However, I just returned late yesterday from a three-day playing binge where I actually made some money. What I like about blackjack is the social experience. I talk to the other players, the dealers, the pit bosses – it’s all part of the game to me.

I’ve been a regular at a somewhat local casino for the last several weeks and encountered a dealer I nicknamed the Stern Asian Dealer.  I think in all the times I’ve been at her table, she’s cracked a smile once or twice. Most of the time, however, she’s just there to do her job. And I gotta give it to her – she does it very well. She deals the cards nice and neat, not too fast, not too slow (another dealer at the same casino is painfully slow – and he always seems to come on shift at my table just when I’m trying to make a few extra bucks before I have to meet my deadline to leave). The Stern Asian Dealer does not give any indication to players that their blackjack strategy is good, bad or nonexistent – she just deals the cards, plays her hands and collects or pays out the chips. If you want to hit a hard hand against her bust card, go right ahead. She will not even hesitate to give you another card – you don’t even get a polite “are you sure?” – which, for most dealers, is the nice way of saying only a complete moron would hit this – are you asleep or just drunk? Not the Stern Asian Dealer – she will stand there with one hand on the shoe, waiting to pull a card out of it once you are done agonizing – but she will not offer unsolicited advice.

Now, should you ask her what you should do, she will quietly and nicely tell you what “the book” advises. Her basic strategy is good – she knows how the game is played.

But that’s only if you ask. If you don’t ask, she will deal you a card if that’s what you want. She will watch while you double down a 4 and a 2 against her 5 or 6 and then efficiently lay your next card face down over the others. If you put out a matching stack of chips and indicate you want to split your 10s, she will line up the cards with the chips and deal you a hit on the first split hand.

At no time while the hand is being played will her facial expression or other body language indicate to you that you are about to spit in the face of basic strategy for blackjack and do something no player with a brain would do.

However…….

When the hand is done being played, she will look at you and tell you – in a tone of voice I’m positive her children never want to hear for as long as they live – exactly what you did wrong and how it affected the play at the table for that hand. God help you if you do something stupid while playing at the table where Stern Asian Dealer is dealing cards! If you thought your fellow players were tough to deal with after a stupid move, it’s nothing compared to the stern matriarchial expression and tone of voice you’ll encounter at this table!

So remember: if you’re not sure about your basic strategy, don’t hesitate to ask. Some dealers will give you subtle signals, but table etiquette says not to tell someone else how to play unless they ask and there are some dealers who won’t even give you subtle signals.