I just had my first losing session as a card counter. I was lucky enough to win my first 4, but today I just had a loss of 48 units. I was in for 240 and had 150 left when the RC was +10, and I make a max bet at +4. I lost that hand. The count stayed up for 2 more hands of max bets and I lost both of those as well. I was waiting for my 20's and blackjacks but they didn't come, at least not to me! I'm just proud of myself for having the guts to keep pushing out those max bets even when I was losing them all. I don't like having a losing session, but I know there are many more to come, so I might as well get used to it!
First Losing Session.
- Thread starter ScottH
- Start date
Hi ScottH,
I think it is importand to stay on high counts even if you lose them (see my posting what happend last week to me).
But on the other side you should also know when to stop in both directions. At least I look after myself that I leave the table after a winning or loosing.
Good luck as a counter!!!
I think it is importand to stay on high counts even if you lose them (see my posting what happend last week to me).
But on the other side you should also know when to stop in both directions. At least I look after myself that I leave the table after a winning or loosing.
Good luck as a counter!!!
It happens and you might never get used to it. It just doesn't seem fair how everything can turn to crap the way it does, but it does and it is a completely natural part of the game. Brett Harris' N0 theorem is a very sobering look at how long you have to play before you can expect to be ahead. It's a year or more for most non-pros.
Had a bad session myself recently. My loser act is a sullen, drunken compulsive gambler, who spews hate (at the cards never others) on losing sessions. The trick is to go with the emotions that naturally arise when losing, God I hate losing! Here's how the exchange went as I left the table down 30 units:
"Color me out, I never want to see this effing place again."
"Sir, please, watch your language!"
(Now this is one thing that legitimately makes me mad in a casino. I don't want to hear a morality lecture from anyone in the gaming industry. It's like getting a lecture on proper treatment of women from a pimp. I don't want to hear it, not from one of them.)
So I decide to give her the business: "What do you mean?"
"You just cursed."
"I did not curse."
"Yes you did, you just swore."
"I did not swear. Just color me out please."
The pit supervisor comes over. "What's going on?"
"He's cursing."
"I did not curse. To curse is to call down a bad thing on yourself or someone else, you know, from God. To say 'May you die and go to Hell'- that's what a curse is."
"SIR!"
"Come on, will you tell her to just do her effing job?"
"She is doing her effing job. Just color him out."
"Thank you, have a great night."
This kind of entertainment takes away a few units worth of the sting of losing!
Had a bad session myself recently. My loser act is a sullen, drunken compulsive gambler, who spews hate (at the cards never others) on losing sessions. The trick is to go with the emotions that naturally arise when losing, God I hate losing! Here's how the exchange went as I left the table down 30 units:
"Color me out, I never want to see this effing place again."
"Sir, please, watch your language!"
(Now this is one thing that legitimately makes me mad in a casino. I don't want to hear a morality lecture from anyone in the gaming industry. It's like getting a lecture on proper treatment of women from a pimp. I don't want to hear it, not from one of them.)
So I decide to give her the business: "What do you mean?"
"You just cursed."
"I did not curse."
"Yes you did, you just swore."
"I did not swear. Just color me out please."
The pit supervisor comes over. "What's going on?"
"He's cursing."
"I did not curse. To curse is to call down a bad thing on yourself or someone else, you know, from God. To say 'May you die and go to Hell'- that's what a curse is."
"SIR!"
"Come on, will you tell her to just do her effing job?"
"She is doing her effing job. Just color him out."
"Thank you, have a great night."
This kind of entertainment takes away a few units worth of the sting of losing!
What they are getting at Mack is that if you are playing at an advantage and the count is telling you that you should be winning the hands but you are not, then leaving will not change anything. The next time you play, whether it's at the same table, same casino or even in a different country, if you are playing the same conditions, it will just be a continuation of where you left off with your "losing session." "Luck" or "Variance" or "Standard Deviation" does not come along with a formula that will let you alter it by leaving the table, turning your hat around or rubbing a blarny stone. You basically are making a mistake by leaving if you have a huge advantage with the count simply because you are losing the hands. The probability in that particular situation is that the odds are in your favor to win even though you are losing.
You're right. If you lose all your money nobody here is going to pay your bills for you, so you have to do what you have to do. If having had a big win and/or fear of losing messes with your head to the point where you can't play right, or causes you too much stress, stop playing.
On the other hand, everyone else here is also right in that how you break up your sessions has no effect on your overall performance, and you will lose overall EV due to the time and expense of getting to and from the casino. These days a "local" casino trip costs me $40 in gas so I spend my first 45 minutes of every trip working for nothing. So I've been working on making my trips longer and fewer. In high-heat environments like SD games in Reno you can only protect yourself by keeping your sessions short and jumping from store to store, and this definitely cuts into your EV.
On the other hand, everyone else here is also right in that how you break up your sessions has no effect on your overall performance, and you will lose overall EV due to the time and expense of getting to and from the casino. These days a "local" casino trip costs me $40 in gas so I spend my first 45 minutes of every trip working for nothing. So I've been working on making my trips longer and fewer. In high-heat environments like SD games in Reno you can only protect yourself by keeping your sessions short and jumping from store to store, and this definitely cuts into your EV.
Alright alright, I know what all of you are saying and I read it a 1000 times that it doesn't make any difference. And no I don't leave a table in the middle of a winning session. But when the shoe is over and i get a new shoe and I don't have the advantage on my side and I played already quite a bit then that't the time I leave. Sorry for the confusion.
All you guys are right!
Playing out the rest of a pos. shoe is correct (if you still have bucks left to play with) That's math sense. Mack is right in the real play sense. You gotta get up sometimes...eat, drink, wee wee etc. You can do it on a goal basis, i.e. double your session BR, a heat basis (Does that hot PB think I'm that cute?.... Maybe not.) or a timeframe basis(Wow! 5 hours already! That's why my butt is hurting!) No matter what the criterion is, you need an exit strategy(Like that one Zg?). It's kinda like when to sell a stock that's made you a good profit. A fine art in itself and hard to define.
Playing out the rest of a pos. shoe is correct (if you still have bucks left to play with) That's math sense. Mack is right in the real play sense. You gotta get up sometimes...eat, drink, wee wee etc. You can do it on a goal basis, i.e. double your session BR, a heat basis (Does that hot PB think I'm that cute?.... Maybe not.) or a timeframe basis(Wow! 5 hours already! That's why my butt is hurting!) No matter what the criterion is, you need an exit strategy(Like that one Zg?). It's kinda like when to sell a stock that's made you a good profit. A fine art in itself and hard to define.
i think this is an interesting question for advantage players. certainly there is no reason economicaly for one to stop play infact one wants to get in as much play as possible if you,re playing too an advantage. the real point is though wouldn't it be nice if you could avoid some of the negative fluctuation that normally ocurrs durring positive counts. this is something that software is not currently able to accomplish and i'm not saying that i can do it either. none the less if there is any hope for improving our play this area seems the one that merits further study and thought.
best regards,
mr fr0g
best regards,
mr fr0g