First and foremost, Atlantic City security guards aren't even allowed to touch their index finger to your shoulder blade for counting cards. This leads to many differences between the New Jersey and Nevada species. They (Nevada CC's) have to act better because they have higher forms of heat. We have to use more intense tactics in a mathematical sense because our table conditions suck. (Thank you Ken Uston and Tommy Hyland.
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I wong-out at Halves TC of -1. This is approximately -1.15 for the Hi-Lo player and is also approximately QUITE OFTEN. I'm only making a 20-unit bet (I call small bets "units".) about once per hour but "ten hands per thousand" would be a better way to describe it. If there is a shoe containing one or more max-bets, I usually leave upon completion of that shoe--win, lose or draw. In this manner they are essentially seeing a very steep ramp up in my bets. That sounds bad but it's a lot better then seeing a guy bet 20 units and then 1 unit on the first hand of the next shoe. That's like a "cliff", not a steep "mountain." It is possible to con your way down a cliff but I don’t do it very well.
What else? I play 2 units at +1. Hi-Lo is 50/50 at that point and I have about a 0.15% advantage but that's splitting hairs. Really this is just another version of only betting one box. I'm using camou. which doesn't cost EV but does cost a lot of SD.
What should you look like at the tables? You should be talking as much as possible. Even if in your personal case, that's very little. Little talking is better than no talking. The most valuable person for dialogue is the dealer. SHE'S THE MARK!!! The pit critters are the enemy and the ploppies are the casualties of war. What did a civilian ever do to you? Are they spreading their bets wildly or betting black chips? Yes? Good, leave them alone! They're on your side. They are helping your fight. Are they flat-betting the min. or nearly so(?)--they deserve to die! Talk to them so much they can't even concentrate on incorrect BS. Don't just hit your 12 vs. 2,3 (4 in all neg. counts), double-down with a dollar or two! Get that two-bit bettor out of there and then be a nice soldier
Onto the mark: Talk to the dealer to see if "she'll be nice to you." How many times have you heard a ploppy say something to that effect? You see, you may think that the 10 units (By the way, you can do better than that soldier.) is the problem. Negative, it's the 2, 4, 6 and 8 that are at issue. That's where we're trying to make more money than a "back-counter." $100 can be a more difficult threshold than $500. Wait until just before she's about to deal before placing the bet. Put out four green instead of a black. This is the perfect time to bet a buck or two for her. Smile. Try to look happy and stupid. An even better trick for multiple black action... Put 3-5 greens on top of the black in such a way that she can't even see that the black chip is under there. In fact, I'll even spread up to more than 20 units by chipping it up a notch after a win, say 21 units. Or, what's wrong with 18 units? So what if you never bet these amounts before in practice. Don’t bet EXACTLY like your simulation software did!
I once hid a $500 chip beneath three green chips at a 500-max. table and got a blackjack. As the dealer (male in this case) was trying to figure out how to pay me, the pit boss finally showed up to see what was wrong. He scolded the dealer for not saying anything sooner. He tried to save face by saying he didn't know it was a 500-max. table. THE PB OFFERED TO ONLY PAY ME $750. After the shift boss eventually had to show his face at the table, the dealer AND THE PB took all the heat for the event. He (SB) actually told the dealer he just lost his day-off next Sunday--right in front of me and gave the PB a really nasty look for almost raising an issue with the CCC over $112.50. The PB looked like a fool because he never saw a single one of my intermittent black chip bets. Hence, he seemed incompetent. I kept apologizing and acting like I felt bad. I shuffle tracked those winning high cards. I flat bet a couple black chips for the first few decks of the next shoe while all surveillance eyes were on me. I won another Grand. I tipped that pit 25-$50 and left--not to come back to that casino for a while
)I wong-out at Halves TC of -1. This is approximately -1.15 for the Hi-Lo player and is also approximately QUITE OFTEN. I'm only making a 20-unit bet (I call small bets "units".) about once per hour but "ten hands per thousand" would be a better way to describe it. If there is a shoe containing one or more max-bets, I usually leave upon completion of that shoe--win, lose or draw. In this manner they are essentially seeing a very steep ramp up in my bets. That sounds bad but it's a lot better then seeing a guy bet 20 units and then 1 unit on the first hand of the next shoe. That's like a "cliff", not a steep "mountain." It is possible to con your way down a cliff but I don’t do it very well.
What else? I play 2 units at +1. Hi-Lo is 50/50 at that point and I have about a 0.15% advantage but that's splitting hairs. Really this is just another version of only betting one box. I'm using camou. which doesn't cost EV but does cost a lot of SD.
What should you look like at the tables? You should be talking as much as possible. Even if in your personal case, that's very little. Little talking is better than no talking. The most valuable person for dialogue is the dealer. SHE'S THE MARK!!! The pit critters are the enemy and the ploppies are the casualties of war. What did a civilian ever do to you? Are they spreading their bets wildly or betting black chips? Yes? Good, leave them alone! They're on your side. They are helping your fight. Are they flat-betting the min. or nearly so(?)--they deserve to die! Talk to them so much they can't even concentrate on incorrect BS. Don't just hit your 12 vs. 2,3 (4 in all neg. counts), double-down with a dollar or two! Get that two-bit bettor out of there and then be a nice soldier
Onto the mark: Talk to the dealer to see if "she'll be nice to you." How many times have you heard a ploppy say something to that effect? You see, you may think that the 10 units (By the way, you can do better than that soldier.) is the problem. Negative, it's the 2, 4, 6 and 8 that are at issue. That's where we're trying to make more money than a "back-counter." $100 can be a more difficult threshold than $500. Wait until just before she's about to deal before placing the bet. Put out four green instead of a black. This is the perfect time to bet a buck or two for her. Smile. Try to look happy and stupid. An even better trick for multiple black action... Put 3-5 greens on top of the black in such a way that she can't even see that the black chip is under there. In fact, I'll even spread up to more than 20 units by chipping it up a notch after a win, say 21 units. Or, what's wrong with 18 units? So what if you never bet these amounts before in practice. Don’t bet EXACTLY like your simulation software did!
I once hid a $500 chip beneath three green chips at a 500-max. table and got a blackjack. As the dealer (male in this case) was trying to figure out how to pay me, the pit boss finally showed up to see what was wrong. He scolded the dealer for not saying anything sooner. He tried to save face by saying he didn't know it was a 500-max. table. THE PB OFFERED TO ONLY PAY ME $750. After the shift boss eventually had to show his face at the table, the dealer AND THE PB took all the heat for the event. He (SB) actually told the dealer he just lost his day-off next Sunday--right in front of me and gave the PB a really nasty look for almost raising an issue with the CCC over $112.50. The PB looked like a fool because he never saw a single one of my intermittent black chip bets. Hence, he seemed incompetent. I kept apologizing and acting like I felt bad. I shuffle tracked those winning high cards. I flat bet a couple black chips for the first few decks of the next shoe while all surveillance eyes were on me. I won another Grand. I tipped that pit 25-$50 and left--not to come back to that casino for a while
