler, it's a nice, restful read. Click on one of the links and go to the site.
Time to depart, ladies. Must get to the Sports Book and get the bet in on Spain to win the World Cup. After beating those tough German “rowdies”, I just can't see them losing to the Dutch. But, then again, what do I know? Talk to you in a few days, Pilgrims.

   

To you infants who think you're going to go into a Casino, walk up to a Black Jack table,  and "buy in" with a $20 bill and walk out with thousands, let me just say, you are engaging in mental masturbation! Oh yes, I've seen it done; But it's few and very far between. Trust me on that!

Hello Pilgrims, and welcome to my world. I have to suspect that the great majority of you pilgrims also live in that same world. No, we are not the vacationers, or tourists, that come to marvel this "glitzy" and colorful city of Las Vegas. Most of us are the working stiffs, who jump into the car and head for the nearest local Casino after work. The same scenario also occurs in other parts of the country. These days there are "local" Casinos everywhere. So enjoy your day, and try to leave some money left over for the rent.

When walking into the Casino you must first realize a basic fact; And that would be that you are instantly at a disadvantage. EVERY SINGLE THING is geared to give the "House" some form of advantage. Not only do they take a mathematical edge on all the games, but they even try to take  psychological advantage. Think about it. No clocks, no windows, and did you ever notice that it's always chilly. The premise here is to make you lose track of both the time and your surroundings. And, of course, being cold will keep you awake and gambling, especially after you've consumed a few beverages. Yes, they want every edge they can get!
Yours truly now subscribes to an old,  time-worn axiom. And that would be "Scared money never wins". Over the years we've played the game of Black Jack many different ways, and have used various systems. We have now come to the conclusion that the only way to beat this game is attack and get out. Oh sure, there will be days where the cards just don't "run" for you. When that happens, live to fight another day. Accept the loss of your two or three hundred dollar bankroll and promise yourself that you will be back another day. Do NOT "chase"  your money. That only makes it worse. Accept the fact that it just isn't your day and head for the restaurant and a nice meal.
Now we come to those days where the cards are fairly decent. Our style dictates that we play truly aggressive. Double ALL elevens; no matter what the dealer's exposed card is. He could just as easily have a 5 in the hole. Just because they are dealing the cards doesn't automatically give them 20. They can just as easily have as bad a hand as you. And, here's a little surprise for you. Dealers are human too. They have bad days, just like you and I. The difference is that they act last, after some players have "busted". As far as splitting goes, we split deuces at all times. If a deuce is considered a dealer's ace, and helps his hand, then why shouldn't it also help the player's hand? Split those deuces and threes, play aggressive! When the dealer shows anything below a 7, split your nines, also split your sevens. As far as eights go, my personal recommendation, is to only split them when the dealer shows below a 7. Otherwise we just take the hit on that 16. Although many of the book Gurus will tell you to split sixes, we do not recommend it. I would rather take my chances hitting a 12, than with splitting and ending up with two sixteens  Of course, you never split fours, and ALWAYS split aces. As far as eighteen goes, we do not regard it as a great hand. If the dealer is showing a 9 or 10, we believe in taking the hit on a "soft" 18. If the dealer shows below a 7, then we double our soft 18. The same generally applies to other "soft" counts, especially soft 17.  Playing a 10 count is the only hand yours truly is wary of. We will only double a 10 when the dealer's exposed card is below an 8; If he shows 8 or better we just take the hit. I'm sure you ladies can figure out the reasoning for this.
In our last couple of posts, we've outlined a few different strategies for playing this game. Whichever way you pilgrims decide to play it, just remember one thing. BE CONSISTENT! When you get Black Jack, win on a double down, or win when splitting, this is now the time to raise your bet on the next hand. Manage your money! Win two hands in a row, raise your next bet. Attack! Also, keep track of the cards. Notice when a lot of little cards are out. This will tell you to expect a rash of high cards to come. Appropriately, raise your bet. High cards tend to favor the player. Don't worry about "what the book says". If those guys that write those books were so smart, they would be spending their time sitting at the table next to you, making money, instead of writing books.
Lastly, don't be a pig. You're not going to break the bank. When the cards "turn" on you, it's time to walk. Do it! When you start to lose or push with you twenties, or you feel the dealer is getting "hot", it's time to walk. Take your winnings and run.

If anyone wants to talk about any of these strategies, feel free to use our bulletin board or forum. We can also be reached by email at wdsatan@cox.net
My Beefeater martini has arrived with my unfiltered Camels, so it is now time to depart. If I get lucky, Grandma won't have a headache when I get home; If you get my drift.
Come back in a couple of days pilgrims, we'll post more.

