Hi everybody, about 2 weeks ago i was in Vegas and the poker action was kinda dry so i decided to gamb00l it up playing blackjack using straight basic strategy. And damn, i never realized blackjack was such a sick sick game, just like poker. Up a couple of bills and then the next minute, down a couple hundred, sick. So after losing a couple hundred for the trip, i was determined to beat the game. I firmly believed that thegame could be beaten with the right knowledge and skillset or maybe im just a degen gambler.
When i got back, i read Blackjack Bluebook 2 and then i read KO Blackjack. The KO count is what i decided to use and study more.
Yesterday i was visiting a friend down in San Diego near SDSU. Afterwards i went to Viejas to practice and get a feel for my newfound knowledge. It was a good learning experience.
I started off at the $5, 8 deck and 6 deck games. I just watched at first trying to keep the count. It's pretty easy to keep the count if you are just watching the cards and not playing. But once you sit down and play, its different story. It was very difficult to keep the count and also play my hand at the same time. But besides that, what i learned is that it's practically useless to count in these games. With a IRC of 0, the count will almost never reach +16(6 deck) or +22(8 deck). Its too tedious, too much work for almost no gain. Additionally, if you lose count(which happened very often), you would have to wait for a new shoe. I have decided that i will no longer waste my time trying to count 6 and 8 deck shoes. This is kinda ironic because when i was reading my books, i was manily focusing on the 6-8 deck stuff and disregarding the single deck stuff.
Then i found the single deck games which i didn't even plan on trying. The single deck games have a higher min. bet. Luckily i found 2 tables with $10 min. When i first started, there were 2 other plp. And with 3 plp total, you only get 2 rounds before the shuffle. This wasn't good. I don't know how much advantage you can get with only 2 rounds before the shuggle. I sat out till it was either heads up or 2 handed. Playing heads up, i found that i had the same problem as before. It was hard to keep the count while trying to play my hand at the same time. When i get a hand where i have to hit, i find the problem is that i have to keep track of the running count when the hit card comes out and also i have to add up my hand at the same time. I lost count a few times but with the single decks, the shuffle is never too far away. But when its 2 handed, i do alot better. I think cause the game goes a bit slower, i have more time to absorb all the info. Two handed is the optimal # of players for me.
The final tally, I lost $200 at in BJ and also $300 in poker. Its pretty ironic that i lost in poker cause i didn't even plan on playing poker. The plan was just to practice blackjack for the whole time.
All in all, it was a good learning experience. I will re-read KO blackjack to gain more knowledge about the single deck games and strategies.
Thanks for reading all. Any thoughts, comments, advice? Also is there any free software that i can download which will help me get better at counting?
When i got back, i read Blackjack Bluebook 2 and then i read KO Blackjack. The KO count is what i decided to use and study more.
Yesterday i was visiting a friend down in San Diego near SDSU. Afterwards i went to Viejas to practice and get a feel for my newfound knowledge. It was a good learning experience.
I started off at the $5, 8 deck and 6 deck games. I just watched at first trying to keep the count. It's pretty easy to keep the count if you are just watching the cards and not playing. But once you sit down and play, its different story. It was very difficult to keep the count and also play my hand at the same time. But besides that, what i learned is that it's practically useless to count in these games. With a IRC of 0, the count will almost never reach +16(6 deck) or +22(8 deck). Its too tedious, too much work for almost no gain. Additionally, if you lose count(which happened very often), you would have to wait for a new shoe. I have decided that i will no longer waste my time trying to count 6 and 8 deck shoes. This is kinda ironic because when i was reading my books, i was manily focusing on the 6-8 deck stuff and disregarding the single deck stuff.
Then i found the single deck games which i didn't even plan on trying. The single deck games have a higher min. bet. Luckily i found 2 tables with $10 min. When i first started, there were 2 other plp. And with 3 plp total, you only get 2 rounds before the shuffle. This wasn't good. I don't know how much advantage you can get with only 2 rounds before the shuggle. I sat out till it was either heads up or 2 handed. Playing heads up, i found that i had the same problem as before. It was hard to keep the count while trying to play my hand at the same time. When i get a hand where i have to hit, i find the problem is that i have to keep track of the running count when the hit card comes out and also i have to add up my hand at the same time. I lost count a few times but with the single decks, the shuffle is never too far away. But when its 2 handed, i do alot better. I think cause the game goes a bit slower, i have more time to absorb all the info. Two handed is the optimal # of players for me.
The final tally, I lost $200 at in BJ and also $300 in poker. Its pretty ironic that i lost in poker cause i didn't even plan on playing poker. The plan was just to practice blackjack for the whole time.
All in all, it was a good learning experience. I will re-read KO blackjack to gain more knowledge about the single deck games and strategies.
Thanks for reading all. Any thoughts, comments, advice? Also is there any free software that i can download which will help me get better at counting?
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