The majority of players believe it’s morally right to keep a mistaken payoff from a blackjack dealer on a hand they actually lost. After all, they say, it’s the casino’s responsibility to collect all losing bets, and if the dealer makes a mistake, there’s no obligation to point it out.

I’ve always opposed that point of view, and call out any mistake I notice on my hand, whether it went for me or against me. But that’s a whole other story. Still, there’s another facet of the game that I’m not too sure about the ethics of – and this one’s worth more than just keeping a mistaken payoff every once in a great while. Yet, I willfully take part in this strategic, though questionable practice, on a regular basis. What is it?

Well, a good blackjack player should know that whenever he’s dealt a pair of 2’s, 3’s, 6’s or 7’s against a dealers 2 or 3 up, he’s an underdog whether he hits, stands or splits. Basic blackjack strategy says to split all those hands simply because that happens to be the play that loses the least. But I repeat -- those hands are statistical losers no matter how you play them!

So when I’m dealt one of those hands, looking uncertain about what to do, I’ll ask the table what the correct play is. Somebody practically always knows you should split, and is usually eager to boast that sage advice. That same somebody, however, never seems to realize that even the correct move is still a "moneyloser," rather than a "moneymaker." So I’ll generally ask the advisor if he wants to go partners on my split. (i.e., put up the secondary wager for the split).

After just having flaunted his blackjack prowess about a hand that looks pretty decent on the surface, he usually can’t resist taking me up on my offer. Now, what I’ve done is relieve myself of half my financial liability on an overall losing hand!

I generally feel comfortable with this coup, win or lose. It’s well within the rules of the game and saves me money – albeit at another player’s expense. I normally experience no guilt over "snookering" somebody this way, largely because he never would’ve taken me up on my offer if he didn’t think he was about to make money on my blackjack ignorance. Besides that (and this doesn’t make it any more right), such advisors are often the socially aggressive type who lambaste people for making a play contrary to their standards, and openly blame them for his own losses because the "sacred order" of the cards got "messed up".

But the other night was different...

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