Man, this "counting" stuff is hard.

[EasyRhino]

After a nine hour session at a local indian casino, I had reinforced some areas I still need to work on.

1) Fundamental counting skills. Maintaining the running count still occupies way too much brainpower and takes too long. But I already knew this.

2) Bet spread discipline. I was kind of wishy washy in what I wanted my max bet to be, and how exactly I wanted to ramp it. I didn't start doing anything crackheaded like raising my bet without and advantage, but it was still pretty sloppy, and the inconsistency lends itself to emotional decision making.

3) Strategic Wonging. I play more shoes from the beginning, since it wasn't very crowded in the morning. Later on, I started wonging more, as more tables were open, and as I got bored for manual shuffles. I think the rule of thumb for me should be:
a) If there's more than 3 or so tables operating, then wong in and out and table hop. (otherwise just do limited wonging out at same table).
b) Unless the tables are super duper amazing full, in which case if I find a low limit table and a spot on the left side, camp out in it (take "bathroom breaks" when available).

I didn't start to figure that out until it was time to go.

Oh, and my net profit over that time period? $18, and a buffet comp. I had hot shoes that I got clobbered on mixed in there.

 

[Knox]

A few suggestions on speeding up your counting:

Ignore the first round of cards dealt. Look around, rest your eyes, tip a waitress, etc. But when that second card hits the first player, look at it as soon as possible. You can then watch each card come off the dealer's hand to the players as they work towards third base. Mentally, you want to cancel out the cards in each hand. For example, A-2 player 1, 10-5 player 2. Net count = zero. As you scan each hand, tell yourself "ignore", "ignore" to each of those hands. If they had 10-10 and 3-4, those two hands cancel out. Do that for the entire table, including the dealers upcard.

Now count the cards each player takes. Try to use the same netting strategy if they take more than one card. If you get a little behind, just act like you are thinking about your play while finishing counting the other cards on your right (from a 3rd base seat). You can even ask the dealer's advice on your hand "that looks like a hit for sure, what do you think?" just to buy a little time without irritating anyone. Another tactic is to get the dealer to add up your cards for you when you have taken a bunch of little ones. Why risk losing the count so you can add up A-2-2-7-2-2?

The last thing is to count the dealer's cards they take. They typically flip the hole card on the left, then start placing drawn cards on the right side of the upcard. This is useful to remember because sometimes you will get distracted for a second and may need to quickly reestablish which card was the dealer's upcard that you already counted.

Lastly, don't be afraid to say the count, but do it silently (mouth it). For example, if you get a hit that brings you to nineteen, who is going to know if you mouth (or quietly mumble) "+13"? They will probably think you are saying what you have if they even notice. Come on, what kind of idiot would actually say the count at the table? LOL

Hope that helps, it works fine for me.

 

[EasyRhino]

yep, I've at least gotten used to the dealer patterns in shoe games pretty easily (count dealer card first or last, then cancel pairs, then count individuals). And if I space out and then look at a five-card dealer's hand, I can remember from the position which I've already counted and which I haven't.

The tricky part is incrementing/decrementing the count while still trying to add up my own hand for the strategy play while talking. And I've heard it elsewhere, but I really think that visualizing the number of the count will be better long term, as it will free up the "words" part of my brain for talking.

 

[Mr. Blackjack]

After a month or so of sporadic study and drill, I hit the casino with great anticipation of my awesome KO-coundint powers.

Found a $5 dollar table with a nice, slow dealer. Backcounted (shamelessly) through 1.9 6-deck shoes until the count finally got positive. Played one or two hands before the shoe was empty. Decided to stay in for the next shoe, and was able to more or less muddle through the count, with some difficulty.

Then a replacement dealer came in, and, well, it was pretty horrible. I didn't have a shot at keeping up. Even his announcing of everybody's hand was distracting me (ALL THOSE NUMBERS!!). Still won a little bit of money thanks to basic strategy and dumb luck.

I'm not sure if I have a point here.

For those who can actually pull this off, how long did the theory-into-practice stage take you?

