Heads up play question?

blackchipjim

Well-Known Member
I have a few questions on heads up play for those seek out those conditions. When you play heads up against the dealer and the count tanks a little do you cash out and move or do you ride out the shoe a little longer. When the count calls for raising your bet do you split your hands to make it a little more palatable for the pit bosses. I usually just flat bet out a shoe that is either neutral or just a slight positive count. I have in the past jumped from table to table opening one table after another to get heads up play but eventually there are no tables left to open.
 

21forme

Well-Known Member
It depends.

If it's a NMS shoe, there's good pen and it's the first or second deck, the TC is not less than -1, I'll hand a round a little longer than I would if these conditions aren't met. If pen is mediocre, I'm less tolerant, as the count is less likely to recover. It also depends on how many tables are available. Is it easy to jump to another? If not, that's another reason you might want to hang around a little longer.

Some pits look at spreading to 2 hands as more suspicious than spreading 1:10.

Bottom line, every game and every place is different.
 

kewljason

Well-Known Member
blackchipjim said:
I have a few questions on heads up play for those seek out those conditions. When you play heads up against the dealer and the count tanks a little do you cash out and move or do you ride out the shoe a little longer. When the count calls for raising your bet do you split your hands to make it a little more palatable for the pit bosses. I usually just flat bet out a shoe that is either neutral or just a slight positive count. I have in the past jumped from table to table opening one table after another to get heads up play but eventually there are no tables left to open.
I move on when the count tanks, cause the thing about heads up is you will get so many more hands which is great when the counts good, but when it is negative. well your going all those hands too. Noone else there to share the crappy low cards coming out. So unless its near the end of shoe, I'm walking. I know it looks suspicious but I dont care. Not playing 30-40 hands in negative count.

the problem with opening tables, is you sit down and by the time the dealer shuffles and is ready to deal, 3 other people have sat down as well. A dealer can be standing there alone for a half hour and as soon as you sit, boom. its like a magnet.
 
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HockeXpert

Well-Known Member
Ploppies are like flies drawn to a light

As soon as you sit down at an open table they all come over to "join" you. Why can't they all learn to play alone so we have more tables to wong in to or hop around to? Blackjack is not a team sport and I really don't want to be buddies with anyone I meet in a casino.

But seriously, to answer BCJim's question, I move around when the count tanks, even at dd, depending on the conditions like, other tables to move to, overall crowdedness. Like KewlJason siad, if you stick around, you are going to play a bunch of rounds by yourself at a large disadvantage to the house even with a lot of negative indexes.

I'm in the light green category but if I was in the light-medium black, I may change my thinking.

HockeXpert
 

SleightOfHand

Well-Known Member
All DD games I have played had conditions in which it was very difficult to find another table if I decided to leave. I would take bathroom breaks, get a phone call (with the handy use of my Fake Call App on the iPhone), etc. when the count is fairly negative, but thats as far as I go. If I play heads up and there is nowhere to go, I just play and hope the count rises.

Things change in 6D+ games. I leave when the count gets to -2 (zen). Counts change too slow in multideck games and it takes an eternity to get to the shuffle if its early in the shoe. Luckily for me, I play at a casino where there are a plethora of multideck tables and wonging is easy there.
 
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