Friends from Toronto are in town visiting, and wanted to go check out the Lac-Leamy casino in hull. While watching Vinnie win $250, I noticed two things:
- French face cards have different letters: R for the king (roi), D for queen (dame) and V for the jack (je ne sais quoi). Sounds obvious, but it looks WEIRD.
- French dealers have twice as much work to do, because they have to announce everything in BOTH OFFICIAL LANGUAGES. It goes like this: “Seize sixteen.” One quick phrase. You tap the table because the dealer is showing an eight, and pull a 4 to make twenty. “Vingt twenty.” The dealer flips over a 2 to make ten. “Dix ten.” The dealer draws a V. “Vingt twenty. Egalite push.” Zut alors.
But the most astute comment came from Jay, as we walked by a decorative cement pool that had been completely drained. There were hundreds of shiny coins lying at the bottom, and somebody joked about whether anybody wanted to make a wish and throw some change into the empty pond. “Well, it’s no different than what we were doing over there,” said Jay, gesturing over his shoulder to the blackjack table.
[Ed’s note: On Altavista’s translation site, “blackjack” translates into “nerf du boeuf” which literally means “ox nerve.”]
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