Nerves on the blackjack table

#3
Wow what a good question! Those are two very different matters, working in noisy environments and staying calm.

For staying calm, the best advice I can give is "don't overbet." When you have 20% of your available funds down on a hand I don't know of any mantra you can chant that will help you. When you are overbetting, the big losses feel a lot worse than the big wins feel good, so keeping your bets within planned and mathematically derived limits is the key. Know exactly what you are going to be playing and how you are going to be betting before you even head out to the casino.

Another thing is to avoid playing excessively tired. Fatigue can make normal emotions harder to deal with. Colin Powell advises us- "It ain't as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning." This applies to a dented bankroll or streak of bad variance too.

For tuning out noise, I can't offer much except practice and experience. Certain noises used to bother me (particularly, animated slot machines) but now I can play equally well in any kind of environment. I make a lot of noise when I'm playing, what with my incessant talking, yelling, and singing, and that makes it easier for me to ignore noises around me that I can't control.
 
#4
Automatic Monkey said:
When you have 20% of your available funds down on a hand I don't know of any mantra you can chant that will help you.
NAM_MI_YO_HO_RENGE_KYO will work, though in general I recommend TM. zg
 

bluewhale

Well-Known Member
#6
one psychological tip to not get nervous is to bring a large number of units with you. something like 400+, this way when your top bet is only 10 units, it seems like nothing compared to what you have in your pants and you don't really care as much if you win or lose the hand. if you are always teetering on teh edge of losing your session roll, then you get a lot more nervous. but yeh, really the only solution is to get more experience and exposure.
 

EasyRhino

Well-Known Member
#7
Automatic Monkey said:
I make a lot of noise when I'm playing, what with my incessant talking, yelling, and singing, and that makes it easier for me to ignore noises around me that I can't control.
He's not kidding folks, it's like sitting next to a slot machine plugged into a 220 volt outlet.
 

JoeV

Active Member
#8
Automatic Monkey said:
Wow what a good question! Those are two very different matters, working in noisy environments and staying calm.

For staying calm, the best advice I can give is "don't overbet." When you have 20% of your available funds down on a hand I don't know of any mantra you can chant that will help you. When you are overbetting, the big losses feel a lot worse than the big wins feel good, so keeping your bets within planned and mathematically derived limits is the key. Know exactly what you are going to be playing and how you are going to be betting before you even head out to the casino.

Another thing is to avoid playing excessively tired. Fatigue can make normal emotions harder to deal with. Colin Powell advises us- "It ain't as bad as you think. It will look better in the morning." This applies to a dented bankroll or streak of bad variance too.

For tuning out noise, I can't offer much except practice and experience. Certain noises used to bother me (particularly, animated slot machines) but now I can play equally well in any kind of environment. I make a lot of noise when I'm playing, what with my incessant talking, yelling, and singing, and that makes it easier for me to ignore noises around me that I can't control.
Doesn't that make you standout and become the center of attention? I am not speaking from experience, but I have read, and would tend to believe the less attention you bring to yourself the better. It has been said that any attention good or bad is not that good for the counter. Sure its good that you can make such a racket and still know what you are doing, but does that really make playing any easier? I'm kind of wondering from all the experienced players, how valuable is it to make a spectacle of yourself, even in a good way?
 

ChefJJ

Well-Known Member
#9
JoeV said:
Doesn't that make you standout and become the center of attention? I am not speaking from experience, but I have read, and would tend to believe the less attention you bring to yourself the better. It has been said that any attention good or bad is not that good for the counter. Sure its good that you can make such a racket and still know what you are doing, but does that really make playing any easier? I'm kind of wondering from all the experienced players, how valuable is it to make a spectacle of yourself, even in a good way?
Maybe not necessarily making a "spectacle" of yourself, but giving the vibe of a gambler...one who roots for himself and others or against the dealer, is vocal about hands, makes conversation, etc. Sitting there by yourself completely focused and oblivious to anyone else could be a giveaway, especially when you couple that with bet spreads and other "odd" index plays.

good luck
 
#10
Automatic Monkey said:
Certain noises used to bother me (particularly, animated slot machines)
I can still hear the Evil Knievil machine from my last outing. While tired and a little tipsy my count seemed to always be 1.

(Evil's voice over and over)
"If you go through life betting pennies, life will pay you back in pennies"
 

Bojack1

Well-Known Member
#11
JoeV said:
Doesn't that make you standout and become the center of attention? I am not speaking from experience, but I have read, and would tend to believe the less attention you bring to yourself the better. It has been said that any attention good or bad is not that good for the counter. Sure its good that you can make such a racket and still know what you are doing, but does that really make playing any easier? I'm kind of wondering from all the experienced players, how valuable is it to make a spectacle of yourself, even in a good way?
Although I don't quite agree with bringing attention to yourself and being the life of the party at the table, I also believe you don't want to come off as a non thinking robot unable to interact with your surroundings. The best cover in my opinion is to become invisible. You do that by being average. Just be a person that wants to sit and play the game. If someone wants to talk to you than talk, if something makes you want to interact a bit, like a good streak or a bad one, than talk about it. Don't appear nervous, but it doesn't hurt to have expected reactions to certain hands and plays. The perfect compliment you could recieve on your cover is not being recognized by the floor if you return to a table that you were sitting at just an hour or two before. There is a quote from one of my favorite movies, The Usual Suspects, it goes,"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was getting people to believe he didn't exist." That is basically true in the casino, they may think of us as cheaters or in a dramatic sense, devils, but if we are just another face in the crowd, for all intents and purposes, we dont exist.
 

