How accurate is your gut???!

You guys ever have strage experiences at the tables?

I adhere to the rules when playing for the most part, but there have been some cases where I have had a strong gut instinct to do something different.

Sometimes I listen to my gut, sometimes not. Funny thing is, when I have this strong gut insticnt its not often wrong. Sometimes it tells me to make a play that is totally out of the ordinary, I don't usually do this but then when I see the cards fall I realize that I would have won the hand. For example the other day, vs a 10, I had a pair of 7's, I had a strong urge to split, but to play it safe I just hit, I drew a 4 giving me a hard total of 18. The next player drew a 10 on his hand, the next was a 4 and then another 10, the dealer flipped over a 19, losing the hand. The fact that i lost the hand is not important, however had I listened to this strong gut feeling I would have had 2 21's. Usually I get this feeling even before my 2nd card is dealt.

I also get a lot of bad gut feelings before something bad happens at the table, for example the last time I played the entire table on one round had 19's or higher, but I had a feeling that the dealer was going to get a BJ and sure enough, an ace in the hole. That freaked me out, i stood up and walked away from the table at that point.

This happens frequently, sometimes I listen to it, sometimes not, but its freakishly accurate. I don't necessarily believe in psychic powers, or anyting of the sort, i am fairly down to earth and not superstitious, I am just wondering if others see/feel this happening too.

I can relate.

for me, making a risky decision might pay off.
further up the road I start looking for gut feelings to manipulate.
later those "gut" feelings come back to haunt me in the form of terrible play and losses.

yeah, its not something that you can force in any way, if you go searching for gut feeling it will sometimes screw ya.

I've actually been getting a lot of feelings of dread lately (part of my "I'm doomed" hypothesis).

Ergo, I've been getting a lot of false alarms on the feelings of doom.

As bout as accurate as the expected value.

But I only remember the winners and not the loosers.

Where I hear these things I am glad that I play australian no hole card because its very complicated to say what ifs because the dealer card isn't draw yet and depends on your play and plays of other people etc.

there is a sensation i sometimes get that i describe as a rotten sinking feeling. if i would get such a sensation while playing blackjack. i'd cut the session short until the sensation passed unless the true count was positive :devil: .
as a counter one experiences seeing how the advantage tends to hang in the dealers favor so much more often than in the players favor. it becomes so apparent how the playing field is most often tilted in the house's favor. seeing count after count that is in the house's favor is a frustrating experience and engenders feelings of disappointment. i try and overcome that with patience and by hopeful waiting for the rare event when the advantage shifts to the players.

Those "gut feelings" can be hard to avoid sometimes. When I start having them I start repeating to myself between hands" The math never lies, follow the math" until the feeling passes. Playing by gut feels reminds me to much of my ploppy days to ever want to go in that direction again.

I only do it when Its a strong feeling,

I have had the sudden feeling of dread that I am going to bust out and lose at a given point, every time i have not listened to that I have walked away empty handed, when I do listen I always walk away with money in my pocket.

Might try....

Simethecone (Mylicon) might help, because it's probably just flatulence (gas).

Yes, you gotta trust the math.

Pill

Yeah, i played "by the gut" a couple 16s two nights ago and most of the time i'd had bust but others i'd had 19, so... its just "luck"... sure enough even if feel im getting an ace i wont double on 20... nor splits 2s against an ace in enhc...

It is?!?!

I had a sick count and I knew if I hit I would bust ( gut feeling ) 15 v dealer 7. I hit got a 6. I never listed to my gut yet, Zen Grifter has some intersting things to say about ones subconscious and how it can give you information to play better.

Quote:
Originally Posted by sagefr0g View Post
it becomes so apparent how the playing field is most often tilted in the house's favor.


well yeah. i meant, well it's like your playing a shoe right? merrily counting along. and for the most part the count gets to going negative. of course we know what the implications of that is for the next few rounds or so. then the count mght just break positive.... i dunno RC=1 or RC=2 . but of course this is where the True Count theorem likes to kick in so the count usually quickly falls back to zero or negative territory. and thats where the count tends to hover. right where the house has the advantage. and i suppose as another result of the True Count theorem if and when a juicy positive count presents it tends to be short and sweet. the bulk of the time tends to be TC=-1,0,1 wherein the house pretty much has it over you.
then it's time after time we play our best basic strategy and departures and pull a rabbit out of the hat getting say a 17, 18, 19, 20 or 21 but so often that isn't enough to beat the dealer since the dealer has got to hit to at least 17 well we know the dealer has a high probability of 20 and she's allway got the five totals of 17, 18, 19, 20 or 21 to land on while she's drawing in the TC=-1,0,1 range.
for me it's frustrating watching the above scenerio play out time after time not to mention the times when the count gets juicy you got your higher bet out and negative fluctuation kicks in
just venting a bit here :whip: