Read Online Witch World by Christopher Pike - Free Book Online Page B

the easiest way to get winning hands?”
    “Yes. And if you get two of each it pays double.”
    “With that kind of payout, the game seems to favor the player over the dealer.”
    “It only seems that way on the surface. Besides the fact that the ace is no longer helpful to the player, the dealer only has to hit up to sixteen, even though we’ve raised the winning number to twenty-two. That gives him an edge.”
    “He busts less often.”
    “You got it. I knew you’d catch on fast.” He slipped the six decks into a shoe he had taken from a nearby drawer. It looked as if he’d come ready to play. “Place your bet.”
    I put down a hundred dollar bill. All I had were hundreds.
    Russ dealt a card facedown, to himself, then dealt me a card faceup. The next two cards he dealt faceup, one to me and one to himself. I got a ten and a queen of hearts. I had twenty-one, by the new rules. He was showing a queen of diamonds. Naturally, I couldn’t see his hole card.
    “Do you wish to stand?” he asked.
    “Yes, Mr. Dealer.”
    He flipped over his hole card. He had a nine, twenty altogether, which meant I had won. He paid me a hundred and we continued to play. Frankly, I was feeling my fatigue but I strained to focus. Yet I saw no point in playing a game that was virtually identical to blackjack, especially after such a long night at the casino tables.
    While we played, my curiosity over how he had won so much money continued to plague me. How had he done it? Once again, I tried prodding him gently.
    “I know you weren’t counting at the casino because I have a friend who explained how it works. The shoe gets favorable only when there are plenty of tens and aces left in it. But even when it swings in favor of the player, the advantage is only two or three percent. Five percent if the counter is real lucky.”
    “I can’t argue with your friend,” Russ said.
    “So you weren’t counting. And I have to assume you’re not psychic, because I don’t believe in that crap. So all I’m left with is that you’re another Rain Man .”
    “What’s that?”
    “It’s an old movie that starred Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. In the film, Tom and Dustin are brothers, but Dustin’s a lot older and really messed up. He’s mentally retarded and needs constant care. Only toward the end of the film does Tom discover that he’s a savant. I assume you know what that is?”
    “It’s a rare condition found in mentally disabled people. Their mental disabilities allow them to use parts of the brain that most people never use. That gives them special abilities.”
    “Are you one of them?” I asked.
    He smiled. “Do I seem retarded to you?”
    “No. But not all savants are.”
    “The vast majority are.”
    “You still haven’t answered my question,” I said.
    “I told you, this is only our first date.”
    I persisted. “I remember at the casino, every time the dealer prepared a fresh shoe, he spread the cards out on the table for everyone to see. You would study them right then. Also, when he shuffled the cards, you would watch him closely. It was like you were memorizing their sequence. I don’t know how you did it. I would assume it would take a special ability, like a savant would have. But if you were a savant, then it would explain how you were able to predict whether your next hand would be strong or weak. It would also explain how you knew when the dealer was going to bust.”
    Russ nodded as we continued to play twenty-two. “It’s true I did well at the table. But if I could remember everything you’re saying I could, then I should never have lost.”
    “That’s not true. It was inevitable you’d be dealt weak hands from time to time. Not only that, you’re smart enough not to win every hand that was strong. I think you occasionally put a big bet on a bad hand just to throw off the casino employees.”
    “So you have me all figured out?” he asked.
    “I can’t help but notice you’re not denying any of