team play

#1
Hey guys, looking to get on a team. Wondering if anyone's on a team or looking to start up a team. I'm based in Los Angeles, play around Southern California frequently, and travel to Vegas about once a month. Thanks.
 

positiveEV

Well-Known Member
#2
I don't think many successful team were formed by strangers who never met before and who wrote to each other on a public message board. Maybe I'm wrong tho.
 
#3
i wouldn't trust a stranger being the Big Player holding most of the funds. You can do the HIT AND RUN from casino to casino to avoid heat. The Big Player can do the TAKE AND RUN from your team to become rich.
 

Kaiser

Well-Known Member
#5
"It was just terrible. Plus 10 true count, and I lost almost every hand. I don't know what to say man, I lost the entire $12,000."

"This was our first session! I can't believe it. We're screwed."

"Yeah, I might just quit this team play stuff. I can't handle the swings. I'm heading back home. We gave it a good shot, anyway."

"Wait. what's that bulge in your pocket?"

"Oh, just a bunch of napkins. Bye!"

:grin:
 

RJT

Well-Known Member
#6
I do know of teams that have been formed over the internet. Some sucessful and some not so sucessful. I would not however recommend to anyone looking for team mates online and the teams that have been sucessful have had 100x more problems than teams formed from people that knew each other.
The potential advantages of team play are huge - the raise in playable unit and reduction in varience being the most obvious - but they are far outweighed by the lack of knowledge of and trust you can have of someone you've only spoken to online.
Think like an advantage player; you should only ever take an acceptable risk, and trusting your hard earned $$$ to someone you met online if far from acceptable.

RJT.
 

Kasi

Well-Known Member
#7
RJT said:
I do know of teams that have been formed over the internet. Some sucessful and some not so sucessful. I would not however recommend to anyone looking for team mates online and the teams that have been sucessful have had 100x more problems than teams formed from people that knew each other.
The potential advantages of team play are huge - the raise in playable unit and reduction in varience being the most obvious - but they are far outweighed by the lack of knowledge of and trust you can have of someone you've only spoken to online.
Think like an advantage player; you should only ever take an acceptable risk, and trusting your hard earned $$$ to someone you met online if far from acceptable.RJT.
I don't know - I thought the BP routine has been pretty much killed by NME. Guess I'm used to AC.

And I thought the players probably aren't entrusted with more than a session bankroll. Say 30 units or so, for the day. So losing a 12000 wad would be tough.

But, yeah, there's a reason team members may be subject to a polygraph test. Or so I thought.

As Mulder would say, trust no one.

I find many aspects of team play extremely complex.

So, if I'm not an investor, can I still win money because I'm a great player that any investor would love to have on his team? Are there ever any pure non-playing investors? One of a million questions.
 

positiveEV

Well-Known Member
#8
Kasi said:
I don't know - I thought the BP routine has been pretty much killed by NME. Guess I'm used to AC.

And I thought the players probably aren't entrusted with more than a session bankroll. Say 30 units or so, for the day. So losing a 12000 wad would be tough.

But, yeah, there's a reason team members may be subject to a polygraph test. Or so I thought.

As Mulder would say, trust no one.

I find many aspects of team play extremely complex.

So, if I'm not an investor, can I still win money because I'm a great player that any investor would love to have on his team? Are there ever any pure non-playing investors? One of a million questions.
If you lost their money you would have a pretty rough time with these non-playing investors...
 

positiveEV

Well-Known Member
#10
supercoolmancool said:
You can't just say that. That claim is based on nothing. You just made it up.
I tough he was talking about the non-playing investors you often find wandering around the casinos and loan sharking money to gamblers, these kind of investors are definitively to avoid. Sorry if I misunderstood.
 

RJT

Well-Known Member
#11
Kasi said:
I don't know - I thought the BP routine has been pretty much killed by NME. Guess I'm used to AC.
The BP routine is well known by survillence staff these day, however far from unplayable. You need to tune your play specifically to the venue your playing at and have a solid act, but there are many teams out there doing just that today.
NME? I'm i being dumb or have i missed something here?

Kasi said:
And I thought the players probably aren't entrusted with more than a session bankroll. Say 30 units or so, for the day. So losing a 12000 wad would be tough.
And say that 12k is your session BR and each time your BP goes out he skims 1k off the top. It won't take long for your bankroll to start feeling the sting, but that 1k is small enough that it'll seem normal for long enough.

Kasi said:
But, yeah, there's a reason team members may be subject to a polygraph test. Or so I thought.
Polygraph tests are far from accurate and certainly not something that i would use or submit to as proof of honesty. They breed distrust and return far too many false results. If you want to know more about that ask Zen sometime.


Kasi said:
So, if I'm not an investor, can I still win money because I'm a great player that any investor would love to have on his team? Are there ever any pure non-playing investors? One of a million questions.
There are plenty of non-playing investors and non-investing players but what many blackjack teams forget when they initially take investment is that investors who don't play often don't understand the game and the variability of result, so when 2 or 3 months of losses mount up, suddenly they aren't so keen for you to play with their money anymore (although in honesty, the good teams rarely have losing stretches of that length).

RJT.
 

Kasi

Well-Known Member
#12
RJT said:
NME? I'm i being dumb or have i missed something here?
RJT.
No it's not you lol - that's my silly version of No Mid-shoe entry lol. Sorry.

But, overall, like i think u say, team play is tough enough even when everybody "trusts each other".

I get a kick out of these guys that have been playing for a month and "want to start a team". Of course I over-complicate everything by habit.

But, you know, even a "dumb-broad" but actually really smart husband-wife team could do damage with the right act.
 

RJT

Well-Known Member
#13
I completely agree, but team play is a very alluring and profitable venture. Imagine it, actually being able to talk face to face about your adventures with someone who actually understands, often coming along with you and increasing your profit margin dramatically.
Shame it's not as simple as that, but if it was it would be more of a threat to the casinos bottom line and they would take more measures against it.
From my knowledge of AC, it's not all NME, especially in the high stakes pits.

RJT.
 

Kasi

Well-Known Member
#16
RJT said:
I completely agree, but team play is a very alluring and profitable venture. Imagine it, actually being able to talk face to face about your adventures with someone who actually understands, often coming along with you and increasing your profit margin dramatically.RJT.
Oh yeah - I think team play is great and would be really cool. Definitely the way to go with a bunch of disciplined guys and all the bulls*it worked out. I loved DS's "Random Walk down the Strip". Fascinating the way theory converges with reality.

I think 21forme is right - it's the higher limit tables with the No mid-Shoe Entry signs. You sit out one hand - wait until next shoe!
 

RJT

Well-Known Member
#17
Kasi said:
Oh yeah - I think team play is great and would be really cool. Definitely the way to go with a bunch of disciplined guys and all the bulls*it worked out. I loved DS's "Random Walk down the Strip". Fascinating the way theory converges with reality.

I think 21forme is right - it's the higher limit tables with the No mid-Shoe Entry signs. You sit out one hand - wait until next shoe!
Well i must have gotten mixed up and it's the other way round.
Still i know that AC can be beaten at the high stakes tables. There are teams doing it. You just need to know the right opportunities to look for.

RJT.
 
#18
RJT said:
Well i must have gotten mixed up and it's the other way round.
Still i know that AC can be beaten at the high stakes tables. There are teams doing it. You just need to know the right opportunities to look for.

RJT.
It's a profitable environment just due to the volume and lack of heat. If I were to play it as a team, there would be no action at all on the high stakes tables because they can't be backcounted.
 
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