Blackjack Player Discusses How He Beat the House

Avery Cardoza, a casino gambler and author of the novel, Lost in Las Vegas, recently discussed his best blackjack victory in an article.

Cardoza is a self confessed professional card counter who had spent many nights at the blackjack tables in Las Vegas playing 21 and beating the house at its own game. According to the blackjack player, his best win at the blackjack table occurred in the year 1980 – a time when most casinos were not aware of blackjack card counters.

Cordoza may have had an easy time of it since he was dealing with single deck blackjack games which used 52 cards in all. According to the player, it was a late night in downtown Las Vegas when he hit the big one. Cordoza recalls hamming it up for the benefit of the dealers and casino employees, calling for drinks two at time and running from table to table. Although, it appeared that his betting pattern was erratic, it was in fact carefully calculated.

“Nothing in my play or demeanour suggested to them how deadly I was against a single-deck game,” he said. His lucky or rather carefully calculated break came when the dealer had 2 cards left, and Cordoza was left with hard 17 and the dealer’s 10. At this point, he requested for another card, which would not have been a smart move, had he not known what cards were coming. “The pit boss couldn’t believe his eyes. What were the chances of my drawing a 4, of all cards? The answer: 100 percent,” gloats Cardoza.