POSTED BY PERMISSION OF HENRY TAMBURIN,
PUBLISHER OF THE BLACKJACK INSIDER NEWSLETTER
http://www.bjinsider.com/newsletter.shtml
Blackjack Insider Newsletter #58
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Barfarkel is a serious recreational player who started with basic strategy in 1996 and learned the Silver Fox count by the end of 1998. He has been counting since early 1999, starting with a $2K bankroll and slowly trying to build it to $10K. Barfarkel’s new book, You’ve Got Heat, contains the details of his playing trips to Las Vegas over a 4 year period. He also wrote the article "Graduating From Red to Green" that appeared in the Winter2003/2004 edition of Blackjack Forum. For details on You’ve Got Heat, including ordering information go to http://www.youvegotheat.com.
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At the Golden Nugget the Grifter hooked up with me again, and I got us a coffee shop comp. After dinner, upon scouting the blackjack pit, I found the only uncrowded games were the two $25 single-deckers. I settled in and lost my first $300 buy-in quickly. Then another $175. I switched tables, but got no relief from an unceasing parade of stiffs and dealer blackjacks. Dumping another $500 by the end of the hour, I had now lost back my entire $675 trip winnings, plus another $320 besides.
Now I was feeling a little sick. I was driving home tomorrow, and had wanted to stay in the black and come out ahead for the trip. Now I was behind again and it looked like this trip would wind up a total loser. I simply had to fight my way back again. The Grifter gave me his customary pep talk, telling me that a forty-unit loss is no big deal and happens all the time. Get used to it already.
I decided to take a short break while we walked over to the Fremont. I watched The Grifter, as he demonstrated one of his tactics. He bought in at a non-smoking $5 double-deck table with one other player. Every time the count went negative, Grif stepped back into the aisle and lit a cigarette. He was totally ruthless in avoiding negative-EV hands. We continued to back-count the table until the count righted itself, and then he’d douse the smoke and rejoin. The count would drop again, and he’d step away from the table and light another cigarette, and let the other player eat the negative cards for him. His new technique seemed easy on the EV, but kind of hard on the lungs.
He let me in on another one. He would wong out of a negative count and rejoin at the new shuffle, explaining to the dealer that he was at the house phone "trying again to call the room," but "the line is still busy," and "boy, can my wife monopolize a telephone." The only difference with this ploy is that he wouldn’t be close enough to back-count and rejoin the table on the same shuffle, but instead would have to time his re-arrival for the beginning of the next shuffle.
Although most of these Boyd property double-deckers are pretty dire for straight counting, The Grifter believes that by avoiding the negative situations, and then spreading without cover to optimal-sized two-spot bets in the plus counts, that he has decent EV and a good SCORE equivalent. As long as there are others at the table he sometimes doesn’t even bother with the house phone or smoking ploys, but just steps away shamelessly with no explanation. He calls it "stationary exit wonging."
It was getting late. We found nothing playable at the Plaza. Same at the Las Vegas Club, where I can’t be seen with him. The Grifter found a double-deck game at the California, of all places, while I settled in at a Main Street Station double-decker with two other players. Betting reds in minus counts for the first twenty minutes, a big plus count materialized. I parlayed up to a max bet, and doubled down on a 7, 4 vs. the dealer’s 8. The dealer turned a five in the hole for thirteen, and busted, to my utter relief. This turned out to be the key hand of the session, as I colored out with a $450 win after an hour. I was now back in the black for the trip, but only by $130. While I went to cash out my chips, The Grifter took over the table, heads-up, for fifteen minutes of "speed blackjack" as he challenged the dealer to "deal as fast as you can!" With two hands at a time, he might have played close to a hundred hands in that fifteen minute period. Now greatly relieved, I was amused at his antics and was feeling a bit more hopeful now, as we called it a night.
--end excerpt
PUBLISHER OF THE BLACKJACK INSIDER NEWSLETTER
http://www.bjinsider.com/newsletter.shtml
Blackjack Insider Newsletter #58
-----------
Barfarkel is a serious recreational player who started with basic strategy in 1996 and learned the Silver Fox count by the end of 1998. He has been counting since early 1999, starting with a $2K bankroll and slowly trying to build it to $10K. Barfarkel’s new book, You’ve Got Heat, contains the details of his playing trips to Las Vegas over a 4 year period. He also wrote the article "Graduating From Red to Green" that appeared in the Winter2003/2004 edition of Blackjack Forum. For details on You’ve Got Heat, including ordering information go to http://www.youvegotheat.com.
----------
At the Golden Nugget the Grifter hooked up with me again, and I got us a coffee shop comp. After dinner, upon scouting the blackjack pit, I found the only uncrowded games were the two $25 single-deckers. I settled in and lost my first $300 buy-in quickly. Then another $175. I switched tables, but got no relief from an unceasing parade of stiffs and dealer blackjacks. Dumping another $500 by the end of the hour, I had now lost back my entire $675 trip winnings, plus another $320 besides.
Now I was feeling a little sick. I was driving home tomorrow, and had wanted to stay in the black and come out ahead for the trip. Now I was behind again and it looked like this trip would wind up a total loser. I simply had to fight my way back again. The Grifter gave me his customary pep talk, telling me that a forty-unit loss is no big deal and happens all the time. Get used to it already.
I decided to take a short break while we walked over to the Fremont. I watched The Grifter, as he demonstrated one of his tactics. He bought in at a non-smoking $5 double-deck table with one other player. Every time the count went negative, Grif stepped back into the aisle and lit a cigarette. He was totally ruthless in avoiding negative-EV hands. We continued to back-count the table until the count righted itself, and then he’d douse the smoke and rejoin. The count would drop again, and he’d step away from the table and light another cigarette, and let the other player eat the negative cards for him. His new technique seemed easy on the EV, but kind of hard on the lungs.
He let me in on another one. He would wong out of a negative count and rejoin at the new shuffle, explaining to the dealer that he was at the house phone "trying again to call the room," but "the line is still busy," and "boy, can my wife monopolize a telephone." The only difference with this ploy is that he wouldn’t be close enough to back-count and rejoin the table on the same shuffle, but instead would have to time his re-arrival for the beginning of the next shuffle.
Although most of these Boyd property double-deckers are pretty dire for straight counting, The Grifter believes that by avoiding the negative situations, and then spreading without cover to optimal-sized two-spot bets in the plus counts, that he has decent EV and a good SCORE equivalent. As long as there are others at the table he sometimes doesn’t even bother with the house phone or smoking ploys, but just steps away shamelessly with no explanation. He calls it "stationary exit wonging."
It was getting late. We found nothing playable at the Plaza. Same at the Las Vegas Club, where I can’t be seen with him. The Grifter found a double-deck game at the California, of all places, while I settled in at a Main Street Station double-decker with two other players. Betting reds in minus counts for the first twenty minutes, a big plus count materialized. I parlayed up to a max bet, and doubled down on a 7, 4 vs. the dealer’s 8. The dealer turned a five in the hole for thirteen, and busted, to my utter relief. This turned out to be the key hand of the session, as I colored out with a $450 win after an hour. I was now back in the black for the trip, but only by $130. While I went to cash out my chips, The Grifter took over the table, heads-up, for fifteen minutes of "speed blackjack" as he challenged the dealer to "deal as fast as you can!" With two hands at a time, he might have played close to a hundred hands in that fifteen minute period. Now greatly relieved, I was amused at his antics and was feeling a bit more hopeful now, as we called it a night.
--end excerpt