Blackjack, Me and She

By Jack Freestone

A collection of absolutely true autobiographical stories by Jack Freestone, about his experiences blackjack gambling at various casinos around the world, showing some of the ridiculous highs and lows of gambling with and without alcohol, with various girlfriends, through a couple of decades. Also included is a list of his tips on blackjack gambling, based on his experiences.

"Every gambler needs to hit that one morning, day or night when everything goes right. And you will talk about that run until you die. If you are a gambler and have not hit that run at least once in your life, keep going, it will appear just as sure as mathematics and probability. And you may think that mathematics and probability are boring, not a beautiful thing, lifeless, but when you hit that run it will be as magical and beautiful and empowering as anything you have ever experienced in your life."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jack Freestone
• Release date: Feb 14, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201456733

Jack Freestone

Scorpio Snake.Surfer.Criminal defense barrister, in a previous life.IF YOU LIKE MY WORK PLEASE DO ME A FAVOUR AND PUT A RATING ON GOODREADS.https://dev-jackfreestoneblog.pantheonsite.io/If you like my work, you can buy me a beer and share your thoughts here! ? Plus get exclusive access to audio files, original poems, and first chapters of audio books.http://buymeacoffee.com/jackfreestPOr alternatively, PayPal, or Crypto donation:https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=RFANJQHW2XKNSSend crypto to:0x3CADA9f951Be57E7450Cd54C8f2D2240243CD4E2Author of The Fake Celebrity in China, China Laid Bare, Cusala, Slice, The Point, The Control Sickness, No Rest for the Wandering Soul, Dark Days and Dangerous Nights, Bali Fungus, and short stories, such as Blind Escort, and The Great Awakening.

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BLACKJACK, ME, AND SHE

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By

JACK FREESTONE

BLACKJACK, ME, AND SHE

Copyright © 2021 by Jack Freestone

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Freestone, Jack

Blackjack, Me, and She

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All Rights Reserved

Smashwords Edition

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photocopying or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book.

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Names have been changed to protect the privacy of people included.

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The author asserts his moral rights.

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Also, by Jack Freestone:

The Fake Celebrity in China

The Control Sickness

China Laid Bare

No Rest for the Wandering Soul

Cusala

The Point

Slice

Stanthorpe, Queensland, Australia

Blind Escort

Whale Bay, Raglan, New Zealand

Mangawhai, New Zealand

A Rash Affair

Helping the Homeless in Worthing

Dark Days and Dangerous Nights

Student Days, University of Otago, New Zealand, 1983-1987

Sweetwaters Music Festival, New Zealand, 1983

Auckland, New Zealand, 1997

I visited my brother and his wife in Auckland with her for a few days. They were away for the first two days, so we stayed at their house alone. At the time I was living in Taupo.

In the first afternoon, I got bored and we went to the casino. It was the first time I ever played blackjack at a casino sober. I was quite nervous but I managed to get to one hundred and fifty up and then we left. We had a nice dinner and a few drinks and then next day I got bored again and so left her watching TV and headed back to the casino. I dressed up nicely and told her I was going to work.

Again, I chose not to drink. I was at a nice full ten-dollar minimum table. Next to me was this guy who knew a lot about blackjack play and he guided the whole table to a nice stack of chips, though he was a little bossy for my liking. But he definitely knew his stuff and I left that table a few hundred up and then went to the twenty-five-dollar tables and kept winning.

Later I grew bold enough to sit at a fifty-dollar table, which I had always dreamed of doing, and I put a fifty-dollar bet on. The dealer was a young guy and sitting next to me were three Asians. I got eighteen and the dealer had an ace. I never took insurance. He got another ace and then a nine, which of course was twenty-one.

The Asians shouted, Twelve! and unbelievably he looked down at his cards and said, Yes, twelve, then took another card and went bust.

There was silence on the table and I slowly took my two fifty-dollar chips and headed for the WC. Before I had even arrived there, I glanced back over my shoulder and saw that a supervisor had already turned up at the table to close it.

After about ten minutes I crept out again, and went back to play on another table far from the fifty dollar one.

At that point I had seven hundred dollars, with six black chips in my shirt pocket. After about five minutes the telephone rang at the table I was playing at and I had a sinking feeling. Sure, enough a minute later a man tapped me on the shoulder.

Excuse me sir, may I have a word.

Yes, sure.

I am sorry sir but you were playing at another table a while ago and the dealer made a mistake and you owe the casino one hundred dollars.

What? Which table?

A fifty dollar one.

But hang on, if the dealer made a mistake surely that is not my fault? If I make a mistake, I will lose my money.

I understand your frustration sir but in fact legally the dealer cannot make a mistake.

But I have been losing. I don’t have a hundred dollars now. What happens if I cannot pay?

Well, then we would need to call security. If you would like, we can get our legal adviser down to show you the relevant rules.

Yes, I would like that.

No problem sir, we will get him down in about twenty minutes or so.

Can I move tables?

Oh yes, no problem, we will find you.

After he left, I quickly moved to another table. And I soon began winning again.

The lawyer came and showed me the rules. He was a nice guy. I gave them back the hundred dollars. I had already won more than that on the new table anyway.

I stayed on that table and about an hour later I got another tap on the shoulder.

Oh God, what now? Not again?

No, we just wanted to show you our appreciation for how reasonably you dealt with that situation and so we would like to give you this one-hundred-dollar dinner voucher for a casino restaurant.

Unbelievable. I accepted it gratefully.

Things would have been very different if I had lost all my money of course. Who knows what that could have led to?

I moved to