I was working on a project in Madrid Spain in 1981 when the new Casino Gran Madrid opened in Torrelodones. A coworker and I took a taxi out to the Casino to try our luck. The facility was a large modern building with two wings. One side had European style gaming - baccarat, single zero roulette and some slots. The other side had American style games - blackjack, double zero roulette and slots - no craps tables. We tried both sides but lost mainly playing roulette. Blackjack had unusual rules - spectators standing by the table could bet along with the player and win or lose based on the player winning or losing. My friend found this very annoying and to discourage it he hit a 17 against a dealers breaking up card. He caught a 4 and won a friend for life from the guy betting with him. He gave up on playing black jack. This is a 500 Peseta jeton worth about $5.00 at the exchange rate at the time.
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