Indices can be such a great weapon

And people are so funny!

So, I'm playing a 8D game, about 2 decks are gone and the running count is -3. I get a 12 against the dealer's 4. I hit and get all kinds of looks from left and right. It's an 8, for my 20. Nobody else pulls a card, the dealer shows 9 under, and then pulls a 10 and busts. With my 8, he would have made 21. All of a sudden, I'm the local hero. The guy next to me says: "It was the wrong play, but you saved the table, thank you".

I reply, with a smile: "Well, nobody was going to take a card...somebody has to".

Speaking of indices, in the same shoe, the TC went to +4, but I'm getting garbage all the time. So, I stay on my 15, against the dealer's 10, and in the next hand, I stayed on 16 against a 10. Both times, the dealer busts, to everybody's pleasant surprise.

So now, it's the final hand of the shoe. The count is still positive, around +2. I have a 16 again, against the dealer's 10. I stay again, but this time the dealer makes his 21, taking everybody's bets. Of course, I hear comments about how I should have hit. People are so funny!

All in all, I had a couple of good double downs, and it was a very good shoe. I cashed in and left, and never stopped thinking how useful the I18 can be. Just a few months ago, being a BS player only, I would have most likely just broke even in this shoe.

Deviations are so fun, especially for single and double deck. Some of my favorite's are hitting X,11vs7-X, DoublingXvX,A, Standing 16v7-X and hitting some high stiffs against a bust card.

Some players like the betting aspect of counting, but i guess you could say "I think" the play of hands is quite fun.

Especially when it works in our favor

I like it when I have a 12 vs 14 and hit a 21 and the dealer hits 20. While everyone else at the table has 19 or less and they all lose. HAHA They complain and I tell them I made my hand you should have hit. (its even better if the dealer would have busted if I had not hit my hand)

I'm not overly excited about index plays. Sure, I do them (If I know them), because they're +EV. But many of the players are on losing hands anyway, and the ones that aren't tend to increase risk. And I've seen them not work out well plenty of times. So it's hard not to be blase' about it.

jack,jackson:

why is your icon the exact picture that is on my desktop?
or maybe why is my desktop the same as your icon - identical...?

i will ponder this today.

Haha. I have this on my desktop as well. Digital Blasphemy has some really cool 3d desktops images. I've centered this picture on my desktop, then changed the blue background to black, through the display properties menu. It really really does make for a awesome desktop. And perhaps thats why? You can also hide your icons and task bar, to enhance the effect.

This is the exact reason i endorse the splittign of tens, and the reason i took the time to learn the index numbers for splitting XXvs4 and XXvs3 so if i ever am dealt it, i will know when i can split them and cause a riot.

Good idea. the more people complain, the more I want to piss them off.