WEST WENDOVER, Nev. — To reach the optimal site for viewing the curvature of the Earth across the eastern portion of the Great Basin Desert, you proceed two miles west from the center of this small Nevada town until you come to a reservoir atop a small mountain. Once there, scramble onto a bluff and look east across the Utah state line into the sweeping expanse of the Bonneville Salt Flats.
The most striking feature of the vista is mighty Interstate 80, which
was built flat and level across the barren desert yet appears to the naked eye
to wrap the landscape on an arc due to the planet’s curvature. It’s a good spot
to relax, unwind and ponder your place in the universe.
I wasn’t here in West Wendover to do any of those things.
I was here to make money playing blackjack. More specifically, I was
here to attack the legendary single-deck games of West Wendover, which I had
heard through gambling back channels were the best single-deckers in the nation
for inveterate card counters like me.
First, a little background. There are plenty of places for card
counters to ply their trade. Some Las Vegas casinos, for instance, offer games
with six-deck shoes and decent rules that are ideal for advanced card counters.