Use the Ten-Count (NT/T) fraction with separate count of Aces adjusted per ¼ deck. You will have 100% accurate Insurance correlation and a reasonably good bet index. Betting the running count in green will give you about $66 average bet over the long run. Make the Ace correction by adding 3 points to the running count for every extra Ace that is above normal distribution adjusted per ¼ deck. If a ¼ deck has been played out and you didn’t see any Ace yet then you add 3 points to the running count and bet accordingly. On the other hand if you have seen two Aces out after a ¼ deck then you subtract 3 points from whatever running count you may have and bet therefore.

Insurance alone is the most important strategy for the card counter. Depending on your min-max spread, up to 0.45% can be add-up to your overall edge just by correct insurance play alone. The next most important strategic play is 16 vs. T. You will stand on any positive count or anytime the ratio of NT/T is less then 2.2:1 These two strategic plays will definitely make any blackjack game an even proposition. Now, your betting will get you into the profit.

Mr. Blackjack

 

[Knox]

Another suggestion for KO: start at zero for a 6-deck game. Then the key count is +16 and the pivot point, which triggers most index plays, is +24. This way you only deal with negative numbers briefly, at the start of a shoe.

You can also use that to size your bets correctly. Take the count -15 and you have the proper bet in units for a 1-10 spread. (note: this is much easier in a $5 game since $10 game = two red chips = one unit).

The exit strategy for bad shoes is pretty easy also. Starting with a running count of zero, (still 6-deck game) you exit when the count is about one deck below where it should be.

Example:

after 1 deck: count should be +4, exit if 0 or less (I rarely exit this fast)
after 2 decks: count should be +8, exit if +4 or less
after 3 decks: count should be +12, exit at +8 or less

These are a few tips I have used to customize and simplify KO for the 6-deck game. The trade off is I am less flexible and prepared for other types of games. But generally I can find a decent 6-deck game anywhere I go, so that is why I focus on it.

Maybe more than you needed...

 

[hopson77]

A few suggestions on speeding up your counting:

Ignore the first round of cards dealt. Look around, rest your eyes, tip a waitress, etc. But when that second card hits the first player, look at it as soon as possible. You can then watch each card come off the dealer's hand to the players as they work towards third base. Mentally, you want to cancel out the cards in each hand. For example, A-2 player 1, 10-5 player 2. Net count = zero. As you scan each hand, tell yourself "ignore", "ignore" to each of those hands. If they had 10-10 and 3-4, those two hands cancel out. Do that for the entire table, including the dealers upcard.

Now count the cards each player takes. Try to use the same netting strategy if they take more than one card. If you get a little behind, just act like you are thinking about your play while finishing counting the other cards on your right (from a 3rd base seat). You can even ask the dealer's advice on your hand "that looks like a hit for sure, what do you think?" just to buy a little time without irritating anyone. Another tactic is to get the dealer to add up your cards for you when you have taken a bunch of little ones. Why risk losing the count so you can add up A-2-2-7-2-2?

The last thing is to count the dealer's cards they take. They typically flip the hole card on the left, then start placing drawn cards on the right side of the upcard. This is useful to remember because sometimes you will get distracted for a second and may need to quickly reestablish which card was the dealer's upcard that you already counted.

Lastly, don't be afraid to say the count, but do it silently (mouth it). For example, if you get a hit that brings you to nineteen, who is going to know if you mouth (or quietly mumble) "+13"? They will probably think you are saying what you have if they even notice. Come on, what kind of idiot would actually say the count at the table? LOL

Hope that helps, it works fine for me.

I do something very similar to this. I like sitting at first base for this, although others may not. When my 2nd card is dealt, I add up the total of my cards and the dealer's upcard, and then go about counting the other hands on the table. As a little trick to maintain the count, I'll have a stack of chips that equates to the count, and then mentally process the hit cards and the dealer hole card. So if I've got +13 before I have to act on my hand, and then all of the hit cards worked out to -3, I'll just take 3 off the top of that stack and put them somewhere else among my chips. Of course, if someone was really paying attention, they could pick this up, but I've only done that in really crowded conditions where there are a lot more distractions, and it was very unlikely to be noticeable by the pit or the eye. It has worked for me so far. I hope it helps.

