I joined this forum about 5 years ago, and a couple weeks ago I hit a thousand posts. That's a lot of posting!
I just went back and looked at my first several posts and it is hilarious. My first ever was asking if anyone played at Soaring Eagle Casino in Michigan and I had a quick chat with Systems Trader. Then I posted about how to over-come backoffs, why books about playing the slots are made, and about professional blackjack players. I also know one of my first posts was about how much i could make just playing BS with "great money management" and I remember ZG saying "Define great money management..."
The first time I ever played I was 18 years old and I played with some friends at an Indian Casino and I was hitting 13s against 5s and 15s against 6s and all that good stuff. Hey 21 is the best hand right? I kept losing and my friend said to the dealer "You're killing my friend!", and the dealer responded "He's killing himself."
My friend and I then went out and bought 2 different BJ books, I got one that was all about BS and my friend got one by an author touting a system. This taught me BS and how to play but my friend was convinced his newly learned Martingale style system was going to work! We went on our high school senior trip on a cruise and played a lot of BJ and it was fun!
When we got back my friend basically gave-up but I for some reason got my hands on "Bringing Down the House." This was my OMG moment. From that second on I became obsessed with forming a team and hitting vegas and getting the VIP treatment. I grabbed a copy of Blackbelt in Blackjack (Weird name, Awesome book) and studied it.
Since I was still 18 and didn't have much money I was confined to Indian casinos and then when I turned 19 I started going to Windsor. I didn't spread much or even play too often.
From the time I was 19-21 I didn't play too much seriously and kind of lost interest and got really into Finance and Stock trading.
Then my junior year of college I got back into BJ and was approached by a guy named Nick Colon (I know I am not the only one on here who met this guy!) who was starting a big, $300,000 BP-style team. I met with him and decided to start a Michigan State University Blackjack Team.
I made fliers that were (for comic effect) the same exact text as the fliers the MIT Team posted and hung them around and posted on our college version of craigslist.
I reserved a room in one of the buildings on campus and when the time and date came for the meeting, I actually had about 15 kids show up. Then I just dove into it: How to count cards, why it works, how team play works, heat, ROR, everything. I was loving it. Then I explained how the team with Nick was going to work and told anyone who was interested to meet me after the meeting.
I had about 10 kids meet with me, but after a few weeks the number of actually interested was down to around 5. Nick came to MSU a couple weeks later and we all met and discussed check-outs and such. Nick sent me a copy of the team Business Plan and said he would be sending the handbook soon. We all started practicing and actually made a little trip to Windsor for fun.
And that's the last I heard from Nick. I am under the impression he was killed in Panama (I'm only half kidding) but I just can't be sure.
Since none of us really had any money we all just kind of split up and stopped playing. I was severely upset.
A year later I started playing a little again and got a PM from CP that I should meet up with this kid CraazyMan who was new on the forum. We met at a local bar and literally that same night he was like "Hey, I'm going to Foxwoods tomorrow to meet up with some other guys for a couple days. Wanna come?" And the next day we flew to Foxwoods.
That's where I met SleightofHand, Assume_R, Pelerus, and AutomaticMonkey. We had a really good time and took advantage of a sidebet which is no longer available.
My time-line here may be off, but I believe not too long after that the Bash took place. Now THAT was a good time. I met so many people there and learned so much that it was legitimately a life-changing event for my AP career. It is quite the funny site when at 2am the casino has 2 tables open and every single seat is filled with an AP. I still remember walking in to the Bash and hearing "Those Canadians got here before us and already won like $16,000!" I was like uhh who the **** are the Canadians? (Little did I know a year later I'd be sleeping in my room at Harrahs in LV and one of them would text me saying "Hey I found a 100% flasher, GET DOWN HERE!")
Meeting Moo at the Bash probably had the biggest effect on my playing career. Shortly after the Bash we set up a small team of guys and started hitting places like AC, Vegas, Pennsylvania, and other smaller regions around the U.S. We were spreading pretty big and I was finally getting the VIP treatment that I had longed so long for! One of the best parts of playing on a team is being able to meet up at the end of the day and compare stories and talk about good games, who's going where, etc.
Moo was the only one with significant playing experience when we played Vegas the first time and I remember on the first day he just took off and we didn't see him for about 10 hours. At the end of the day he texts me "Yeah I'm down like 5k."
The rest of us were like "Holy S***! Does this kid know how to play???" :laugh: None of us had ever experienced variance like that before, and it was weird that he was being so cool about it. We ended that trip up about $1,000 but we started down $7,000 so it was a great win for us!
Moo also taught me about comps. At first I was like, "ummm, sir, could I please have one piece of pizza now that I played 5 hours straight of 2x200?" and he'd be like "F*** you kid." Two months later I was getting show tickets, suites, steakhouse comps for 8, just outrageous, unspeakable things.
That brings me to today. We disbanded our team due to several reasons but I had such a good time playing with a big team. We always played EMFH but I just really like sharing a BR and having guys to hang out with after playing for the day.
I am currently getting more into HC'ing and Shuffle Tracking, but I'm probably going to be starting my new coffee shop soon so I will be playing a lot less. However I know for sure that I will never stop playing!
