Pros and Cons of Team Play

[Wookets]

Greetings everyone, new member here, but I've been lurking and reading posts for the past few weeks. I'd like to start my membership here by posing a question to everyone.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of participating in team play? What factors (both tangible and not) affect the success of team play?

Thanks,

Wookets

[callipygian]

Welcome!

Originally Posted by Wookets

What factors (both tangible and not) effect the success of team play?

The most important factor, and I think everyone will agree, is absolute trust in your team. You're going to be exchanging hundreds/thousands/millions in cash with these people, so 100% trust is absolutely necessary - not even 99% trust will suffice.

The most successful teams have been built around pre-existing common bonds that people have - family, attending the same college, childhood friendship, etc. That's where they get their trust from, not because of some interview or passing a test, but because they already trusted each other before they were part of a team.

Originally Posted by Wookets

What are the advantages and disadvantages of participating in team play?

My opinion:

The biggest advantage of team play is that you can earn more money. EV's are huge compared to what you can earn alone. Team members are also less likely to be detected individually, although if you're not careful, the whole team can be detected as a group and banned en masse.

The biggest disadvantage is that you're relying on other people. It's human nature to blame the other person if he signals you in, you bet five rounds, and don't see a single face card. If every single team member doesn't trust every other member 100%, these suspicions are going to come up. Once allegations of cheating or stealing come up, that's generally the end of the team.

[Martin Gayle]

Cally got it.
Trust is the biggest factor. The biggest advantage is that everyone can be playing off one BR. Making much more $$$.

[Finn Dog]

Originally Posted by callipygian

Welcome!The most successful teams have been built around pre-existing common bonds that people have - family, attending the same college, childhood friendship, etc.

While this is absolutely true, keep in mind the downside: just remember that the easiest way to harm--or even destroy--a relationship with a family member or best friend is to go into business with them (or to take them on as a client in most lines of work). Catch 22.

[SD Padres]

Originally Posted by Martin Gayle

Cally got it.
Trust is the biggest factor. The biggest advantage is that everyone can be playing off one BR. Making much more $$$.

Well, not only playing with a larger BR but playing with a higher advantage.
i.e A big player will only get called in when the count is high.

[FLASH1296]

A team playing off a combined bankroll enjoys accelerated earnings and decreased volatility.

A team with "Big Players" exists mostly in fond memories and bad movies.

[Automatic Monkey]

Originally Posted by FLASH1296

A team playing off a combined bankroll enjoys accelerated earnings and decreased volatility.

A team with "Big Players" exists mostly in fond memories and bad movies.

That is correct.

But there are other things a team can do beyond playing off a joint bank. Combined sequencing/counting attacks, sidecounting for sidebets, card-eating games and simply sharing information about good pen at the moment can be wonderful things.

[FLASH1296]

I certainly agree with AutomaticMonkey, although the longevity and viability
of a team is inversely proportional to the size of the team.

Unfortunately, the crucial issues of trust, reliability, and responsibility
become less and less manageable as the 'team' grows.

[Wookets]

Thanks for the responses. About the higher profit advantage - is this largely because a team is able to play more hands than a single person or because a team can share crucial deck information?

[Automatic Monkey]

Originally Posted by Wookets

Thanks for the responses. About the higher profit advantage - is this largely because a team is able to play more hands than a single person or because a team can share crucial deck information?

Both, and yet another thing- speed! We play much faster than the civilians so a table full of AP teammates is going to fly through hands 50-100% faster than a table with civilians screwing around, playing sidebets, cashing in, coloring out etc. Profit per hour goes up linearly with speed.

So I'd propose that the ideal size for a team, is 3. Enough to play 2 spots each on a 6 spot table.