 

[EasyRhino]

Note to self: flux is a bitch.

Much of this is because I decided that I needed a $50 max bet despite a tiny bankroll, in order to have a shot at profitability. I'll use $5 tables wherever I can, but oftentimes $10 is all I can get.

Spent a lot of time playing this weekend. On Saturday I went to one local casino. It was deadsville, so I ended up playing a lot of heads-up at $10 tables. When I first arrived, I was totally cold, I could barely remember what plays to make, let alone the count. I played two shoes using only basic strategy. I won $300 during that period, never betting over the table min, it was insane. I started counting, and after some up and down, left up $600 (that's a lot for my bankroll, I've only had about $1200 (replenishible) dedicated solely to gambling).

Sunday, a buddy (also a novice counter), did a road trip and hit up five local casinos we hadn't been to before, and gambling before. I got clobbered in positive shoes at each one, losing $100 or $200 in brief stints. At one casino I broke even because of a slot machine coupon.

Monday, I visited yet another local casino where I had played at before and which has a decent game. Got up early, but then got demolished during one very hot shoe, when I was floating out max $50 bets but the dealer kept drawing to 21. The table's estimate was this happened six times in seven hands. And two other guys were betting bigger than me, it was a bloodbath. I went into the wallet a lot that stretch, but it was probably about a $300 drop. I kept playing though, and had 2 or 3 more positive experiences (including when I stumbled across and empty $5 table my way out) so ended up between $100-$200 up on the day.

So, grand total over the weekend, I was still up positive, but not as much as if I had just stopped on Saturday night.

So, in conclusion, I had one stint of ridiculous luck, a string of bad shoes seperated by many miles, and one truly evil experience while floating out max bets.

However, on the upside, my bankroll is now $1500, which is three times what I pulled out at the ATM when I "officially" started counting a few months ago.

 

[ortango]

Getting your arse beat during max bets is something you will have to get used to. Your meager 5% edge is nothing when you have all that money out and when a few hands can break your trip. My max is usually 2 x $400-$500. Try watching the dealer get five or six 21's during that time, and those naturals you were "supposed" to get and it will make your heart sink. However, it is the only way to get the edge. Just try not to make your max bet more than 1% of your total BR. Your RoR will be very low.

 

[EasyRhino]

On Friday a re-visited a local shop that I had been to before a couple times (And it was among the closer ones to me). Pros: lots of BJ tables with space available, no CSMs anywhere. Cons: Less favorable rules (no surrender, no RSA), no $5 tables, and - I just noticed it on this trip - really horrid penetration. I hung out and wonged around as best I could, got a beat up a little bit early, recovered some, and left at 3am, tired up about $60.

Saturday I checked out another joint that was a little further away. Cons: only 4 BJ tables, no $5 tables on a saturday night (duh, I guess), parking and crowds were bad (but tables themselves weren't too crowded). Pros: the casino offered LS and RSA, and the penetration seemed good (1 deck out of six).

I got dinged a little bit early on, but then were was one really bad shoe where the count was staying high, but I just kept losing my $50 bets. Ran out of bills in the wallet, which meant I was out about $500 by the end of that shoed. Sat there at the table, thinking this would be my first inagural bust-out, and how that would effect future play and my psyche. Then quickly realized that I couldn't be wasting my meager remaining $100 in chips playing a shoe from the beginning, so I wonged out hard. Wonged in on a different table, had to deploy a couple of smaller max bets just to be able to split/double, and won enough chips to play fairly normally. Then the count in the next shoe got favorable early on, and stayed there, and the hands kept breaking my way. So I ended up winning back basically everything I lost. Net result of a lot of anguish was a $10 profit for my 5 hours of work.

