It is my custom to provide the results of actual games.But the practitioner of Oscar's Grind, when playing Blackjack, is generally too occupied to scribble down every move. This would attract the attention of the pit and of the cameras above. So I shall take actual results and reconstruct them as best I can, using Monopolisto Man's own recollections.
Sam's Town is not your hot Strip casino. It attracts a regular local clientele and people on the way in or out of Vegas on the route that takes you south toward the Dam. Monopolisto Man looks like what he is. A nondescript, somewhat handsome preppie sort who has over the years shed most if not all affectation and accepted his lot in life, that of being an inveterate gambler who has never managed to go broke and whose losses are punctuated by extended periods of reasonable success.
Thus introduced, accompany me to the table and we shall look over Monopolisto Man's shoulder as he tries his first game following his Boston practice session.
He buys in for an unthreatening, $100 twenty units. The game is double deck blackjack. He prefers woman dealers and accordingly finds himself sitting far right staring at an attractive Oriental woman of young middle age and crisp demeanor. She speaks not. But there is no threat in her manner. With twenty $5 chips neatly stacked he awaits the first hand.
Here's the reconstruction as best I can do it.
First Hand MM has a 15 against dealer's ten showing. He stands. Loses $5 to her 20.
Second Hand. Rebets $5. Gets two fours - hits and busts on the fifth card. Down two units.
Third Hand. MM has 20 stands. Dealer busts with 22. Our hero is one unit down.
Fourth Hand: MM bumps to two units - $10. He is dealt 6-5 against dealers 6 showing. MM doubles. Draws six. Dealer wins with 19. MM is now down five units.
Fifth Hand. $10 bet. Blackjack for MM. MM is now 2 units down.
Sixth Hand . He bets three units. Stands against 10 showing with 18. Dealer has 20 and wins. MM is five units down.
Seventh Hand. MM bets three again. MM gets another blackjack and, rounded down, is now just one unit down.
Eighth Hand. MM bets $10.. Busts. Down three units.
Ninth Hand. MM bets $10.Loses to dealer's 20. Down five units.
Tenth Hand. MM wins 20 over 17. Down three units.
Eleventh Hand: Bets three units following his win.. He stands on 19 and the dealer busts. He is even.
Twelfth Hand. MM bets one unit. Loses.
Thirteenth Hand: MM repeats one unit bet. and loses. Down two.
Fourteenth Hand: MM bets one unit. Loses.
Fifteenth Hand. MM repeats the one unit bet. and loses Down three now.
Sixteenth Hand. MM cops a 20 and dealer busts. Down two now.
Seventeenth Hand. MM bets two units. Loses. Down four units.
Eighteenth Hand. MM in for two units. Zaps dealer with a 21 on four cards. Down two units.
Nineteenth Hand. MM bets three units. Dealer has blackjack. Zap. Down five.
Twentieth Hand. MM bets three units.Doubles a ten and pushes at 19.
Twenty-first Hand: MM bets three. Still down five. Loses and is down eight units.
Twenty-second hand. The dealer changes. MM repeats bet of three units and wins with 21 over 20. Down five units.
Twenty-third hand. MM bets four units. Busts. Now down nine units.
Twenty-fourth hand. MM bets four units. Dealer busts. Down five.
Twenty-fifth hand. MM bets five units on the win. Loses down ten. Some might leave but MM stays.
Twenty-sixth Hand. MM bets five units.Ties.
Twenty-seventh hand. MM bets five units. Has ten versus dealer's exposeed 4, doubles LOSES Down fifteen units.
Twenty-eighth Hand. MM bets five units. Blackjack for MM. Rounds down. He is now 8 units down.
Twenty-ninth Hand. MM bets six units. Ties at 20.
Thirtieth Hand. Repeats six unit bet.Busts and is now 14 units down.
Thirty-First hand: Busts. Now 20 units down.
It was at this point that Monopolisto Man ceased to play. In fact he spent the next three days absorbing the fact that Oscar had failed him. He did not bother to analyze things because he knew that results differ with the same frequency that matter's behavior befuddles scientists.
He read, played some slots, meditated, wrote in his spiral notebook and wondered if there might be a better way to play Oscar than he had so far learned.
He began to think about allowing himself to interact with the workings of seeming fate.
