Baptism by Blackjack Part II: The Martingale

Reader Hal Whitney shares Part Two of his intriguing blackjack memoirs…

Thirty-eight years of playing blackjack and absolutely nothing to show for it. Nothing except countless hours of fun and adventure. Meeting Runyonesque characters posing as players; entertaining dealers; some who sang their way through the game; some who used their fingers to create characters who “walked” across the table to manipulate the cards and punctuated the activity with the sound effects of cards flipping, hands breaking, a buzz-saw splitting a hand and a gong when dealing a blackjack. Playing with these guys was worth the price if you lost and a great bonus if you won. They were more entertaining than some of the shows at the hotel.

Some of the dealers had absolutely no personality at all; like a zombie dealing with a glazed and lifeless mask for a face. Some were borderline psychotic; screaming at players and taking extreme pleasure at seeing someone lose a four-split, doubled down hand.

It’s only now that I realize that, while I thought I was waging an endless battle against those dastardly casinos, I was more like Don Quixote of the blackjack tables, tilting against an enemy who really never cared whether a small time player like me ever won or lost.

My first trip to Las Vegas was in 1978. It was a different town back then. Different in the number and size of the casinos and different in the way blackjack was played.

I went out there with my buddy, Jack. We lived in Connecticut and although the first casino in Atlantic City had opened just a few short months before, this was our first trip to a “real” gambling town.

Before leaving on that trip, though, I wanted to be thoroughly prepared. I mastered Basic Strategy using a hand-held blackjack game. Being good at basic strategy was the first step, but counting was a different story. Counting cards is not easy; at least not using the counting methods that were employed at the time. I bought a book called, “Playing Blackjack As A Business” by Lawrence Revere. I had my girlfriend (now my wife) deal me blackjack for hours on end while I practiced counting. And I got pretty good at that too; until I got to an actual blackjack table. Counting blackjack at the kitchen table is a lot different than playing at a casino table. More on that in just a bit.

When we arrived at the Stardust I was anxious to get to the tables, but also a little nervous about actually sitting down at one. I had never played blackjack in a casino, and I was worried about “table etiquette.” How do you buy in for chips? How do you hold the cards? How do you signal that you want another card or that you’ll be standing? What about splits and double-downs? I was a complete novice, but I didn’t want to look like a greenhorn in front of all these experienced players and dealers. So I spent the first half day of my trip just walking around the Stardust and watching other people play the game.

When I finally found the courage to sit and actually put up my money and play for real, I found out very quickly how difficult it was to count cards; especially for an absolute beginner. When you’re new to the game it’s challenging enough in the casino environment just to make the basic strategy decisions, never mind counting cards at the same time.

There’s the noise. The sound of slot machines singing their siren song and coins jangling loudly as they fall into the hopper for a payoff. The loud roar of players celebrating a big win for everyone at a nearby crap table. The rat-tat-tat of the Wheel of Fortune spinning endlessly. The loud music of a band playing in the lounge just off the casino. Conversations coming from players at your table, the tables close by and passersby discussing how much they just won or lost.

There are the sights. The flashing lights from the slot machines. The scantily-clad cocktail waitresses. The attractive women playing at the tables and strolling through the casino.

A casino can put you on sensory overload and until you learn to filter out the distractions you’re at a disadvantage no matter what game you play.

So I forgot about counting and just concentrated on playing the game and working on making the correct basic strategy decisions. Even that was difficult. They didn’t have those little laminated cards with the basic strategy decision matrix printed on it in those days. Trying to remember the right decision on some of the infrequent scenarios like doubling or not doubling on soft hands or splitting on 2’s and 3’s was hard amid the controlled chaos of a casino.

I brought a bankroll of about $300 with me. In those days $1 and $2 single-deck tables were the norm and $300 was the equivalent of about $1,100 in today’s dollars. After about two days of simple flat betting, I was down to my last $25. Knowing that I still had another two days of gambling left, I decided to take a different approach. Counting was not an option since I just didn’t have the experience to do it. I made up my mind to try a progression.

I vaguely remembered reading about progressions in the “Gambling Times” magazines that I had been studying, but the only one I could remember was the simplest one of all: The Martingale.

The Martingale is just a double-up system. If you make a $2 bet and lose, you simply bet $4 on the next round. Lose again and you bet $8. Then $16, then $32 and on and on until you finally win. At that point, you will be $2 richer than you were when you started the progression. And at that point, you begin the whole process over by reverting to your original $2 bet size.

Now, anyone who has had any experience gambling and using progressions will tell you that using the Martingale or the double-up system will eventually cause you to lose all of your money. At a $2 blackjack table, the maximum bet was usually anywhere from $200 to $500. All you have to do is run into a losing streak of seven hands, and you will not be able to double your bet if you’re at a $200 limit table. Eight losses if you’re at a $500 limit table.

After seven losses in a row, your last bet would have been $128 (assuming you started at $2), and you would now have to bet $256 which is higher than the $200 bet limit. You can’t make the bet, and you’ve already lost $254 in that series!

If you’re at a $500 limit table, you could make the $256 bet, but if you lose you’d have to bet $512; higher than the limit. And you’d now be down $510! Now if you believe that seven or eight loses in a row at a blackjack table is a rare thing, think again. It occurs so often that it’s painful to remember how often it’s happened to me!

Here’s even more to think about with the Martingale Progression: If you get to the point that you’re making a $256 bet it’s because you’ve lost seven hands in a row and you’re down $254. If you win that $256 bet your profit for the series is $2. You are betting $256 to win $2. Not very good odds.

But in my ignorance and youthful exuberance, I decided to try the Martingale at the $2 tables with only $25 left in my pocket. And I WON!

Here I was, a guy with no blackjack experience, coming to Las Vegas with a small bankroll, expecting to be placing only one and two dollar bets and I wind up sitting there making bets of over one hundred dollars! My heart was pounding, and my hands were shaking each time I did it. But I DID do it, and I wound up making about $400 in profit which paid for my trip plus some meals and a couple of shows. I went from a loss of $275 back up to a profit of $400. That’s a $675 turnaround.

I thought I was the Cat’s Pajamas; the King of the Hill; Top Banana; the Chairman of the Board! Call me Mr. Las Vegas!

But as the old cliche says, pride comes before the fall. The progression to nemesis had begun. More about that next time.

[Cover: Michael Movestro | Photos: Courtesy of the fine people at Vintage Las Vegas]

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