One kind of nice thing while playing in that last shoe with the crazy count was I got to use some strategy deviations at the right time (took insurance then surrendered hand, surrender with 14v10)

So here's the thing, over my four "trips" (which I define and withdraw/deposit cycles at the bank, generally a weekend or a week out of town), I haven't yet had a losing session. I realize that that's pretty lucky. However, within those sessions, I've been mauled a few times. So, that means that I've felt the pain, but still realize that it could be much worse.

If I hadn't gotten a free dinner out of it, I'd say it wasn't worth it.

 

[sagefr0g]

.........

So here's the thing, over my four "trips" (which I define and withdraw/deposit cycles at the bank, generally a weekend or a week out of town), I haven't yet had a losing session. I realize that that's pretty lucky. However, within those sessions, I've been mauled a few times. So, that means that I've felt the pain, but still realize that it could be much worse.

If I hadn't gotten a free dinner out of it, I'd say it wasn't worth it.

great story Easy. thats how it goes sometimes in a session. a real brawl, you fight, scrape and after the battle leave with ten bucks .
when i have sessions like that or worse i go home and fire up my computer, log the results and take solace in the fact that over time the bankroll graph continues to rise :cool2: .

best regards,
mr fr0g

 

[EasyRhino]

Okay, I found this old thread and decided to revive it. But first, here's what I posted in part of of the diary in my spurious sequel thread:

Dear Diary,

Sorry I haven't been able to update more frequently. Today's subject, my impending doom.

My noobish counting efforts have been proceeding fairly while. For the last few months, each weekend I'll hit up a few different Indian casinos in my area.

I'm still using basic KO count, and maybe 10 or so indices. I'm still not brilliantly fast, but I can keep up at a crowded table, and proceed at a good clip when playing heads-up. I still have no act whatsover, although I am moderately chatty at the tables.

One tactical innovation I've started doing is playing two hands when possible, both to eat more cards from the civilians in high counts, and to smooth variance (and get a little more money on the table) when the count skyrockets. I've become a big of spreading, despite the feeling that it could generate more heat.

My ability to tolerate risk has increased substantially. This is due in large part to online bonus hustling, where I'll sometimes play a few hundred a hand.

Speaking of heat, I've learned that if you're betting under $100 around here, there just isn't any. The casino just doesn't give a damn. This is fine, as I'll spend anywhere between 4-12 hours at one shop.

Bankroll wise, I've gone from the $500 starting stake in September, and a little over $1000 from my first baby steps in Missouri, to, as of today, just over $2700. Plus, I've have a few thousand in my Neteller account from hustling online bonuses over the last few months. Combined, they actually mean that a $50 max bet puts me slightly under 1% Kelly. This is kind of exciting, it means there's light at the end of the tunnel where I can increase my spread.

And that brings up to today's subject: I feel like there is a big sword hanging over my head, and it's just waiting to fall on me.

I've decided that I've experienced fair-to-good flux so far. In fact, I've only had one losing weekend out of 9. As a diisclaimer, on a few weekends I've been down a lot, say, $500 (50-100 units, depending), and just played for a very long time until coming out ahead. It's not exactly the sagefrog method of walking away from a win early, but I'll definitely confess to chasing my losses.

This weekend, I got back from being out of town two weeks without any play. Plus, I'll be out of town next weekend before Xmas. I also had a crapload of comp coupons from a couple of casinos that I had to go redeem. I really felt it was my moral duty to play.

However, I felt an amazing feeling of dread and trepidation going walking into the casinos Saturday and Sunday. I thought It was coming, the trip bankruptcy that would cripple my payroll, crush my spirit, and send me off with my tail between my legs. Instead, on Saturday, after dropping $1-200 early, I came back to win a few hundred. I even won $50 with a slot coupon. So then, on Sunday, I thought "okay, that lulled me into complacency, now I'm doomed. But it was a similar deal, I lost $1-$200 early, then ended up winning a few hundred bucks. Heck, I was even about to leave, and a new dealer moved in who had destroyed me a couple of months ago, so I stayed and played a shoe which never really went positive, but I won about $25. It actually turned into my best weekend.