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Most I ever won in one sitting: $5,000. One DD shoe, Vegas.
Most I ever lost in one sitting $5,000. One 8-deck shoe, Vegas.
Most Expensive Comp ever: 7 tickets to Jersey Boys, Palazzo.
Favorite Comp Ever: $800 comp to Carne Vino Steakhouse, Palazzo. For two. $600 bottle of champagne? I think so.
Worst Barring Ever: Also my first, Aria, LV. An hour into the DD game I got a tap on the shoulder. "Grab your chips. Go cash out. You are not allowed to play BJ here or any MGM property again." Very embarrasing. For those of you who may think "I think getting my first barring will be exciting! I can tell all my friends I got kicked out!" WRONG. Not fun.
Nicest Barring Ever: Red Rock. "Hey, your game is a little too good for us. You are no longer allowed to play BJ, but feel free to play any other game."
Most Surprising Barring Ever: Day after Aria banning. We were trying a BP technique for fun so I'm kind of walking around the pits for about 20 mins and finally I get a call-in. I walk up to the table, put my money down, and the PB walks up and says "Give him his money back. If you're barred at Aria, you're barred here."
Greatest Moment of my first few months: At FW when I was playing the Side-bet on a game with a couple guys from this forum (AM and Assume-R and Craazy). The way it worked was one guy would be counting the sidebet, and when he placed the bet, we all would. It seems very obvious in retrospect, but the Pit LOVED us and would just be like "Oh man, they're at it again!". I don't want to out this side-bet, but basically you get different payouts depending on which card comes out. We had been playing with OK success all night, but then came a hand when AM goes "I think I'm going to play it again." So we all push out $25 into the bonus spot, and BOOM we hit the max payout and collected around $2,500 or so collectively. So much fun.
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My advice to the new joiners on the forum or new people to the game? While a lot of people on this site are secretive, I believe meeting up with people has been the greatest advancement of my career. You can learn a lot from books, but seeing things done in action is a great help. You can also trade info about the best games, places to avoid etc...
Finally, I want to thank all the guys on this forum that have personally helped me since I started 5 years ago. SystemsTrader who helped me with Sims, CP who helped me with the Midwest and meeting new players, AM who is always helpful and great fun to play with, Bojack who helped me early on, ChefJJ who I have talked in great length about dice control, KJ who I feel like I know even though we've never met, Machinist who is my go to man on slot machines, and everyone else who has helped me.
Moo, Pelerus, Assume_R, CraazyMan, SleightofHand... great team mates!
- Dye
I just went back and looked at my first several posts and it is hilarious. My first ever was asking if anyone played at Soaring Eagle Casino in Michigan and I had a quick chat with Systems Trader. Then I posted about how to over-come backoffs, why books about playing the slots are made, and about professional blackjack players. I also know one of my first posts was about how much i could make just playing BS with "great money management" and I remember ZG saying "Define great money management..."
The first time I ever played I was 18 years old and I played with some friends at an Indian Casino and I was hitting 13s against 5s and 15s against 6s and all that good stuff. Hey 21 is the best hand right? I kept losing and my friend said to the dealer "You're killing my friend!", and the dealer responded "He's killing himself."
My friend and I then went out and bought 2 different BJ books, I got one that was all about BS and my friend got one by an author touting a system. This taught me BS and how to play but my friend was convinced his newly learned Martingale style system was going to work! We went on our high school senior trip on a cruise and played a lot of BJ and it was fun!
When we got back my friend basically gave-up but I for some reason got my hands on "Bringing Down the House." This was my OMG moment. From that second on I became obsessed with forming a team and hitting vegas and getting the VIP treatment. I grabbed a copy of Blackbelt in Blackjack (Weird name, Awesome book) and studied it.
Since I was still 18 and didn't have much money I was confined to Indian casinos and then when I turned 19 I started going to Windsor. I didn't spread much or even play too often.
From the time I was 19-21 I didn't play too much seriously and kind of lost interest and got really into Finance and Stock trading.
Then my junior year of college I got back into BJ and was approached by a guy named Nick Colon (I know I am not the only one on here who met this guy!) who was starting a big, $300,000 BP-style team. I met with him and decided to start a Michigan State University Blackjack Team.
I made fliers that were (for comic effect) the same exact text as the fliers the MIT Team posted and hung them around and posted on our college version of craigslist.
I reserved a room in one of the buildings on campus and when the time and date came for the meeting, I actually had about 15 kids show up. Then I just dove into it: How to count cards, why it works, how team play works, heat, ROR, everything. I was loving it. Then I explained how the team with Nick was going to work and told anyone who was interested to meet me after the meeting.
I had about 10 kids meet with me, but after a few weeks the number of actually interested was down to around 5. Nick came to MSU a couple weeks later and we all met and discussed check-outs and such. Nick sent me a copy of the team Business Plan and said he would be sending the handbook soon. We all started practicing and actually made a little trip to Windsor for fun.
And that's the last I heard from Nick. I am under the impression he was killed in Panama (I'm only half kidding) but I just can't be sure.
Since none of us really had any money we all just kind of split up and stopped playing. I was severely upset.