ChefJJ

Well-Known Member
#12
Bojack1 said:
Although I don't quite agree with bringing attention to yourself and being the life of the party at the table, I also believe you don't want to come off as a non thinking robot unable to interact with your surroundings. The best cover in my opinion is to become invisible. You do that by being average. Just be a person that wants to sit and play the game. If someone wants to talk to you than talk, if something makes you want to interact a bit, like a good streak or a bad one, than talk about it. Don't appear nervous, but it doesn't hurt to have expected reactions to certain hands and plays. The perfect compliment you could recieve on your cover is not being recognized by the floor if you return to a table that you were sitting at just an hour or two before. There is a quote from one of my favorite movies, The Usual Suspects, it goes,"The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was getting people to believe he didn't exist." That is basically true in the casino, they may think of us as cheaters or in a dramatic sense, devils, but if we are just another face in the crowd, for all intents and purposes, we dont exist.

If you combine that persona with squirreling away green chips from time to time, you've become just an average player who wins small amounts or loses from time to time. Not a bad way to look in front of the heat.

good luck
 
#13
JoeV said:
Doesn't that make you standout and become the center of attention? I am not speaking from experience, but I have read, and would tend to believe the less attention you bring to yourself the better. It has been said that any attention good or bad is not that good for the counter. Sure its good that you can make such a racket and still know what you are doing, but does that really make playing any easier? I'm kind of wondering from all the experienced players, how valuable is it to make a spectacle of yourself, even in a good way?
As Bojack said the best cover would be to become invisible, but I'm about as invisible as an elephant in the living room so I don't make myself suspicious by trying it. It's partly my demographic and partly my look. No hiding my spread either. So instead I try to pass myself off as a drunk and a compulsive gambler, maybe with a bit of a mental problem too. It's gotten me great mileage so far.
 

EasyRhino

Well-Known Member
#14
Also, the incessant chatter can serve to fatigue the pit into avoiding you, and thus, ignoring you.

I was sitting next to a talkotron counter one time, and after a while I just wanted to go "dude, give it up, and give us a break".

But not you, Monkey, never you.
:grin:
 

ChefJJ

Well-Known Member
#15
On the other hand, you just gotta love those dorks that sit there and don't say anything when people make small talk with them. The ones who are counting and are ultra-concentrated have to be bringing some sort of attention because they are anti-social oddballs who are probably winning and making "incorrect plays" and wide spreads. I figure they're either just uncomforatable with social situations or too dialed in to realize that they are acting odd.

good luck
 
#16
blackjack nerves.

**Lady Luck** said:
hi all

does anyone have tips or books on trying to stay calm on the blackjack table and zoning out noises

thanks write back
Hi Lady Luck.
Yes I can suggest several books on the subject of controling nerves when you are playing Blackjack .
They were written more specifically for traders on the stock market, but the control of nerves is important for any success in gambling, and life generally;
1. The Disciplined Trader, ( Developing winning attitudes)
( ISBN. 0-13-215757-8 )
2. Trading in the Zone
( ISBN. 0-7352-0144-7 )
Both written by Mark Douglas. ( American editions.)
Both are excellent books, based on the psychology on the mind and its reactions to external activity.
After reading these books, I found that is was easy to just "switch off " the mental connection between myself and the casino, and focus just on the game at hand, to the exclusion of all else.
I know that these will help.
Elkobar..
 

blackchipjim

Well-Known Member
#17
nerves?

Well I don't drink anymore but if you do a glass of wine or other is a good way to relax unless it effects you too much. If you aren't having fun it shows so chill out and have fun. The best players are having fun even when the chips are down. Joke around a little and lay back and enjoy being there is the best recipe for success. Even if you are getting your head handed to you joke about it so it shows you don't care and that goes alot farther in the pits eyes and takes the stress off the dealer too.:cool2:
 

paddywhack

Well-Known Member
#19
tensplitter said:
I have gotten to the point in which I just don't even notice if I won or lost, I just think about the count.
Not sure that's a good thing either - looks a little too nonchalant for a gambler who's won or lost a bet. :rolleyes:

IMHO - show some emotion, the count's not that difficult to keep.
 

BBjoe

Active Member
#20
**Lady Luck** said:
hi all

does anyone have tips or books on trying to stay calm on the blackjack table and zoning out noises

thanks write back
Noise is always a problem. You just have to focus on the cards and if the noise is bothering you find another table or switch casinos.
 
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