A message to young aspiring card counters
- Thread starter JohnCrover
- Start date
I always remember this. A kid came to my table. He seems under 25. When he sat down, he colored two purples but bet table minimal $25 for a while. Now TC jump to +2, he jump his bet to $500. That is book recommended 20 to 1 spread already. I wonder what he will do when TC turns higher. He did not disappoint me. The spread rises to 30 to 1 at TC +3 and 40 to 1 at TC +4. He quickly made $2,000 or $2,400. Then TC began to fall, his bet went back to $25 when TC turns just negative. At TC -1, he went to restroom. Two more shoes, TC fluctuates between -2 and +2, he did not take rest room break again but sat out all negative rounds. Only play when TC is 0 or higher. When he played , he usually got BJ or 20. Other tablemates congratulated him being a genius. I know what's going on and was not happy because I had to lower my spread. I am sure the surveillance must be watching this table now. Once he got BJ after raising his bets, I urged others following him since "He must know something we don't know". In general, this shop is very generous to counters. I don't know why the kid is doing this. Then after about 50 minutes, the RC jump to +45, probably the highest level I have seen in four months. I wonder what he would do.
He bet two hands, $1250 each. Dealer got BJ. He took more purple chips from his pocket. He bet two hands as well, $1500 each. That is more than 100 to 1 spread. Dealer got another BJ. He took out more chips. Both hands he got are 20. He showed a sign of relief. Then dealer pulled a four card 21. He quickly turned a $2,500 gain to $7,000 loss in two minutes. After these three rounds, he only bet $500 no matter how high TC is. I know I have seen enough, color up after this shoe is over.
People, especially young people, forgot BJ is a high variance game. They want to take advantage of high TC situations. Maximize the profits when it happened. But it can wreak their bankroll as easily.
He bet two hands, $1250 each. Dealer got BJ. He took more purple chips from his pocket. He bet two hands as well, $1500 each. That is more than 100 to 1 spread. Dealer got another BJ. He took out more chips. Both hands he got are 20. He showed a sign of relief. Then dealer pulled a four card 21. He quickly turned a $2,500 gain to $7,000 loss in two minutes. After these three rounds, he only bet $500 no matter how high TC is. I know I have seen enough, color up after this shoe is over.
People, especially young people, forgot BJ is a high variance game. They want to take advantage of high TC situations. Maximize the profits when it happened. But it can wreak their bankroll as easily.
Ok, this wasn't me, because the amounts bet were a little higher than I play....BUT other than that it could have almost been. My play style is pretty similar. 
I too come to the table with chips because I want to avoid a buy in. So I bring chips of the denom that I want to initially play. If you have to color in two purple, you aren't avoiding the buy-in. No different than entering with 1k cash. I also don't show my spread a second or third time. I would have been gone after showing it once. But other than that, I like the young fellows approach.
Where you have determined that the $7000 loss overwhelmed him, it probably didn't. He probably capped his max bet at $500 after that loss, due to limited remaining funds, rather than some sort of intolerance to losing that amount. That too is a bit of a problem. It means he was probably under-funded for that session. I've been there! I am guessing we all have. Late in the day I have started a session with borderline funds of what I normally would....meaning technically underfunded. You get burned a couple times with this, forcing you to walk away from a strong plus count and you learn to avoid playing marginally underfunded.
I too come to the table with chips because I want to avoid a buy in. So I bring chips of the denom that I want to initially play. If you have to color in two purple, you aren't avoiding the buy-in. No different than entering with 1k cash. I also don't show my spread a second or third time. I would have been gone after showing it once. But other than that, I like the young fellows approach.
Where you have determined that the $7000 loss overwhelmed him, it probably didn't. He probably capped his max bet at $500 after that loss, due to limited remaining funds, rather than some sort of intolerance to losing that amount. That too is a bit of a problem. It means he was probably under-funded for that session. I've been there! I am guessing we all have. Late in the day I have started a session with borderline funds of what I normally would....meaning technically underfunded. You get burned a couple times with this, forcing you to walk away from a strong plus count and you learn to avoid playing marginally underfunded.
KewlJ said:
Ok, this wasn't me, because the amounts bet were a little higher than I play....BUT other than that it could have almost been. My play style is pretty similar.
I too come to the table with chips because I want to avoid a buy in. So I bring chips of the denom that I want to initially play. If you have to color in two purple, you aren't avoiding the buy-in. No different than entering with 1k cash. I also don't show my spread a second or third time. I would have been gone after showing it once. But other than that, I like the young fellows approach.
Where you have determined that the $7000 loss overwhelmed him, it probably didn't. He probably capped his max bet at $500 after that loss, due to limited remaining funds, rather than some sort of intolerance to losing that amount. That too is a bit of a problem. It means he was probably under-funded for that session. I've been there! I am guessing we all have. Late in the day I have started a session with borderline funds of what I normally would....meaning technically underfunded. You get burned a couple times with this, forcing you to walk away from a strong plus count and you learn to avoid playing marginally underfunded.
I too come to the table with chips because I want to avoid a buy in. So I bring chips of the denom that I want to initially play. If you have to color in two purple, you aren't avoiding the buy-in. No different than entering with 1k cash. I also don't show my spread a second or third time. I would have been gone after showing it once. But other than that, I like the young fellows approach.
Where you have determined that the $7000 loss overwhelmed him, it probably didn't. He probably capped his max bet at $500 after that loss, due to limited remaining funds, rather than some sort of intolerance to losing that amount. That too is a bit of a problem. It means he was probably under-funded for that session. I've been there! I am guessing we all have. Late in the day I have started a session with borderline funds of what I normally would....meaning technically underfunded. You get burned a couple times with this, forcing you to walk away from a strong plus count and you learn to avoid playing marginally underfunded.
