#15: Play a $50 Hand of Blackjack

This may sound like chump change to some of you.  And if it does, you better not let me know who you are.  Because I'll shank you for having so much money that you scoff at my goal.  I prefer $5 blackjack tables, which are nearly impossible to find in Las Vegas.  So I settle for the $10 tables and hope that I don't lose $100 in a matter of minutes. 

I joined Gauri and her mom, K, for a trip to Las Vegas because K had the IRS convention.  I'd say this is where our tax dollars go but attendees have to pay to go so we can't actually blame taxes on this one.  It was a mostly relaxing trip since it was the middle of the week and we didn't have a lot of intentions to do the standard "Vegas weekend" stuff- no clubbing, no excessive gambling.  Hey, I'm broke people, that wasn't an option.  But we did meet up with Gauri's friend Isha (who is a doll!) and spent Wednesday night into Thursday morning hanging out and gambling.  Well, mostly it was me gambling.  Gauri doesn't really join on the table games and Isha is concerned about anyone losing money...so watching me put anything out there stressed her out.  Haha.  To explain how this story begins, because the hand of blackjack isn't as simple as it sounds, we must go back a little ways...

Back to my trip with Stephen to see Chris off before he moved to Chicago.  We were wandering the strip and drinking when we stopped in the Cosmopolitan Hotel.  I noticed a table for "Blackjack Switch" and while the guys were in the restroom, I asked the dealer what it was.  He gave me the basic rules and I was intrigued...just long enough to have the guys come back and insist we continue wandering through the casinos and hotels.  But I remained curious....

So now it's the middle of the night and I decide to sit at an empty blackjack switch table in the Monte Carlo, where we were staying.  I started playing and after learning the game rules for awhile and going up and down between my money, I was down to my last $50.  At 4:30 a.m., on Thursday, August 18, 2011, Gauri, Isha, the dealer and myself agreed that a $50 hand of blackjack switch was just as sufficient for my goal as a $50 of regular blackjack...even though technically I was playing 2 hands for $25 a piece. 

I guess I should have explained what blackjack switch is to anyone who hasn't heard of it.  In the the most basic of nutshells, you play two hands of blackjack at once but have the option to switch the top cards if it gives you better hands.  For example, it would benefit the player to switch the 5 and the 10 cards because then they have 11 on one hand and 20 on the other- both better options than sticking with the 15 and 16, despite what the dealer is showing. 

Ok, so that isn't the only rule.  There are some others- like blackjack pays even money and a dealer pushes if they have a 22, instead of busting. But the general idea of blackjack switch, is the opportunity to switch!  I won't lie, I don't remember my cards or whether I needed to use the switch. What I do remember is that I didn't end up like this guy >>

I lost one of my hands and pushed the other.  So I lost $25 of my $50.    Is that a half success or a half failure?  Probably a half failure; a half success would be winning one hand and pushing the other! But somehow when Gauri and Isha left for the bathroom, I went on a streak and ended up ahead from my original $100 by the time they returned.  I think it was only $60 or something but hey, I still ended up ahead.

And I ended up addicted to blackjack switch.  Speaking of, does anyone have the number for the Problem Gambler's Help Line?  I should put it on speed dial...just in case.