Strangely, I was looking forward to losing. I figure that I'm due some bad luck, and any winning sessions now are just prologing the inevitable, and will make the blow even harder when it finally does hit me with past due interest.

Man it's gonna hurt.

(Responses from the board results in some sharing of feelings of doom, about the fallacy of being "due" for a loss, and a bunch of talk about psi theory)

 

[EasyRhino]

Dear Diary,

Sorry for the long time since updates, I hadn't played much, I was out of town on vacation in non-gambling environ, and just too damn busy over New Year's. I did, however, create a little "how-to kit" on blackjack for my stepfather, who is an inveterate slot ploppy. He thought it was interesting, but seemed intimidated by the basic strategy chart. Let's not even start on counting.

Played at my most usual two Indian casinos on Saturday and Sunday. Long story short, I lost $250. Slightly longer version, I dropped $200 on Saturday at my favorite dumpy casino in a 5-6 hours session (got beat up in one more high count than I won in). Then on sunday, in a nine-hour stint at my favorite nice casino, I wont that $200 back, had a comped meal, then lost $250 after dinner. And the perverse thing about it was that most of the losses were not with big bets, but just a slow grind of $5 and $10 losses, for a few hours. High counts were hard to be found, whether playing at a $5 table, or backcounting others. It was a slow drip, drip, drip, of losses, and pretty miserable.

Hey, at least the loss was only 10% of my bankroll, not 50% like it would have been initially.

Skillwise, on saturday, I was still very "cold" from not playing for a few weeks, but it only slowed me down for a few hands. I do, however, need to continue to work on my wonging discipline, especially same-table wonging out in crowded conditions.

Some random fun stuff from the trip, though:

- It's stressful to be the Big Player at a table. I ended up spending a couple hours camped at a $5 table earning my comp. Every one else was betting $5, so when I'd raise to $25 or more, I'd get oohs and aahs. I was also the only guy ever tipping the dealer, so the occasional $1 toke make me look like a George, it was strange.

After a set of dealers rotated through, I was pretty quickly marked as a player who knew what he was doing. For instance, one dealer (fun guy), dealt me a 12 vs his 2, and as it was my turn, said "Let's see if he read the... yep, he read the book".

Then, later, I had an occassion (neutral count, $5 bet), where I split tens, got an ace on one, and doubled down on the soft 21. Then I did it again about an hour later. My rep changed to "that dopehead guy" and the dealers wouldn't stop ragging on me. It was a really cheap thrill for $20.

- I spotted two counters at the casino. One was a guy I recognized from a couple of months ago, who was super-chatty and counting while I was struggling like crazy. This time, I noticed him at third base while I was backcounting. Count went nowhere, and he wonged out as I decided to move on elsewhere. I didn't have an opportunity to corner him in the hallway and take his lunch money, though.

The second guy was standing behind me in the crowd around the $5 table, who I could hear talking behind me. 50-60 years old, professorial looking, there with his sons, just sort of describing parts of the game, what insurance was, surrender, etc. Then, after the dealer deals out a few tens, I hear from behind me, "and now it's back to zero". I paused for just a sec, then turned around and stage-whispered "Are you counting?!", to which he responded "it was just for practice". He actually turned up a couple hours later, still backcounting verbally, with no obvious sign of having played, or calling in other players. I guess it was just an academic exercise for him.

Anyway, while I think I had the right spirit in my response, of feigning shock and horror, I also think I recognized what he was talking about a little too quickly. Again, I was just stressing out at the heat over being the Gorilla at the table. It was much more comforting being at the table next to the guy losing a few hundred bucks (cash!) each hand.

(and for the record, no, there wasn't any real heat, the floormen had better things to do)

- While backcounting, heard one old-timer recounting the several months that he lived at Circus Circus, getting the world comped to him. Would have been nice to hear more, but his table was fairly high minimum, and had a lousy count.

