Feature: Al O’Grady
If I Could Give You One Bit of Advice …
A
A veteran dealer shares some hard truths. By Al O’Grady s a dealer, I have seen so many different types of players come and go: from the advanced, semi-professional type to the casual Saturday night player to
the complete novice. But if I could give just one bit of advice to all of them, it is simply this. Learn basic strategy. That is it. Learn basic strategy completely and I am not talking about 90-95 percent accuracy. I am talking about knowing 100 percent basic strategy. Knowing what to do in every situation and playing it all the time. No exceptions. It sounds like such a simple thing but it is amazing the number of players that do not know this. I am not exaggerating with this statement but, of the players that I encounter (including high rollers), less than two percent play 100 percent perfect strategy all the time. I am not kidding. Ninety-eight percent of you do not play 100 percent perfect strategy all the time. Is it any wonder that casinos are a license to print money? Winners will credit their good luck when luck had nothing to do with it. Losers will blame their bad luck. Again, luck had nothing to do with it. When someone walks away after I have taken their chips, I hear them 30
whining about their luck, how another player screwed up the hand when he took a card when he should not have or any other lame excuse like the weather, the fix was in or it was the dealer’s fault.
The dealer’s fault?
That last one is comical. Do you honestly believe the dealer has some sort of magical power to control the cards that come out of the shoe? Do you really believe that? If so, you deserve to lose for your ignorance. If dealers truly had this magical power, we would not be dealing. We would be playing and using our superhuman power to bleed the casino dry. The bottom line is this: Before you blame anything or anyone, look at yourself in the mirror. I know it is a blow to your pride or ego, but you cannot expect to win on a consistent basis if you are not playing correctly. Many people have the mindset of “It is my money and I will play any way I damn well feel.” That is true. It is your money and this is a free country. But your ignorance and arrogance are costing you money. Good luck with that. www.casinolifemagazine.com