Daily puzzles/problems.

[Scheherazade]

He does not have to say that he is there to play. Nik said a white lie was involved so he can pretend to be someone to interview the dealers.

Just a jab in the dark. Not sure if this is any different from asking how long they have been working there and I did not understand the first paragraph of Nik's post either, anyhow.

[NikolaiI]

I'm getting nowhere with this. Would it help to know why you'd want to know?

He does not have to say that he is there to play. Nik said a white lie was involved so he can pretend to be someone to interview the dealers.

Just a jab in the dark. Not sure if this is any different from asking how long they have been working there and I did not understand the first paragraph of Nik's post either, anyhow.

Perhaps I should have given more information. Here's a link to the source article.

http://www.blackjackforumonline.com/...aler_Error.htm

Introduce yourself as a company director and claim people will receive bonuses depending on their time with the casino?

I fear I didn't give enough information to begin with. This suggestion would probably attract too much attention.

I should have perhaps said that in this hypothetical problem, you are a skilled advantage player.

[Scheherazade]

Is it possible to guess how many games a dealer deals a day? Or a month?

Maybe jokingly we could ask how many games they dealt in their present position...

Again, jabbing just to revive the thread.

[NikolaiI]

Well, none of those involve telling a white lie.

Alright, how about a hint?

Think simple.

[prendrelemick]

Casino's don't mind naive would-be countdowners trying their moves, so an experienced dealer might hint he is new just to get you to sit down. He might be employing white lies too.

The problem is how to find out how long the dealer has been dealing, without him knowing you're doing it (Impossible if he is aware.) So you have to get him into a conversation about the past at the casino.

you could say something like - Is Old Nick still around? or what's Gloria doing these days? Or if that's a bit direct, start with "Those pit bosses get younger and younger"- anything to do with the passage of time. You could say- I once saw 3 pontoons in the same deal, but then I suppose you've seen plenty in your time." You could say,- "You don't look old enough to be a dealer".

If they don't rise to any conversation, change tables.

[NikolaiI]

Good answers and guesses, Prendrel, but you still haven't got it yet. The Old Nick or Gloria ones are a little too sophistocated. They would require too much planning, you'd have to find out about someone (named perhaps Nick or Gloria) you could ask about. When you did ask, you would be presumably telling a white lie by insinuation, i.e. because you actually do know if they are still around, while implying that you don't, but all in all this approach is too much effort.

I liked your "pontoons" answer if you mean what I think you do, athough I've only seen the word once in print. It's a pretty good answer but not the one I had in mind. Your "you don't look old enough to be a dealer" is also original, but keep in mind most dealers do in fact look well over 21, often middle years or so; so that wouldn't work on all of them.

You have put a lot of thought into it but you're still not there yet. And my hint was too good of a hint, so I won't reiterate it or give another one.

[MarkBastable]

I liked your "pontoons" answer if you mean what I think you do, athough I've only seen the word once in print.

That might be a Brit thing. When I first learned Blackjack - from my dad, in the seventies - he called the game Pontoon.

But looking here, I realise that actually it's a slightly different game - one which gives better odds to the player against the house. I'd forgotten the differences - but reading this article I realise that the game my dad taught me wasn't, actually, Blackjack.

[MarkBastable]

"Deal me up a few hands like you did when I was here last year. Man, I made a bundle that night...."

[prendrelemick]

The idea of the Gloria/ Nick thing is that they are random names, and hopefully he has never heard of them, so the dealer asks "how long ago did they work here", and you're into a converstation about time, which is what you want.


But really I would say. Excuse me sir I'm going to try card counting for the first time so would you mind terribly dealing slowly so I can keep up."

[NikolaiI]

Hi you guys, I wrote a longer post to this yesterday, but my computer crashed. Now I don't have time unfortunately to recreate it. I'm sorry for the brevity but you have some good thoughts but not quite there yet.

[NikolaiI]

"Deal me up a few hands like you did when I was here last year. Man, I made a bundle that night...."

I feel like this would confuse the dealer more than anything. They would probably just chuckle. It might help a little bit though.

The idea of the Gloria/ Nick thing is that they are random names, and hopefully he has never heard of them, so the dealer asks "how long ago did they work here", and you're into a converstation about time, which is what you want.

But really I would say. Excuse me sir I'm going to try card counting for the first time so would you mind terribly dealing slowly so I can keep up."

The Gloria/Nick idea with your explanation is warmer - it's the closest answer so far. The only flaw in it is that it's a little complicated. There's still a better way. And again; it is more simple than anything guesed so far!

The latter idea is cute but they would probably just ask you to leave. Their jobs might require them to.

[Jack of Hearts]

Hint!






J

[NikolaiI]

well my hint is the same as before, the answer's simpler than anything given so far!

So simple that you'll all think it's too simple :P

[MarkBastable]

Please, sir, can we just give up?

[NikolaiI]

Yep I was going to post to the same today anyway. I'm giving it to Prendrel, for the closest answer.