Hi, BlackjackInfo.com,
First, let me apologize for deleting my initial “first experience” post. Within a few hours of posting it, I became seriously worried about PC spies – silly, perhaps, but there you have it. Since the program settings won’t allow me to delete my own posts, I had to simply ravage the content. Sorry for the unintentional tease.
I still won’t include enough specifics to identify where I’m playing.
I’ve played BS for years, and recently spent a month learning the Red 7 count, practicing at home with both cards and Casino Verite. I finally went live this month. From what I read, the rules where I play are fairly typical. I’m playing at $5 tables and using an opposition betting strategy that is out of my league; when I started I had a BR of only about 19 max bets, though now I have 40.
I wear a disguise. I look like a real jerk just off the turnip truck, and I’m very careful to proudly display my shiny, professionally-produced BS card which I refer to from time to time. If asked why I’m not more gregarious, I say I’m tired; and if questioned about any play that seems odd, I refer with awe to my brother-in-law, the god of all things blackjack.
My very first experience, one of the dealers – a middle-aged fellow who said he’d been dealing for more than 10 years – was a chatty type, engaging each player individually. At one point, he actually asked me if I was counting. I’m not sure if he was serious or merely b.s.ing because I’d done well on a few hands; but with all my preparation, I hadn’t prepared for simply being asked. It threw me. I responded with a surprised noise, paused and added, “I wish I could.” Later on in the day, I saw him at another table, smiled and nodded, and he smiled back … but there was something cagey about it. I suspect he made me.
My most recent experience, I got up from a table where the dealer gave poor pen on the shuffle, having just lost a few big bets and down almost $200. She asked me what my criterion was for jumping from $5 to my max. I smiled and replied, “My gut.” She frowned disapprovingly.
Counting is very much still work for me, though I am getting to the point where I can scan the table and delete high-low combinations when I have to – that is, when I get hurried. When I get tired is when I can really screw it up. I’ve totally blown it a couple of times and left the table, but if I only miss a card here or there I just pretend it’s in the undealt portion of the shoe.
I’d like to say that I have been taught a lesson or two about following the game plan even when it gets scary. For example, I had a max bet out recently, I was not doing well and so I didn’t insure it when I was supposed to. I should have.
I’ve seen a comment or two here saying that eventually counting becomes as automatic as driving; and I look forward to that day, because, while making money at the tables is important to me, I am, at heart, a mischievous fellow, and I dearly love the con game aspect of this activity. Arnold Snyder comments in BIB that he thinks a successful card counter has to be a con man at heart; I don’t know if I’ll prove successful or not, but otherwise he was talking about me – though I’m not a heartless bastard, and do have a strong innate sense of fair play. I just don’t feel the least bit guilty for taking advantage of the casinos. After all, they’ve institutionalized trying to take advantage of me.
Note to sysop: Can the feature enabling us to delete our own posts be enabled?
First, let me apologize for deleting my initial “first experience” post. Within a few hours of posting it, I became seriously worried about PC spies – silly, perhaps, but there you have it. Since the program settings won’t allow me to delete my own posts, I had to simply ravage the content. Sorry for the unintentional tease.
I still won’t include enough specifics to identify where I’m playing.
I’ve played BS for years, and recently spent a month learning the Red 7 count, practicing at home with both cards and Casino Verite. I finally went live this month. From what I read, the rules where I play are fairly typical. I’m playing at $5 tables and using an opposition betting strategy that is out of my league; when I started I had a BR of only about 19 max bets, though now I have 40.
I wear a disguise. I look like a real jerk just off the turnip truck, and I’m very careful to proudly display my shiny, professionally-produced BS card which I refer to from time to time. If asked why I’m not more gregarious, I say I’m tired; and if questioned about any play that seems odd, I refer with awe to my brother-in-law, the god of all things blackjack.
My very first experience, one of the dealers – a middle-aged fellow who said he’d been dealing for more than 10 years – was a chatty type, engaging each player individually. At one point, he actually asked me if I was counting. I’m not sure if he was serious or merely b.s.ing because I’d done well on a few hands; but with all my preparation, I hadn’t prepared for simply being asked. It threw me. I responded with a surprised noise, paused and added, “I wish I could.” Later on in the day, I saw him at another table, smiled and nodded, and he smiled back … but there was something cagey about it. I suspect he made me.
My most recent experience, I got up from a table where the dealer gave poor pen on the shuffle, having just lost a few big bets and down almost $200. She asked me what my criterion was for jumping from $5 to my max. I smiled and replied, “My gut.” She frowned disapprovingly.
Counting is very much still work for me, though I am getting to the point where I can scan the table and delete high-low combinations when I have to – that is, when I get hurried. When I get tired is when I can really screw it up. I’ve totally blown it a couple of times and left the table, but if I only miss a card here or there I just pretend it’s in the undealt portion of the shoe.
I’d like to say that I have been taught a lesson or two about following the game plan even when it gets scary. For example, I had a max bet out recently, I was not doing well and so I didn’t insure it when I was supposed to. I should have.
I’ve seen a comment or two here saying that eventually counting becomes as automatic as driving; and I look forward to that day, because, while making money at the tables is important to me, I am, at heart, a mischievous fellow, and I dearly love the con game aspect of this activity. Arnold Snyder comments in BIB that he thinks a successful card counter has to be a con man at heart; I don’t know if I’ll prove successful or not, but otherwise he was talking about me – though I’m not a heartless bastard, and do have a strong innate sense of fair play. I just don’t feel the least bit guilty for taking advantage of the casinos. After all, they’ve institutionalized trying to take advantage of me.
Note to sysop: Can the feature enabling us to delete our own posts be enabled?
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