Counting in Atlantic City

[rebelBodhi]

Hello,

I'm hoping this is a reasonable place to post-

I've been studying Blackjack for Blood (Advanced Omega II) for a few months now; still learning. I have a simple question though.

Is the situation in Atlantic City in any way amenable to counting?

I'm focusing on Multiple Deck because I gather that the rules for Single Deck (e.g. 6-5 payout on naturals) negate the player advantage.

It seems that the deck penetration issue (yellow card seems to end up at around 2/3 shoe) will severely limit the rewards from keeping a count?

Do other casinos play through a full shoe? I've only seriously played in AC, so far.

Thanks for any info!

 

[shadroch]

No casino I know deals the whole shoe.
AC is countable, but there are better games elsewhere.
There are a few places where SD pays 3-2, just not in Jersey.

 

[rukus]

in my opinion, if all you are doing is straight wonging/counting (and if you are just counting, you SHOULD be wonging in AC), AC has deteriorated as pits close more tables and try to crowd the ones they have open. given that the summer is almost upon us, i imagine the crowding will get worse as is usual for the time of year. if you must play, try weekdays, morning and mid-day. and take your time scouting the various casinos. just by scouting you can learn a few things about the game. gluck.

one bright spot is that maybe, just maybe, AC might start to feel the pinch of PA games eventually, and so may loosen their games in the future.

 

[kewljason]

in my opinion, if all you are doing is straight wonging/counting (and if you are just counting, you SHOULD be wonging in AC), AC has deteriorated as pits close more tables and try to crowd the ones they have open. given that the summer is almost upon us, i imagine the crowding will get worse as is usual for the time of year. if you must play, try weekdays, morning and mid-day. and take your time scouting the various casinos. just by scouting you can learn a few things about the game. gluck.

one bright spot is that maybe, just maybe, AC might start to feel the pinch of PA games eventually, and so may loosen their games in the future.

Mornings can be decent, especially if you hit when they are opening tables, which is different times for different places. Usually between 8am and 10am. Mid days suck! even on weekdays. by noon or 1pm whats left of the daily bus traffic has arrived along with anyone else coming down for the day and tables are crowded most of the afternoon until these folks head home. It's not that the casino's are crowded, they just refuse to open enough tables. 5pm to 730 or so isn't bad again as daytripper are heading out, people are grabbing dinner. By 8pm what ever crowd is coming for the evening is there and conditions deteriorate again. (mainly because of lack of open tables)

The exception is Borgata which does better than the rest with having tables open. Borgata is playable most weekdays. It's weekends that they are too crowded.

 

[rebelBodhi]

Thanks for the replies, I definitely know what you guys mean with the tables being over-crowded. I've found that mornings can be OK. I've tried just about all the casinos there and agree with your thoughts..

However, what I was really curious about is whether counting can provide any real benefit if the shoe is only played to 2/3 or 3/4 or so. It seems to me that the player advantage increases as you get closer to the end of the shoe.

Thanks!

 

[kewljason]

Thanks for the replies, I definitely know what you guys mean with the tables being over-crowded. I've found that mornings can be OK. I've tried just about all the casinos there and agree with your thoughts..

However, what I was really curious about is whether counting can provide any real benefit if the shoe is only played to 2/3 or 3/4 or so. It seems to me that the player advantage increases as you get closer to the end of the shoe.
Thanks!

The truth about AC games is that they are garbage, as someone on this board once said. They are difficult, but not impossible to beat. Many player feel it's just not worth their effort. That being said, penetration is the biggest factor. If you are playing AC's 8 deck games, 2/3 is not going to get it done. 3/4 is the absolute bare minimum, IMO, and even then it would have to be a game with decent rules (s17) and only a couple players playing. Both getting harder to come by in AC. If you are playing a $10 table, very difficult, @ $25 and up, a little easier, but not much. Ideally you want to have even better pen like a deck and a half or less cut off the 8 deck game.

 

[Blue Efficacy]

Remember H17 with good pen trumps S17 with bad pen.

 

[Polarbearsolvent]

Doing some legwork will likely serve you well. It is very possible to find some games with reasonable rules and around 80% penetration but crowds can be a factor.

 

[rebelBodhi]

Interesting, just the kind of information I was hoping for.

As far as I can tell, the dealer is the one who decides how much penetration there will be when they cut-in the yellow card, maybe I'm confused though.

Also, why is having less players at the table helpful? I can only assume because it's simply harder to count all those cards.

 

[Sonny]

Also, why is having less players at the table helpful?

Because the other players slow the game down. The faster you play, the more money you can win. If the game is too crowded then you might not be able to make much money at all.

-Sonny-

 

[rukus]

Because the other players slow the game down. The faster you play, the more money you can win. If the game is too crowded then you might not be able to make much money at all.

-Sonny-

they also seem to jump in right as the count gets good