- Learned that in the early days of the Barona Indian casino, the tribe couldn't afford to bank themselves, so one of the guys who supplied the bank was... Max Rubin. The chatty dealer had been one of his "banksitters". I guess that would explain why Barona still offers a choice single deck game, and has a Blackjack Hall of Fame on the wall by the entrance, filled with portraits of famous card counters and cheats, and of course, why he raved about the casino when he wrote Comp City.

 

[supercoolmancool]

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but I think your days are numbered man. I was just like you once, thought I could play forever with absolutely no cover spreading $5-50. Now it's been 5 months since I last visited a casino. Cruel world. But yah just because it happened to me doesn't mean it will happen to you. I have heard many times that there are casions that will let you count for low stakes so your days might not be numbered.

 

[EasyRhino]

SMC, just wondering, when you burned yourself out of your local joints, how often were you making an appearance at one casino?

 

[supercoolmancool]

SMC, just wondering, when you burned yourself out of your local joints, how often were you making an appearance at one casino?

Well at the time I was EVing $25 per hour so as you can imagine I was playing as often as humanly possible which worked out to about twice a week for about 3 hours at a time. I only had one casino within reasonable driving distance: 1.5 hours.

 

[NDN21]

Lastly, don't be afraid to say the count, but do it silently (mouth it). For example, if you get a hit that brings you to nineteen, who is going to know if you mouth (or quietly mumble) "+13"? They will probably think you are saying what you have if they even notice. Come on, what kind of idiot would actually say the count at the table? LOL

You do not want to say the count under your breath at all. Also do not mentally "verbalize" the count. That takes too much time and it's easy to get lost in the count when you do that.

The tricky part is incrementing/decrementing the count while still trying to add up my own hand for the strategy play while talking. And I've heard it elsewhere, but I really think that visualizing the number of the count will be better long term, as it will free up the "words" part of my brain for talking.

You are onto the right path. I have read on Arnold Snyder's library about how you are supposed to visualize the count in your head. Repeating the count, even in your head, takes too much time and makes it too hard to count. Also you might mess up the count by verbalizing it in your head.

For instance the count is 14 and you verbalized it in your head, you look down at your cards and you have 13 showing, then the waitress comes over with a low-cut outfit on and distracts you by asking if you want a drink, then you friend says something to you and you respond. Now what's the count, is it 13 or 14. It's your turn and the play should be obvious so you stand. Next you are trying to figure out if the count is 13 or 14, while you are doing this the next player to you busts and the dealer picks the cards up immediately, before you get a chance to look at the card that caused him to bust. Now you are screwed.

Visualizing the count will be hard at first but after a bit it will get easier and it will take much less time and effort than verbalizing the count.

 

[mdlbj]

Keep practicing, you will get it..

 

[EasyRhino]

Dear Diary,

Visited three of the local Indian facilities last weekend. I went in thinking I might need to have a stop-loss limit of a few hundred bucks, because if things went really sour, I didn't want to wreck my bankroll before I got to Reno next week.

First, the results: good. Up $600. That's 60 units since I was at $10 tables the whole time, max bets I had out were 2x$35. Needless to say, results much better than EV.

- I noticed I got a little too excited during a couple really high counts and flubbed it. Then I had to round down the count just to reduce the chances of overbetting. Damn me and my stupid emotions.

- I've noticed that I've gotten better at keeping and maintaing the count while not really paying attention. That's pretty cool. The bad news is that I noticed it because I wasn't really paying attention, which is bad.

- I revisited one casino that I hadn't been to in a while (Sycuan) because they don't offer casino and have bad penetration. It hadn't improved. And any time I moved to an empty table to play heads-up, I ended up with ploppies glomming onto it quickly. I bailed after I had enough time to cash a coupon and lose some money after backcounting into a shoe.

- I spent a remarkable amount of time playing at tables with 1-2 other people. It was kind of nice, the game still moved at a decent pace, but there was someone else to suck up bad cards, and I could still spread to two hands.

- I irritated a ploppy so much that he left a table. Problem is, I wasn't trying to irritate him, and it almost hurt my feelings a little bit. I'm a wuss.

