# Blackjack losing streak

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackjack-losing-streak/592690>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 14, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackjack-losing-streak/592690 "2011-08-14T16:13:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackjack-losing-streak/592690/21 "2011-08-15T13:56:40Z")

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> [@IAmNotSpartacus](#):
>
> I find it unlikely dealers will cheat, especially in favor of the house. Dealers make their money off tips, and people who are losing don’t tip dealers.

Wrong. Dealers losing money to accomplices is one of the more common forms of cheating. They then win extra money from other players so that their net win rate looks normal to casino management. I’ve also seen dealers helping players (e.g. with implications about hole card), perhaps when their win rate was already above average, probably to get tips.

> [@Mosier](#):
>
> I’d be very interested to hear those anecdotes!

I’m up to zero anecdotes so far, and we’ve already seen one incorrect rebuttal. So I think I’ll pass.

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**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackjack-losing-streak/592690/22 "2011-08-15T14:19:06Z")

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> [@septimus](#):
>
> “On August 18, 1913, at the casino in Monte Carlo, black came up a record twenty-six times in succession in roulette.”

So what have we learned from this, kids?

That’s right, you can bone up on strategy and understand all the odds… and still lose your shirt.

Anecdotally, I was playing the odds in a casino, and lost my (metaphoric) shirt when something similar happened. I still remember my feelings of “The Universe Can’t Do That To Me!”

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**Author:** ![septimus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/septimus/32/410_2.png) [@septimus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/septimus)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackjack-losing-streak/592690/23 "2011-08-15T14:28:59Z")

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> [@digs](#):
>
> So what have we learned from this, kids?
> 
> That’s right, you can bone up on strategy and understand all the odds… and still lose your shirt.
> 
> Anecdotally, I was playing the odds in a casino, and lost my (metaphoric) shirt when something similar happened. I still remember my feelings of “The Universe Can’t Do That To Me!”

Good point. Some people seem to think expert BJ with card counting isn’t gambling.

A moderate-stakes player with 1% disadvantage can still win $1000 quickly by chance. For the same reason a player with 1% advantage might lose $1000 quickly.

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**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\
**Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blackjack-losing-streak/592690/24 "2011-08-15T15:59:21Z")

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I used to play on the online casinos regularly, back in the days when they offered a monthly bonus. Always playing optimum strategy, I regularly experienced long periods of losing most hands. This would be followed by long periods of winning most hands. I don’t know if I ever had 21 non-wins in a row. But I certainly had a few runs of 250 hands with about 15 wins. Wins and losses tend to be streaky.

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