Card-Counters Hey-Day gone?

[RavenSlay3r]

I've been reading lots of articles not to mention 'Bringing Down the House' and it seems like the hey-day of card-counters is over. It's all stories from the 60's OR the 80's and 90's. Before the casino's were looking for card-counting or before they were looking for team-counting etc.

Maybe it's just that the only people who can talk about it are the one's who have been long-retired. Maybe we're just waiting for the next big evolution in counting to come along. Maybe it has but no one's been stupid enough to write a book about it for people like me to read.

Do people still make serious money at card-counting or is it all pretty much over with now?

Raven

[BlackjackRebel]

I don't think you could say that card counting is "over" by any means. However, you face a lot more counter-measures and unwanted attention these days which makes it a lot harder to be successful.

This is one area I think the casinos get all worked up about without thinking it through. Many people who have read a book and are trying to count are not real proficient at doing so. Many people are not willing to put in all the practice time it takes to get really skilled at counting in a casino environment. It doesn't take many mistakes and that already small advantage goes out the window. Then you have players making large bets when they think they have the count right. Having people making larger bets is just what the casinos want. Even people who are dead-on with their count have sessions where they get creamed financially due to the vagaries of the cards. How much more often do you think people who aren't accurate with their count get creamed? In fact, I have heard and read that some casinos now evaluate the skill of a suspected counter before trespassing him just for this reason. If he is counting but not accurately, they let him play.

[bubba22001]

In addition, most casinos back-off players when they are down a substantial amount of money. Receiving a "tap" when your down $5,000/$10,000 can make for a bad ride home. Of all the professional counters I know the best is a guy who's name begins with a "G"...

Quiet as a church mouse and walks between rain drops.

bubba

[Raymondstyles]

I have never heard of someone getting barred while they are loosing! I have however heard that the casinos love amateur counters who think they have the edge. Unlike slots or roulette where players know that if they win it is solely due to luck with black jack people know that it is possible to beat the house if they are good enough. There is a saying that a little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing.

Just play for an hour straight; after the hour get up and leave no matter if you are winning loosing or breaking even. Take a break and walk across the street to another casino and play for an hour there. If you don’t play for more then an hour to maybe an hour and a half at any casino I highly doubt you will have a problem.

Ray Styles

[apriorist]

Originally Posted by RavenSlay3r

I've been reading lots of articles not to mention 'Bringing Down the House' and it seems like the hey-day of card-counters is over. It's all stories from the 60's OR the 80's and 90's. Before the casino's were looking for card-counting or before they were looking for team-counting etc.

Maybe it's just that the only people who can talk about it are the one's who have been long-retired. Maybe we're just waiting for the next big evolution in counting to come along. Maybe it has but no one's been stupid enough to write a book about it for people like me to read.

Do people still make serious money at card-counting or is it all pretty much over with now?

Raven

I'm no expert, but from all the stuff I've read, it seems like everytime the casinos make any change in the rules of BJ, a lot of people have said "Blackjack's heyday is over", but then you hear another story of someone or a team making a bundle at counting. Think about it: I'm sure after Beat the Dealer came out in the 60s and the casinos started using multiple decks, people were saying "You can no longer win money by counting, they use 6 decks now", (which is what most people still believe) but the Uston comes along. So more rules are changed, then Hyland comes along, then more rules change and people say "You really can't win now, 'cause blah, blah, blah" then the M.I.T. team comes along. See what I'm getting at?

[RavenSlay3r]

[QUOTE=apriorist So more rules are changed, then Hyland comes along, then more rules change and people say "You really can't win now, 'cause blah, blah, blah" then the M.I.T. team comes along. See what I'm getting at?[/QUOTE]

Yeah, kind of what I thought might be happening.

Just play for an hour straight; after the hour get up and leave no matter if you are winning loosing or breaking even. Take a break and walk across the street to another casino and play for an hour there. If you don’t play for more then an hour to maybe an hour and a half at any casino I highly doubt you will have a problem.

Sounds good, but if you want to play through at least 2-3 shoes of six-deck it will take 2+ hours. Long enough for someone to commit your name/face to memory. Still, it's kind of what I plan on doing.

Thanks all.

[SoBu Mike]

Originally Posted by RavenSlay3r

Sounds good, but if you want to play through at least 2-3 shoes of six-deck it will take 2+ hours. Long enough for someone to commit your name/face to memory. Still, it's kind of what I plan on doing.

Thanks all.

Where are you people playing? The Local Casino in Niagara Falls used 8 Decks now and bury about 2 of them. (Is this what you mean by 6 decks?) BUt anyway, 1 full shoe takes between 10 and 15 minutes and the shuffle takes less than 2. So if there a lot of buy ins and check changes and people ordering drinks when it's their turn, you can still get 4 shoes in an hour. And thats 8 decks. Maybe I'm misunderstanding something.

Mike