camouflage

[WannabeCounter]

Hey people. I'm from the UK and still in the early stages of learning to count. I've got BS to be automatic and I'm practicing counting down decks with the KO system.

There is one problem though. UK casinos, particularly my local one, are quite small. The one I go to has only 3 blackjack tables and I'm thinking if I ever tried to count cards I would be caught pretty quickly.

I've read the best camouflage is being able to chat with other players as if you were on their level, which makes sense. I'm thinking I might be able to get some longivity if I can do this quite well because pit bosses here in the UK are lightyears behind the ones in US casinos in terms of sharpness and suspiscion. I'm only 19 as well and look even younger so this might make me look even less conspicuous.

I'll be glad for any input, all your advice was good last time.

 

[Mimosine]

Hey people. I'm from the UK and still in the early stages of learning to count. I've got BS to be automatic and I'm practicing counting down decks with the KO system.

There is one problem though. UK casinos, particularly my local one, are quite small. The one I go to has only 3 blackjack tables and I'm thinking if I ever tried to count cards I would be caught pretty quickly.

KO is a great system for a starting counter. the book itself has a lot of useful information.

your first trips to the casino should be aimed at making sure you can play BS perfect in a real casino.

The second step should be to keep the count, while not spreading. you can make a few index plays and insurance if you want, but continue to flat bet. Once you are confident that you can keep the count and that you aren't making too many mistakes, then make sure you can keep the count in your head even with distractions - ordering drinks, casual chit chat, and other routine distractions. maybe you'll find that you switch the sign of the count accidentally, ?is it minus 4 or plus 4? this happens with negative IRCs, maybe you will want to switch to only positives? figure this stuff out before you really try to spread.

as far as heat at a small place, if your spread and max bets are small and the pit is clueless then you can play for sometime. don't be overly paranoid especially if you have small max bets. if the place is sweating your 20 quid bet then once you are good and have a decent bankroll you won't be able to play there anyway.

As a new and young counter i suspect that your funds are very limited. This being the case your spread and max bet will both be small. If you are playing a 6D game, try very hard to do at least a 1-5 spread to start. If the rules are ok you will be a slightly less than break even game. If you have more funds, when you start out try to keep your ROR very low. you are going to have big swings with big bets. a small spread will reduce your winnings (maybe to nothing), but it will also keep the swings small. This is what i would recommend for a new young counter....

oh, and don't worry about camouflage, you can't afford it, and you shouldn't need it if you're betting less than 30-40 quid.

 

[WannabeCounter]

KO is a great system for a starting counter. the book itself has a lot of useful information.

Yeah I ordered that a couple of days ago, it should be here tommorow or maybe Tuesday after the holiday. The only thing I've read so far is Play Blackjack Like the Pros by KB, but that seems more aimed at people who want to turn Pro. Still it was a good read and has got me started.

your first trips to the casino should be aimed at making sure you can play BS perfect in a real casino.

The second step should be to keep the count, while not spreading. you can make a few index plays and insurance if you want, but continue to flat bet. Once you are confident that you can keep the count and that you aren't making too many mistakes, then make sure you can keep the count in your head even with distractions - ordering drinks, casual chit chat, and other routine distractions. maybe you'll find that you switch the sign of the count accidentally, ?is it minus 4 or plus 4? this happens with negative IRCs, maybe you will want to switch to only positives? figure this stuff out before you really try to spread.

Yeah I've made a few trips to the casino since I learned BS (used the game on this website) and I'm maybe a little less than even. The rules in my local casino are S17, DAS, D:9,10,11, Resplit Allowed, Resplit Aces receive 1 more card but no surrender. There is two 6D games and one 4D game but the minimum bet for this game is never below £10.
I have a bit of a problem with negative numbers so I start the count at +10 instead of 0.

As a new and young counter i suspect that your funds are very limited. This being the case your spread and max bet will both be small. If you are playing a 6D game, try very hard to do at least a 1-5 spread to start. If the rules are ok you will be a slightly less than break even game. If you have more funds, when you start out try to keep your ROR very low. you are going to have big swings with big bets. a small spread will reduce your winnings (maybe to nothing), but it will also keep the swings small. This is what i would recommend for a new young counter....

I'll try the 1-5 spread then. How much does the bankroll have to be again? I heard it was the max multiplied by something?

 

[KOLAN]

Hey people. I'm from the UK and still in the early stages of learning to count. I've got BS to be automatic and I'm practicing counting down decks with the KO system.

There is one problem though. UK casinos, particularly my local one, are quite small. The one I go to has only 3 blackjack tables and I'm thinking if I ever tried to count cards I would be caught pretty quickly.

I've read the best camouflage is being able to chat with other players as if you were on their level, which makes sense. I'm thinking I might be able to get some longivity if I can do this quite well because pit bosses here in the UK are lightyears behind the ones in US casinos in terms of sharpness and suspiscion. I'm only 19 as well and look even younger so this might make me look even less conspicuous.

I'll be glad for any input, all your advice was good last time.

dont wory tomach first you need to win big mony. after casino say you counter. you can count +1 +3 and lost and no body dont kick you from casino .

 

[Mimosine]

Yeah I've made a few trips to the casino since I learned BS (used the game on this website) and I'm maybe a little less than even. The rules in my local casino are S17, DAS, D:9,10,11, Resplit Allowed, Resplit Aces receive 1 more card but no surrender. There is two 6D games and one 4D game but the minimum bet for this game is never below £10.
I have a bit of a problem with negative numbers so I start the count at +10 instead of 0.

I'll try the 1-5 spread then. How much does the bankroll have to be again? I heard it was the max multiplied by something?

those rules are pretty shite. D9 is very bad for a shoe game. ugh. max bet should be roughly 1% of Total BR. thus a 50 quid bet requires 5k in the bank.

read the book thoroughly. then re-read it. it will answer a lot of your questions and if you find yourself in conflict with any of the authors statements, i.e. you don't believe them, then you have a lot of studying to do before getting serious about this.

 

[WannabeCounter]

There is better games accessible to me that allow doubling any 2 cards and early surrender but the closest casino to me (walking distance) has the D9,10,11 rule.

It could be a while (maybe well over a year) before I go at this properly. It will be that long before I'm earning good money at work and a good bankroll possible, so I was just going to use this time to practice and backcount etc.

I'm thinking this could be a worthwhile skill for the future if I'm good enough to do it, since I'm only 19 time is on my side.