            

Thought we would be back in a couple of days. Sorry! Life's little dilemmas have certainly caused me many delays in my life. Anyway, now to the business at hand. We were talking about  the game of Black Jack; See my last Blog ( Mordecai 88 ) below. Yours truly talked about "counting". That was category 1. Today we will get into some other categories.

Good day girls, boys, Romans, and countrymen; Lend me your eyes for a little while and we will "get into" a little Black Jack.

Category number 2  in BJ, is what yours truly calls, passive play. It is a system predicated to the player never drawing  a card to a potentially breaking hand. Pure and simple, the player stands on any count between 12 and 16. Of course, the rationale here is that you're ALWAYS in the game. You never penalize yourself by breaking. Thus, if you are in the game, you always have that chance of winning the hand. There is much to be said favorably for this system; After all, How many times have you seen the dealer showing a face card, and then exposing a 5 or 6 in the hole? If you've stayed in the game with the passive system, then the chance is great that the dealer will break, and you will win the hand. Not the worst of systems, Pilgrims! But remember, this system (as most do), requires consistency, without wavering or variance. Also as part of this system, you double down ONLY when you have an 11 count with the dealer showing either a 4, 5, or 6. Finally, ladies, you will only split a pair of  twos, threes, or eights, but again, ONLY when the dealer shows a 4, 5, or 6.
So much for passive play! Now let's talk about the most widely used form of BJ play. Category three is "Basic Strategy". In a nutshell, this system always presumes a dealer to have a 10 (or face card), in the hole. Thus, if the dealer shows a 9, the presumption is a 19. Therefore you must take a hit on any hand under 17, and keep hitting until you reach at least 17. When the dealer shows less than 7, you stand when there is a risk of breaking. You must not take a chance of breaking in this type of situation. Of course, the theory here, is that the dealer will break when he shows less than a 7.There  are many "cheat sheets" floating around showing the complete way of using basic strategy, but we have pretty well summed it up here. You get the idea.
In these last two operas, we have given a ground work on the the possible use of three different methods of BJ play. You ladies can chew on it, and think about which method of play you would be most comfortable with. In my next little opus, in a few days, Ol' Mordecai here, will tell you how we play this game. That probably will throw you all into shock, but I promise, it will be interesting.

I have just spotted Grandma walking through the house carrying her Bingo bag. She just gave me the "evil eye". I think she is trying to tell me something?!  Time to start up the car. Damn! Not even time for a Martini! See you all in a few days.        

I am sitting here today, on the front lines, in my never ending war with the Casinos. Today the front is at the Black Jack table.

Good day to all you gamblers, in whatever time zone you may be in. May the Lady of Luck grace all you Pilgrims, and your stacks of money grow like Jack's bean stalk.

It is our belief that the serious BJ player falls into one of three categories.

Category # 1 is the card counter, or , as the pit bosses like to say, “the advantage player”. Let me simply say that there are numerous books written on this method of play. Quite simply, the bettor tries to compute when the deck will favor the player. He does this by counting high and low cards (7, 8, and 9 are neutral cards and are not part of the count) until the count indicates that the deck is rich in face cards. At this point, he raises his bet drastically, in anticipation of being dealt the face cards which he perceives as about to come. This, immediately, raises a “red flag”. He will not only draw the attention of the floor man (pit boss), but surveillance (the “eye”) will also realize what's going on. Ordinarily, they will let a player get away with this method for a few hands; But if the player starts to consistently win with the count, the floor supervisor will “back him off” the table saying they don't allow “advantage” players. More than likely, he will be told to leave the Casino. Problem with this system, that the books seem to forget, is that the count is just as favorable for the dealer. The dealer stands to have just as much chance of being dealt the face cards as the player. To my way of thinking, you might just as well flip a coin, and bet money on each flip, heads or tails. As I said, there are numerous books on this method of play; If numbers are your forte, then this strategy might be for you. Go to Amazon, at the top of this page, and “spring” for a book. Those of you Pilgrims, who are into numbers, will surely find some very interesting books on this style of play.

As for yours truly; It's not for me. I can, just as easily, keep track of the cards, the same as I do in Poker or Gin Rummy, without the numbers thing. My betting would also be more consistent, without the steep ups and downs.

In a few days we will cover the other two categories of this game; And I know you ladies will find them quite interesting.

My Martini (Beefeater's, of course) awaits. Back in a couple of days.