KewlJ
Well-Known Member
A while back I was playing on the Strip, overnight on a weekend. I play the Strip several times a month as part of my expanded rotation of spreading play amoung many casinos, and shifts. When I play the Strip, particularly at busier times, it is an opportunity for me to bump my max bet up past my normal just under $500 level, through that $500 threshold, to about $800, because of the larger action.
So on this particular night just as I jumped from $400 to $800 after a win, a pit guy who happened to be standing nearby, gave me a disapproving glance. I don't know what made me say it, but I looked directly at him and said "I am going to keep doubling until I lose". Well that insured that he stayed nearby watching, which was stupid.
So I won my $800 hand and bumped to $1600, where I received a double down hand. The pit guy actually seemed to be routing for me as he said "give him a 10". I didn't get a 10, but I did win the doubledown and attempted to bump to $3200. The table max was $3000 and that was all he would allow me to bet. I played 4 rounds at that table max winning 2, including a BJ, and had a push before I finally lost the last hand of the shoe. Having shown my full spread (and then some) I colored up and exited.
So several firsts for me. First time I played table max. First time I max bet at that level....I have only bet $1000 maybe 3 other times.
In hindsight, everything about this spur of the moment episode was a bad idea. While enough time has passed that, there doesn't appear to have been any consequenses of my actions, there very well could have been, even after the fact with a review of my play.
In addition there is the issue of variance. I play a preset spread and while this particular circumstance my preset limits are about double, jumping to this much higher max bet for only a very few hands like this invites extreme variance. While I was lucky and registered a nice win, I could just as easily have lost 5 figures and then spent the next.....I don't know how long, trying to win back at my normal much smaller spread. Even playing at an advantage (+EV for those rounds), playing a max bet almost 8 times my normal for just a handful of rounds, feels like gambling to me, because it is for only a few rounds. It just defies my whole, grind it out, approach.
Having had some time pass, I can only conclude, very bad idea, with very good results. Thought?
So on this particular night just as I jumped from $400 to $800 after a win, a pit guy who happened to be standing nearby, gave me a disapproving glance. I don't know what made me say it, but I looked directly at him and said "I am going to keep doubling until I lose". Well that insured that he stayed nearby watching, which was stupid.
So I won my $800 hand and bumped to $1600, where I received a double down hand. The pit guy actually seemed to be routing for me as he said "give him a 10". I didn't get a 10, but I did win the doubledown and attempted to bump to $3200. The table max was $3000 and that was all he would allow me to bet. I played 4 rounds at that table max winning 2, including a BJ, and had a push before I finally lost the last hand of the shoe. Having shown my full spread (and then some) I colored up and exited.
So several firsts for me. First time I played table max. First time I max bet at that level....I have only bet $1000 maybe 3 other times.
In hindsight, everything about this spur of the moment episode was a bad idea. While enough time has passed that, there doesn't appear to have been any consequenses of my actions, there very well could have been, even after the fact with a review of my play.
In addition there is the issue of variance. I play a preset spread and while this particular circumstance my preset limits are about double, jumping to this much higher max bet for only a very few hands like this invites extreme variance. While I was lucky and registered a nice win, I could just as easily have lost 5 figures and then spent the next.....I don't know how long, trying to win back at my normal much smaller spread. Even playing at an advantage (+EV for those rounds), playing a max bet almost 8 times my normal for just a handful of rounds, feels like gambling to me, because it is for only a few rounds. It just defies my whole, grind it out, approach.
Having had some time pass, I can only conclude, very bad idea, with very good results. Thought?
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