Gambling in Blackjack (Part 2)

“Do you think it's time for me to pull out my gambling sorcery?” I wondered.

“Not yet. Hold off using that until I tell you.” Rollnaldo responded.

“Looks like the odds are in my favor. Just like magic!” Andy-Ka-Dabra taunted us.

Eight clicked her tongue. “Tch. Take this round. You're not the only one with tricks up your sleeve.”

Andy-Ka-Dabra tossed up another cloud of glitter. “Onto the next hand.”

“What's the play this time?” I turned my attention back to Rollnaldo.

He stood quietly for a moment, formulating a strategy in his head. “Alright Lucky, we need to make up for our loss this round. Put down two chips this time.”

I nodded my head as I put the chips down on the table. Eight placed down a single twenty five dollar chip and Andy-Ka-Dabra set down another two chips.

“Maybe I should use my own gambling sorcery now.” I began to lift my hand, but Rollnaldo grabbed it and pulled it down.

“Not yet, I have a feeling that's what he wants us to do.”

Andy-Ka-Dabra twirled around his plastic magic wand. “And for my next trick, I'm going to make purple haired girl’s chips disappear.”

She laughed in response to him. “I think it'll be your chips disappearing after this round.

Bill the rabbit momentarily stopped biting at the corners of the deck and tapped it again with his paw. Once again the cards began to divide themselves out.

“A six of spades and a five of clubs. That equals eleven. Should I hit?” I wondered.

“The dealer has a face up nine of diamonds, so according to basic strategy, you should hit...” Rollnaldo paused for a moment before continuing. “But I want you to do the opposite and stand instead.”

I hesitated for a moment. “Are you sure that's a good idea?”

“Yes, I want you to mess with the flow of the game by messing the deck up.”

I wasn't sure what he was thinking, but he seemed adamant about this strategy. Going against my own judgement, I did as Rollnaldo instructed. Waving my hand across my table, I signed that I was standing.

“I think it's time to show you my gambling sorcery.” Eight raised her hand at the eight of hearts and the two of clubs that were in front of her. Both her and one of her cards glowed purple. Her two of clubs card suddenly began to shrink. Once it returned to normal size, it walked over to the discard pile. Next the deck began to glow, as a new card was drawn from it. “I’m splitting.” She threw another chip down in response to the eight of diamonds she just drew.

“What did she just do?” I asked Rollnaldo.

“She used her ability to redraw a card, which happened to make a pair of eights. When you have a pair in blackjack, you can do what's known as a split which essentially creates a second hand.” He explained.

Two more cards were drawn from the deck and added to Eight’s hands. She now had an Eight of hearts and a two of diamonds and and eight of diamonds and a three of spades.

“Hit.” She tapped the table for each of her hands and two more cards were drawn. Added to each hand was a seven of clubs and a five of spades. Her hands now equalled seventeen and sixteen.

After making her play, Andy-Ka-Dabra bit his lip, seeming a bit worried by this sudden turn of events. “I surrender this round.” He stated, as he cast his chip to the ground, which Bill scampered over to and began to gnaw on.

The round played itself out with the faced down dealer card flipping up, giving the dealer a seven along with the nine they already had. Since that equaled sixteen, the dealer had to hit and another card was drawn. The card drawn was a ten, which meant the dealer busted by surpassing twenty-one with a twenty-six.

“Nice call, Rollnaldo!” I lifted my hand to high five him, but he ignored it.

“Don't get cocky. He may have lost this round, but daddy issues over there gave him exactly what he wanted.”

Currently, Eight and I were broken even with four chips again, while Andy-Ka-Dabra was down to three chips.

“Looks like the only chips that disappeared were yours.” Eight taunted Abra-ka-Ronny. “Once I take you down, then Recruit Number Four is next.” Now brimming with overconfidence, she set two chips down on her table.

“I suppose I was mistaken… this is actually the round where I make all your chips disappear!” He snapped his fingers and threw some more glitter up into the air, as he bet all his chips.

“Oh yeah, I guess we'll see about that, muck face!” Now provoked, she added the remainder of her chips to her bet.

“I think it's safe to say daddy issues is done after this round.” Rollnaldo mumbled to himself.

“Why's that?” I wondered.

He let out a sigh. “It should be obvious that his gambling sorcery rigged the deck in a specific order, which he's clearly memorized. She's playing right into his hands.”

“How are we supposed to win then?”

“If you noticed he was uneasy when I had you disregard basic strategy. By doing that, you mess with the order of the deck.” He took the laminated strategy sheet off the table and chucked it over his shoulder. “I want you to bet all your chips except for one this round. We're ending this here and now!”

Rollnaldo's strategy had worked perfectly so far. There was no point in doubting him now. I took a deep breath, as I nervously took seventy five dollars worth of my chips and set them on my table.

“Deal us out, Bill.” Andy-Ka-Dabra ordered his rabbit, which was currently taking a poop in the corner of the coliseum. It hopped back over and tapped the deck then went back to dropping its pellets.

For the third time, eight card guards were dealt out from the deck and stood in front of us.

“Whatever you do, don't hit.” Rollnaldo lowered his voice to a whisper. “We're going to lay a trap of our own this time.”

The cards that lay in front of us were a two of diamonds and a two of clubs, the lowest possible combination in blackjack. I couldn't even split since I had gone all in on my bet. Whatever Rollnaldo had planned, it was going to be risky…

“Hit!” Eight impatiently smacked her table. In front of her was a seven of hearts and a five of spades. The dealer’s face up card was a six of clubs.

Andy-Ka-Dabra had a smile across his face. It was obvious that she did exactly what he wanted.

A new card was drawn from the deck and added to her hand… “You gotta be mucking kidding me!” She pounded the table in front of her. The card she had drawn was a ten of diamonds, bringing her card total to twenty two.

“And just like that, I made your chips disappear before your very eyes.” Andy-Ka-Dabra gloated, while all of Eight's chips fell to the ground as she busted.

“Muck muck muck!” Eight repeatedly cursed. “It's up to you now, Recruit Number Four. If you win, at the very least I can watch the smirk get wiped off this poser magician's face.”

“Hit.” Andy-Ka-Dabra tapped the table. His current hand consisted of a five of diamonds and an ace of hearts. The next card he drew was a four of clubs. The total now in his hand was twenty. “For my final trick I'm going to predict the future… you're going to lose within the next round whether you hit or stand.”

“Do it Lucky!” Rollnaldo ordered me.

Holding out my hand, both the deck and I glowed blue. This lasted about ten seconds, while nothing appeared to happen. I waved my hand across the table. “I'm standing.”

“You're just delaying the inevitable.”

The faced down card flipped up, revealing a five of hearts. With a nine and a five equaling fourteen. This meant the dealer had to draw another card. Bill the rabbit hopped over and took another massive dump on the ground before tapping the top of the deck again. A new card was drawn, revealing…

“That shouldn't have been the next card!” Andy-Ka-Dabra stared in shock.

The card that had been drawn was a seven of diamonds, which made the dealer's hand a blackjack. Both him and I lost to the dealer. Unlike him though, I didn't go all in, which meant I had a single chip remaining.

“Looks like I'm getting my merch back!” Rollnaldo jumped for joy.

Andy-Ka-Dabra fell to his knees in defeat, as the giant deck of card guards returned to normal and scattered about the arena. The walls of the card coliseum crumbled outward.

I wasn't sure how Rollnaldo managed to devise this plan, but somehow I managed to win by losing.