Avoiding detection

[gbesq]

Over the past several years, I've become a decent counter and find that I win pretty consistently. I generally play at the same two casinos, three or four times a month, for small stakes (i.e., usually buy in for $200-$250 at a $10 table). Generally, I win about $250-300 per session, don't vary my bet spread more than 3X, keep my playing sessions short, and then leave. I use a comp card. Although I lose occasionally, I am about $1,850 ahead for my last 10 or so playing sessions. My question is whether I am likely to eventually be detected as a counter playing this way? I don't have any plans to get greedy, but are the casinos just as likely to scrutinize a player who wins small amounts consistently as they are a player who varies his/her bets with a larger spread, bets larger amounts, leaves the table with large wins, etc.? To date, I've never experienced any heat. All opinions/advice appreciated. Thanks.

[supercoolmancool]

Small stakes...1-3 bet spread...I don't you give the casinos any reason to bar you unless you are playing single deck.

[gbesq]

Nope, multiple deck.

[supercoolmancool]

That is really bad then. You will probably never get barred.

[supercoolmancool]

How many decks do you use?
What counting system do you use?
What is your bet spread?
Do you backcount or play every hand?
Do you know basic strategy?

[gbesq]

I usually play either 6 or 8 decks, shoe dealt, 75-80% penetration. House rules are dealer stands on soft 17, split after doubling allowed, resplit up to four hands (except aces), late surrender. I usually use a hi-lo system with a side count for aces. Bet spread is normally 1-3, never higher than 1-5. No backcounting, as I've found that seems to arouse more suspicion from the pit. My bankroll is 500 times average bet. Yes, I started with learning basic strategy and even though I count now, I probably play bs about 80% of the time.

[supercoolmancool]

I don't know for sure but I think you need to have a 1-5 bet spread to have an advantage in 6 decks play all games. I don't know what the comps are like but maybe you just want to play for comps.

[gbesq]

You may be right. So far, a 1-3 spread has worked for me, but it may be that the house advantage catches up with me eventually. For the moment, though, I'm making money. Don't know about you, but I generally find that when I get up to a 1-5 bet spread, more often than not the dealer will say "check play!" and a pit boss comes over to take a closer look. That's why I prefer a spread of 1-3, which seems to draw a lot less attention. One move that I learned early on that seems to work quite well is when I'm playing a $10 table, and making a maximum bet of 3 units, I put a red chip on top of a green (for a stack two chips high) instead of six $5 chips. Either way, of course, I'm still betting $30 and the dealer certainly knows what I'm doing, but it still seems to draw a lot less attention from the pit.

[supercoolmancool]

You could make a killing on comps since you will never get barred. It is recommended to use a 1-12 spread when playing play all six deck games but you seem to be more of a recreational player who doesn't want to get barred but you should make sure 1-3 is at least a break even game.

[gbesq]

Yeah, it's not bad, although I do find that the more you win, the less they comp you.