Is this normal???

[Mikeaber]

btw what is an ap? advanced player? what is an "advanced player"? people who count cards, or just know basic strategy?

An "AP" is an "Advantage Player". Commonly, an "AP" is thought of as a "card-counter" but an AP is much more than that. There are other ways in casinos that an AP can gain an advantage other than by just counting cards.

 

[ortango]

btw what is an ap? advanced player? what is an "advanced player"? people who count cards, or just know basic strategy?

Advantage player means what it sounds like, someone who has an advantage on the house (statistically, not necessarily in results!) by counting or other means as Mike mentioned.

 

[ortango]

the other day i went to a casino for the first time and i knew nothing about blackjack. i was doing stuff like hitting with 14 while the dealer showed 5, i didn't double down or split the whole time, etc....but i still came out with around 3 times my starting balance. i came home and played playmoney blackjack at paradisepoker online and i went from like 1000 chips to 10,000 really quickly.

This is the strange "beginner's luck" phenomenon that seems way too common. I have to tell you this. The first time in a casino for me: Circus Circus at Reno, with lame rules and started with only $40 on the nickel table, ended with $2100 playing blacks. I had no idea how to play, and since then I have never made so much from so little. I can't explain this, but I can say it is dangerous to win so much the first time because it just helps preserve the illusion that the game is luck and not skill, preventing folks from learning the game. But man what a night that was!

It has been a long time but I used to play at Walker Hill in Seoul quite a bit in the 70's when they dealt a very good blackjack game. Unfortunately a few things happened that killed that game and resulted in the bad game they have today.

IH17 - Wow, it's been around that long? (and so have you? j/k) It's hard to believe that the city of Seoul waited until last year to finally open two more casinos. I haven't made my way to WH yet, but the two new ones actually have good rules (DAS, SS17, Surrender) and decent penetration.

Then a couple of very good American counting teams hit them and hit them hard and not knowing about this I showed up shortly after. A big win and I was beaten and robbed in their parking lot.

Holy crap, I can't see that happening in one of the safest countries in the world but then again this was the 70's when Korea was practically third world and run by dictators and gangsters.

Anyway, some of the worst players I have every known are Asian born Korean and Japaneese players.

NOTHING has changed as far as that's concerned. The worst part is, the culture lends itself to gambling addiction, as well as extreme overbetting to show one's "high class" and to save face. It's a terrible combination.

 

[dacium]

In australia we I always seem to see only 3 main gamblers:
-drunk guys who have no clue about blackjack at all
-asians chicks that min bet play half decent, and max bet on the side bets, they drop thousands per shoe on these side bets, but when they hit that 30:1 outsiders that are sure everyone in the casino knows about it.
-old retired people who bitch about every mistake they think you make. They bitch every time you take a card that would have seen the dealer bust, yet they never ever occupy the last box.

 

[ihate17]

Ortango

You probably know this but Korea took off economically in the 80's and was sort of a third world country still in the 70's. The thing about the country at that time was the population was over educated for the economy but the economy finally caught up. In many ways similar to the education level today in the major cities of India compared with job opportunities. Crime such as burglary was common back then but violent crime was not. A friend of mine who lived in a traditional type Korean home with a yondol heating system (charcoal bricks that heat the floors) would sleep with windows cracked in the winter for fear of carbon monoxide seeping through cracks in the floor and poisoning his family, was cleaned out. The thieves put a hose with some kind of sleep inducing gas through the window opening and then entered the house and moved out his belongings including most of the furniture.

Gambling and gangsters are not a strange combination. Though Sheraton ran Walker Hill Resort at that time, I do not know if they ran the casino or just managed the hotel. I knew several Korean hustlers who would cheat GI's at poker in private games or private clubs like VFW clubs. There was a VFW or American Legion or similar club in Don Du Chon, where the owner (a retired E-8) would short the cards of some aces and tens increasing his house edge.

I believe you are correct about the culture and gambling. I know many Koreans and they either gamble or hate gambling, not much ground inbetween.

Back then there was a casino in Inchon and one in Busan but I think that was it though they were talking about one at Che Jui Do Island being built.

ihate17

 

[ortango]

IH17 - yes, S.Korea ranks as one of the quickest developed countries in history, and of course some growing pains come with the territory. There are now 14 official casinos in S. Korea, 3 in Seoul, 1 in Pusan and 9 on Cheju Island.