A year later

[Rookie]

It's been 1 year since I started to learn / employ BS and hi / lo card counting and thought I'd post my results.
I've made 11 trips to vegas / laughlin and play a min bet of $25 and spread 1-6. I play strickly at MGM in vegas and Golden Nugget / Pioneer in Laughlin. I play the DD and 6D games with the various rules offered at each of the properties. Sometimes I backcount sometimes I don't. Sometimes I look for deep pen sometimes I don't. This year perhaps i'll work on my disipline among other things. 43 sessions later I'm down $450 from laughlin and up $1700 in vegas for a net $1250 win, after tipping (not much but hey its a win!). Veiwing my MGM gaming win/lose tax info they have me as a $1600 loser! So pocketing the blackies every now and again works!
Every trip I run exactly $1000 through the magestic lions slots at the MGM and after that regardless if I'm up or down I stop. Between that and my table action I receive free rooms and a partial FB comp. In Laughlin my table action gets me a free room.

I have read these boards from the start and have learned alot (one day I'll get around to implementing it!) While I in no way consider myself an AP, I have fun playing and trying to win some of the casiono's money. It's been a nice change as before all this, I used to lose damn near everytime I stepped up to a BJ table.

Rookie +1

 

[EasyRhino]

a) are you only spreading 1-6 in the shoe games? that's not usually enough unless you're seriously backcounting
b) I recommend ratholing green chips, not blacks. I know a black chip isn't a big deal at MGM, but just on principal, it's more likely to be closely tracked.

 

[shadroch]

Very nice update. But Im curious why you choose to play the DD instead of the SD at the Pioneer. Don't they have exactly the same rules?I generally won't play a DD game that doesn't allow doubling after splits.The exception is across the street at the Tropicana where thirty minutes of $10 BJ keeps their incredibly generous comps flowing.

 

[Rookie]

a) are you only spreading 1-6 in the shoe games? that's not usually enough unless you're seriously backcounting
b) I recommend ratholing green chips, not blacks. I know a black chip isn't a big deal at MGM, but just on principal, it's more likely to be closely tracked.

Yes, just 1-6 for me, even in shoe games. I overbet as it is for my BR. I figure I'd give alittle in the EV for a reduction in my ROR.

As for ratholing I just used blacks as an example. I stuff greens into my pocket also.

 

[Rookie]

Very nice update. But Im curious why you choose to play the DD instead of the SD at the Pioneer. Don't they have exactly the same rules?I generally won't play a DD game that doesn't allow doubling after splits.The exception is across the street at the Tropicana where thirty minutes of $10 BJ keeps their incredibly generous comps flowing.

As you can tell I don't actively seek out the best games. I had fun at the pioneer, its small and there is no waiting for a drink (very important to this player!). As I said before I need to work on my disipline this year. As for SD vs DD there, there are two reasons why I play the DD. First, I know the BS for the game (took sometime to get confident in the 4 games I know). Just havent put the effort into learning another yet (perhaps another thing to add for this year). Second, its bad enougth with the shuffle vs bet ramp in the DD game. I'd imagine its not even slightly tolerable at the pioneers SD game.

 

[SPX]

While I in no way consider myself an AP, I have fun playing and trying to win some of the casiono's money.

Well you're playing with an advantage, aren't you? While many here may not think you always make the best decisions, if in fact your BJ game is +EV then you are by definition an AP so I wouldn't be bashful about acknowledging that.

And congrats on coming out ahead. That's always fun.

 

[bj bob]

A few words of wisdom

Several points brought up in your initial post have somehow aroused my inner AP instincts. To the casual observer the recap of your first year would seem to be congratulatory and, such as they are, the results themselves are indeed so. Not all AP's rookie years end up being successful, mainly due to the learning curve. You do indeed have two things in your favor at this point. One is that you have $1250 extra in your pocket and, more importantly you are aware that your game plan has holes in it. Let's attempt to address these issues one by one:
First, you made no direct mention of your bankroll, although you did say that you were overbetting. You need to disclose this so that we can evaluate the degree of overbetting. Bankroll (mis)management is the greatest cause of AP failure, without a doubt.
Secondly, as to bet spreads, your game plan needs some significant tweaking in this area. As our distinguished and erudite colleague, Mr. Rhino, has already explained, a 1:6 spread in a shoe game simply won't cut it in the long run. What would be more effective in this situation would be to spread from $10-150, thus keeping your max. bet indentical while radically improving all the other aspects of your game.Introduce some occasional wonging and your win rate should be in the same ballpark.
Thirdly, it seems to me that game selection isn't on the top of your priority list, but it should be. As Shad pointed out, why play a DD game with the exact same rules as SD? This is so important to an AP. In my opinion fully one third of the game is played before the butt hits the seat, that is the prep-work involved in analyzing the quality of any particular blackjack game at any given moment. Factors such as penetration, #/decks, S/H-17, DAS, DOA and surr. should all be constantly taken into account when prowling the pits, not to mention table population. Start concentrating on these items and you'll be surprised how much your game will improve.
Lastly, (Thank God!) You seem to make a big "to do" about SD. If you have a handle on DD basic strategy there are very few variations to remember, such as 7,7 vs. 10, 2,2 vs.3 and DD 8 vs. 5,6 etc. Probably ignoring all of them would amount to very little anyway. Keep in mind that there are many blackjack players around the country who would rent out their wives to get the opportunity to play SD, so don't pass it up when it's right in front of you.

 

[EasyRhino]

As our distinguished and erudite colleague, Mr. Rhino, has already explained, a 1:6 spread in a shoe game simply won't cut it in the long run.

Gee thanks, college boy.

I'd like to second my colleague Mr Bob's argument about single deck not being a big deal, especially if you already incorporate playing indices in your game. Those changes to your game are going to overwhelm the changes in the basic strategy on those edge plays.

 

[avs21]

Very nice update. But Im curious why you choose to play the DD instead of the SD at the Pioneer. Don't they have exactly the same rules?I generally won't play a DD game that doesn't allow doubling after splits.The exception is across the street at the Tropicana where thirty minutes of $10 BJ keeps their incredibly generous comps flowing.

I was at the Pioneer recently their SD is garbage with RO3.

 

[DealornoDeal]

How much do you usually come out running 1k through slots every time?

 

[shadroch]

If you are playing an average 25 cent three reel slot,it should pay back about 94%,so $1,000 should leave you with about $940. But the variance on slots is killer.I'd guesstimate you would end up between $800 and $1200 most of the time,and offers for a few free nights and food.