waiting around for good shoes

So I just came back from Vegas where i played games at the Bellagio, MGM, Aria, Cosmopolitan, Palace Station, El Cortez, Mirage, Mandalay Bay, and Caesars. Basically All over.

Mostly, i played 6d S17, but at Palace Station, Cosmo, and EC i played DD.

These tables were $25 min, so i would buy in for $100 or $200, which gave me 8 bets at the most. I would sit around for 5-6 hands off the top of the deck to see if a count got juicy or not. If not, i would just stand up with my remaining 4-5 chips and walk to a new table. If the count was good, i would stick around and buy chips to spread appropriately.

My biggest problem was that i could NOT find a decent shoe. i.e. no count worth sitting around for and spreading 1-12 (shoe game) or 1-8 (DD).

I was afraid that i was standing out like a sore thumb by wonging out after 1 deck over and over, and so i started to do a negative EV play-all strategy to blend in, which was dumb because it was a waste of my time and money. I was also hit with bad variance when the count got good late in these shoes.

Therefore, i ended my vegas trip down about $2000 . If i ever won a nice amount in one shoe, it usually was just enough to bring me back to even for that particular Store, and i typically leave a store after a big shoe for heat reasons.

It wasn't that much bad luck, it was just ugly.

what do you guys do in this situation? Play a max of 5 shoes per casino and move on? Stick around like I did? or give up and get drunk :grin:

any coaching would be appreciated so i can do better on my next trip.

You do realize that "the good counts" happen towards the END of shoes, not in the first deck, right? If you're only playing the first deck in a 6 deck shoe after a shuffle to determine whether to stick around, you're going to lose a LOT of money. Deservedly so. It's not that common that you'll get a TC > 1 after 5-6 hands in a shoe game.

Either backcount and wong-in in TC >1 situations, or play-all with a more aggressive spread.

The Suburbs said:

You do realize that "the good counts" happen towards the END of shoes, not in the first deck, right? If you're only playing the first deck in a 6 deck shoe after a shuffle to determine whether to stick around, you're going to lose a LOT of money. Deservedly so. It's not that common that you'll get a TC > 1 after 5-6 hands in a shoe game.

Either backcount and wong-in in TC >1 situations, or play-all with a more aggressive spread.

Click to expand...

Agreed. 5-6 hands in a 6-deck game? Not enough!

Yeah you could leave if the RC shot down to like -20, but if it's only slightly negative it's worth sticking around.

maybe 5-6 hands was an exaggeration, but i usually wong out of a shoe if the TC is not positive after 1 deck is dealt out.

Midwestern said:

maybe 5-6 hands was an exaggeration, but i usually wong out of a shoe if the TC is not positive after 1 deck is dealt out.

Click to expand...

I "play-all" with a spread of 1-10+ for 6 decks. I wong out if the TC<-2 and stick around to see if the count goes back up. Then I will come back into the shoe.

Folks , 1-10 , 1-12 spread - Is this enough to beat a 6D game?

bjcardcounter,

That all depends on pertinent issues e.g.:

• the rule set in effect
  
• the level of penetration
  
• the count employed
  
• the density of players