- Two slightly interesting mistakes:
a) I overinsured a bet. Had 2x$35 on the table, placed $50 on insurance. There was no dealer BJ. The dealer actually noticed when he was collecting it. Worked out for me, but oops. Then again, when insurance is +EV, maybe I should try it all the time?
b) Playing heads-up, I had a blackjack. While I was hollering at the pit to get the little bonus card for a suited blackjack, the dealer then proceeded to play out her hand, and busted with a 26. Since the pit was already there, he said "tell you what, that was the next card, so just give it to him, you don't mind getting a ten, do you?" Every time I've seen a dealer error at this joint (Barona), the pit has managed to spin it into a positive for the player, that's really impressive to me.

- Had another guy sit next to me who must have been a counter. Young, 20's. We were shooting the breeze, talking about hands coming up as they were being played and BS, and when the subject of splitting tens or other indices came up, he kept on saying things like "there's a right time to do them". Didn't get a chance to see him ramp his bets, because the count never went positive on that shoe, and I bugged out after that. It was, however, comforting to see someone with an even worse act than me.

 

[Sonny]

- I revisited one casino that I hadn't been to in a while (Sycuan) because they don't offer casino and have bad penetration. It hadn't improved.

Actually, it's gotten worse than you thought:

Health officials: Sycuan patrons should get checked for TB

http://legacy.utsandiego.com/news/metro/20070111-1218-bn11sycuan.html

-Sonny-

 

[ScottH]

Dear Diary,

Visited three of the local Indian facilities last weekend. I went in thinking I might need to have a stop-loss limit of a few hundred bucks, because if things went really sour, I didn't want to wreck my bankroll before I got to Reno next week.

First, the results: good. Up $600. That's 60 units since I was at $10 tables the whole time, max bets I had out were 2x$35. Needless to say, results much better than EV.

- I noticed I got a little too excited during a couple really high counts and flubbed it. Then I had to round down the count just to reduce the chances of overbetting. Damn me and my stupid emotions.

- I've noticed that I've gotten better at keeping and maintaing the count while not really paying attention. That's pretty cool. The bad news is that I noticed it because I wasn't really paying attention, which is bad.

- I revisited one casino that I hadn't been to in a while (Sycuan) because they don't offer casino and have bad penetration. It hadn't improved. And any time I moved to an empty table to play heads-up, I ended up with ploppies glomming onto it quickly. I bailed after I had enough time to cash a coupon and lose some money after backcounting into a shoe.

- I spent a remarkable amount of time playing at tables with 1-2 other people. It was kind of nice, the game still moved at a decent pace, but there was someone else to suck up bad cards, and I could still spread to two hands.

- I irritated a ploppy so much that he left a table. Problem is, I wasn't trying to irritate him, and it almost hurt my feelings a little bit. I'm a wuss.

- Two slightly interesting mistakes:
a) I overinsured a bet. Had 2x$35 on the table, placed $50 on insurance. There was no dealer BJ. The dealer actually noticed when he was collecting it. Worked out for me, but oops. Then again, when insurance is +EV, maybe I should try it all the time?
b) Playing heads-up, I had a blackjack. While I was hollering at the pit to get the little bonus card for a suited blackjack, the dealer then proceeded to play out her hand, and busted with a 26. Since the pit was already there, he said "tell you what, that was the next card, so just give it to him, you don't mind getting a ten, do you?" Every time I've seen a dealer error at this joint (Barona), the pit has managed to spin it into a positive for the player, that's really impressive to me.

- Had another guy sit next to me who must have been a counter. Young, 20's. We were shooting the breeze, talking about hands coming up as they were being played and BS, and when the subject of splitting tens or other indices came up, he kept on saying things like "there's a right time to do them". Didn't get a chance to see him ramp his bets, because the count never went positive on that shoe, and I bugged out after that. It was, however, comforting to see someone with an even worse act than me.

They shouldn't have allowed you to bet 50 dollars on insurance with only 70 dollars in action. You should have pointed that out and asked for 15 dollars back.