Book keeping

I have been practicing - Red 7 AC casinos. Building my BR to start good plays.

I would like to maintain good books (from the new year).

I am amazed to see some statistics from experienced APs - sessions played - winning sessions etc., and without book keeping it would hard to evaluate the plays as well I believe.

Do you really write it down/put it in cell phone as and when a shoe is over the Starting Br, ending br, max bets placed etc?

Do you consider a shoe as a session - I think logically it is.

I write down the name of the casino, amount won/lost, length of time played, shift, rated (name used) or anon, and any noteworthy specifics (type of game/rules). If heat or backoff, dealer/PC name or description, what I was wearing at the time, etc.

I'd be surprised if anyone keeps track by shoe.

Is NOT. zg

Life is a session.

Maintaining good bookS? Hmm... you get to be a general-partner in a cash business :laugh: such as a diamond dealer who maintains 4 sets of good books:

1st for IRS
2nd for State Tax Departments, i.e., NY, PA, NJ, etc...
3rd for silent partners, and
4th for himself, the real McCoy with the real profit and loss figures :laugh::laugh::laugh:.

In all honesty & with kidding aside, you may want to keep your gambling revenues, expenses, and statistics in this powerful eBookkeeper:

Of course you cannot do you bookkeeping right at a table, but you can jog down info on cocktail napkins under the table, and transfer info into eBookkeeper later

A solid bookkeeping system is as important for a gambler as to a solid foundation for a building. By the way, an AP was audited by IRS, and he flunked the tax examination due to the lack of a good bookkeeping system. In addition to back taxes and penalties, he was placed on years of probation. Fortunately he's not as well-known as Baseball Hall of Famer Pete Rose. Otherwise, IRS would put him in prison to make an example of him as in Rose's tax evasion case. Pete was sentenced 5 months to prison for unreported gambling winnings & misc incomes :sad:.

Per a beancounter:
"You can only count on 3 things in life: death, paperwork, and taxes "

Great ideas! I was thinking about using QuickBooks Pro 2010 to track my play, and record it like a retail business. I would buy "chips" for a certain amount (say, $1,000) when I sit at a table then sell them back to the casino (say, for $1,200) showing that I had a $200 win/profit on the chips. I would also track time spent at the table, any heat, and lifelong wins/losses at that particular game in that casino. If my wins got to be too great, I would consider switching players cards.

Any comments or suggestions on my ideas?

Isn't that the truth!

A good record would be one long cumulative listing with game descriptions/comments off to the side of each entry if noteworthy. I do not have such a written record.

I keep track of: Date, Casino, Shift, Length of Session, Buy-In Amt, Color Up Amt (gives me an idea how much I ratholed), Win/Loss Amt, Tips, Rules, Pen, Spread, Est. EV (from CVCX/CVData), #Players, Est Hands/Hr, and then any other misc details, eg: dealers/PC to watch/watch out for, heat, name used/anon, etc.

I admire your penchant for detail. The best I've done was to keep track of wins and losses during my first two years, as well as, describe the other details in trip reports here in the Forum. But eventually, when I felt I had both feet on the ground, I stopped all this and just settled for keeping a separate bankroll from my day-to-day living money. I probably should keep track of things I use my bankroll for besides blackjack, such as, sometimes giving my wife a part of a win, or buying a special meal away from the casino, etc.