I have recently returned from another cruise ship holiday and played in the B J tournament on board. The tourney was quite well organised and we are instructed with the rules by the casino manager. It is clearly pointed out that players will display their chips at all times. I make the final table and during the first couple of games I notice that a woman player clutches her chips in her hand. I pass it off at the time thinking it is only a fun game and not really intentional. I suddenly change my mind in the next game and realise that she is deliberately not showing her chips. The woman is histrionic and quite annoying which I think is a way to distract the casino staff that she is deliberately concealing her chips. However, she makes the mistake of having to put her chips down on the table every time she makes a bet. I clock this, and so does the American player who is leading and knows what is going on. I am really short on chips so go in max and catch good cards. The casino manager announces over the microphone that “Andy is brave and gone all in, fast and hard”. It makes me laugh along with the people watching. I max my up my staking for the next two hands and come third. The woman comes in fourth and misses out on the money and t shirt. The American guy wins and winks at me. The woman is furious and becomes more histrionic, shouting at me, the American guy and the casino staff. My daughter summed it when I left the table and said “what a horrible woman”. When the American winner winked at me it appeared that he was more pleased that we had taken this woman out rather than his win in the tourney. So why didn’t any of us at the table say anything about the woman hiding her chips during the tournament? A question I have wrestled with ever since. Andy. Ps I was once advised never to go to view the leaning tower of pisa. I ignored that advice and went on a tour to see it from my Mediterranean cruise ship. Trust me, never ignore good advice. If you really want to see it I suggest that you look at a picture which will just be as good and save you money…lol
I guess the lesson here is that you didn't have to say anything. Karma took care of it for you. Karma always does--like someone else said in an old post:just ask Earl.
I am always on the lookout for players hiding chips, but I keep the information to myself. I consider it to be information that anyone else could obtain on their own.
I too just returned from a cruise (cruisetotheedge.com) and I always look forward to the mini blackjack tournament as a chance for a little fun and sometimes some decent cash. As it turned out, this cruise was more like attending a progressive rock music convention. The daily schedule was packed with concerts, events, meet-n-greets and photo ops. As such, the passengers were almost totally uninterested in the casino, which was completely deserted every time I entered it. I entered, and won, a free slot tournament which attracted only 10 entrants. The prize was $200 in free slot play which ended up as only $94 after being played through the incredibly tight machines, 25 cents at a time. The blackjack tournament was even more dismally attended with only 5 players entering, my wife and I among them. I "advanced" to the final table despite losing 6 of the sevens hands in my session and pushing the other one. The prize pool was $100 and was 70% for first place and 30% for second place. We were given 1500 in chips with a 100 minimum and no maximum in increments of 100. It was a H17 game with no surrender and blackjack paying 2/1 and only 7 hands. Two players were big betters, betting 500+ per hand and one of them busted out early. My wife and I were both betting small as was the other remaining player. Come the final hand it was, in order: BR4: bankroll 700, bet 700 Me: bankroll 1100, bet 500 My Wife: bankroll 1100, bet 600 BR1: bankroll 1200, bet ?? (My wife later told me that her only goal was to beat me and that even though she knew she should have bet low in order to do so, she just felt like doing it by going high) This left BR1 in an interesting situation. if he bet 600, he covered my wife high and low, but could end up tied with me if we both lost. If he bet 500, he covered me high and low, but could end up tied with my wife if they both won. If he bet 700, he would take the high outright, but could end up tied with my wife if they both lost. If he bet 800+ he would take the high outright but give up the low to both of us. He strategized out loud and announced that he would rather win by winning, but then, curiously only bet 500. Perhaps he thought that my wife had only bet 500? The cards came as follows: BR4: TT Me: T8 My Wife: blackjack (at 2/1) BR1: A7 Dealer: T (no blackjack) My wife did not realize it yet, but she had a lock on first place, with a final score of 2300. I now turned my attention toward (the former) BR1. I had to swing him or double past him. We both had 18 (his soft) and I decided that, since I was only going to take one card anyway, I had a free double. The dealer and the other players (except my wife) pointed out several times that I needed to take a card in order to double. I guess they had never seen play like this before. Unfortunately, my hand busted. (The former) BR1, who now clearly thought my wife had only bet 500, announced that he hadn't thought of doubling A7 vs T, but would definitely be doing it now. He drew a 6 for a total of 14. The dealer then flipped a 6 of his own for a total of 16 and then pulled an ace for 17. (The former) BR1 ended up being swung by BR4 who now took second place. I asked him later what his next choice would have been and he said he would have stood (as many casual players would). Had he done so, the dealer would have busted and he would have taken second. Of course, my wife took great delight in reminding me that she had beat me "at my own game" for the rest of the cruise. Answering that I had beat her "at her own game" (slots) didn't seem to bother her or to provide any satisfaction for me
To add insult to injury, this ship dealt an incredibly good game: 6 decks, 80% pen, S17, DOA, DAS, BJ 3/2 and early surrender vs both 10 and ace. This is a player-edge game even when just flat betting basic strategy. However despite these great rules and being able to play a lot of hands heads up, due to the empty casino, I was unable to walk away with a profit for the week
What were the limits on the blackjack tables? One would wonder what would happen if he won big on a cruise and have to swim the way back to shore
I don't want to unnecessarily alert this cruise line to the great conditions they are dealing (I may have already said too much). PM me if you want the details. My only experience with Princess was sailing out of Florida and it was all 6 deck CSMs.
