Feature: Al O'Grady
A Fool’s Errand
I
Please don’t play the ‘What if?’ game at my table. By Al O’ Grady
know I speak for a lot of dealers when I say that we are people watchers. We look at players and observe how they act and react to given situations. We notice both the how and the why. But there is one thing that several players do that constantly baffles me. They constantly play the “what if” game after the hand has been played. The “what if” game is simply this. Let us say a player took a card, got a 10 and busted. After the hand has been played, a player will speak up and say, If you stuck on your hand the dealer would get that 10 and he would have busted, and we all would have won. This “what if” game is pointless. It is an incredible waste of time and energy, and serves absolutely no purpose. Here is a ridiculous example: Let us say you are last to act (aka “the anchor”) and you have a hard 18 and the dealer shows a six. Naturally, you stick. This 24
is a no-brainer. Let us say the dealer’s down card is a 10. He has 16. Everyone is feeling good right now, expecting him to bust, but the dealer turns over a three for a 19. Everyone loses. The one playing the “what if” game sarcastically speaks up and says that if you took that card, you would have had a 21 and the dealer could have busted, and we all could have won. Let us see what the next card is. He is not serious, because no one in his right mind would take a card on a hard 18. Yet people continually go through this “what if” game. Why? Are you going to take a card the next time you have an 18 against a dealer’s six? Of course not, so why do players constantly go through this pointless exercise? What purpose does it serve? Is this supposed to soften the blow in some way? Does it give your ego a boost knowing you are above the game in some way? Trust me, there are better ways. This is nothing but a fool’s errand. www.casinolifemagazine.com