Vegas Update #2

OK so we're talking about liberty, free markets, blah blah at the APEE conference. Now let's talk Blackjack.

So I can't resist sitting down at my hotel's (Harrah's) single deck $10 minimum table. The house pays 6-5 on Blackjack but that doesn't seem like such a big deal. They also hit soft 17s, which I assume must help the house but again doesn't seem like a big deal.

(Now what the dealer tells me 10 minutes after I sit down is that you can't take even money when you have blackjack against the dealer Ace. Gee whiz, I thought Vegas was supposed to be fun.)

OK so I am a little hesitant with the whole I-hold-the-cards thing. The dealer starts baby-talking me through the routine, e.g. I have to flip the cards if I want to double down and so forth.

Anyway, I have an 18 (face down, mind you!) and the dealer shows an Ace. The count wasn't anything special, so I don't take insurance. The dealer checks, he doesn't have it. So I push my cards out--FACE DOWN--by my chips, to show that I'm standing.

The dealer says, "A push," and flips his seven. THEN he flips my hand.

Do you folks understand the significance of that?!?!?! I have two theories:

(A) I misheard him; he didn't say that we pushed.

(B) He realized I was counting cards (it's pretty obvious with a single player and single deck) and thought that my awkwardness with handling the cards in the face-down game was an attempt to hustle him. So he wanted to subtly let me know that he was my daddy.