A year later I started playing a little again and got a PM from CP that I should meet up with this kid CraazyMan who was new on the forum. We met at a local bar and literally that same night he was like "Hey, I'm going to Foxwoods tomorrow to meet up with some other guys for a couple days. Wanna come?" And the next day we flew to Foxwoods.
That's where I met SleightofHand, Assume_R, Pelerus, and AutomaticMonkey. We had a really good time and took advantage of a sidebet which is no longer available.
My time-line here may be off, but I believe not too long after that the Bash took place. Now THAT was a good time. I met so many people there and learned so much that it was legitimately a life-changing event for my AP career. It is quite the funny site when at 2am the casino has 2 tables open and every single seat is filled with an AP. I still remember walking in to the Bash and hearing "Those Canadians got here before us and already won like $16,000!" I was like uhh who the **** are the Canadians? (Little did I know a year later I'd be sleeping in my room at Harrahs in LV and one of them would text me saying "Hey I found a 100% flasher, GET DOWN HERE!")
Meeting Moo at the Bash probably had the biggest effect on my playing career. Shortly after the Bash we set up a small team of guys and started hitting places like AC, Vegas, Pennsylvania, and other smaller regions around the U.S. We were spreading pretty big and I was finally getting the VIP treatment that I had longed so long for! One of the best parts of playing on a team is being able to meet up at the end of the day and compare stories and talk about good games, who's going where, etc.
Moo was the only one with significant playing experience when we played Vegas the first time and I remember on the first day he just took off and we didn't see him for about 10 hours. At the end of the day he texts me "Yeah I'm down like 5k."
The rest of us were like "Holy S***! Does this kid know how to play???" :laugh: None of us had ever experienced variance like that before, and it was weird that he was being so cool about it. We ended that trip up about $1,000 but we started down $7,000 so it was a great win for us!
Moo also taught me about comps. At first I was like, "ummm, sir, could I please have one piece of pizza now that I played 5 hours straight of 2x200?" and he'd be like "F*** you kid." Two months later I was getting show tickets, suites, steakhouse comps for 8, just outrageous, unspeakable things.
That brings me to today. We disbanded our team due to several reasons but I had such a good time playing with a big team. We always played EMFH but I just really like sharing a BR and having guys to hang out with after playing for the day.
I am currently getting more into HC'ing and Shuffle Tracking, but I'm probably going to be starting my new coffee shop soon so I will be playing a lot less. However I know for sure that I will never stop playing!
------------------------------------
Most I ever won in one sitting: $5,000. One DD shoe, Vegas.
Most I ever lost in one sitting $5,000. One 8-deck shoe, Vegas.
Most Expensive Comp ever: 7 tickets to Jersey Boys, Palazzo.
Favorite Comp Ever: $800 comp to Carne Vino Steakhouse, Palazzo. For two. $600 bottle of champagne? I think so.
Worst Barring Ever: Also my first, Aria, LV. An hour into the DD game I got a tap on the shoulder. "Grab your chips. Go cash out. You are not allowed to play BJ here or any MGM property again." Very embarrasing. For those of you who may think "I think getting my first barring will be exciting! I can tell all my friends I got kicked out!" WRONG. Not fun.
Nicest Barring Ever: Red Rock. "Hey, your game is a little too good for us. You are no longer allowed to play BJ, but feel free to play any other game."
Most Surprising Barring Ever: Day after Aria banning. We were trying a BP technique for fun so I'm kind of walking around the pits for about 20 mins and finally I get a call-in. I walk up to the table, put my money down, and the PB walks up and says "Give him his money back. If you're barred at Aria, you're barred here."
Greatest Moment of my first few months: At FW when I was playing the Side-bet on a game with a couple guys from this forum (AM and Assume-R and Craazy). The way it worked was one guy would be counting the sidebet, and when he placed the bet, we all would. It seems very obvious in retrospect, but the Pit LOVED us and would just be like "Oh man, they're at it again!". I don't want to out this side-bet, but basically you get different payouts depending on which card comes out. We had been playing with OK success all night, but then came a hand when AM goes "I think I'm going to play it again." So we all push out $25 into the bonus spot, and BOOM we hit the max payout and collected around $2,500 or so collectively. So much fun.
-----------------------------------------
My advice to the new joiners on the forum or new people to the game? While a lot of people on this site are secretive, I believe meeting up with people has been the greatest advancement of my career. You can learn a lot from books, but seeing things done in action is a great help. You can also trade info about the best games, places to avoid etc...
Finally, I want to thank all the guys on this forum that have personally helped me since I started 5 years ago. SystemsTrader who helped me with Sims, CP who helped me with the Midwest and meeting new players, AM who is always helpful and great fun to play with, Bojack who helped me early on, ChefJJ who I have talked in great length about dice control, KJ who I feel like I know even though we've never met, Machinist who is my go to man on slot machines, and everyone else who has helped me.
Moo, Pelerus, Assume_R, CraazyMan, SleightofHand... great team mates!
- Dye
You have packed a lifetime of experiences in just a few short years. I sit in awe and envy you greatly. Your contribution to this site is greatly appreciated. 
