My weekend cruise "trip report"

#1
So I had a great time this weekend on my cruise, and a big part of it was the blackjack aboard the ship since it would be the first time I have ever played for real. It was a great experience, complete with ploppy stories and all.

First things first, the game quality was pretty poor: 6D, DA2, H17, no RSA, and CSM's. blah. There was one shoe game but they only offered it when every other table was full and it was a 10 dollar minimum. The only 5 dollar game had a "wheel of madness" attached to it, A one dollar side bet lets you spin the electronic wheel if you get a blackjack, paying you up to 1000 dollars. So when it came to choosing between a 5 dollar CSM table and flat betting, or a 10 dollar table and spreading conservatively, my 100 dollar bankroll for the trip chose the 5 dollar CSM. I stayed away from the wheel, naturally. These conditions are probably typical of all Royal Caribbean ships.

Overall I had a good time, although I couldn't go 5 minutes without someone telling me how to play because I am a young guy. "ho ho don't hit a 16 vs 7 son it's as good as won."

Ploppy Quote of the weekend (giving me advice)- "Like John Wayne said, you gotta know when to fold 'em, and you gotta know when to throw 'em away"

My performance was terrible, I made 3 basic strategy errors, so it is not as burned in as I thought it was. I also realized that I count very slow. Even though it was a CSM I figured I would try, just to see if I could do it, and I was very poor at it. Gotta practice more.

In the end, I ended up down 20 bucks (4 units). It stinks, but it's not bad for an educational experience.

-darksun
 

Rob McGarvey

Well-Known Member
#2
You got away with 16 reds......you did VERY well playing basic strategy and you had some fun doing it.

How do you get to Carnegy Hall?
Practice practice practice.........

Rob McG
 
#3
yeah it was quite thrilling. I was down to my last 4 chips and i rallied on 2 sessions. Lol I know it seems funny to consider a 20 dollar winning session a rally, but it was a lot of fun.

-darksun
 

ZOD

Well-Known Member
#4
And it gets to be even more fun when you improve your skills and start winning consistently. Practice on a computer until decisions are reflexive and counting is a breeze. THEN play for real and don't overbet your bankroll. Best of luck...
ZOD
 
#5
2nd Step

Plan on finding a place that offers a real game.
In the meantime, practice - practice - practice.
Work on that basic strategy - you should have 0
errors per 100 hours of play.
 

The Mayor

Well-Known Member
#6
Re: 2nd Step

You said: "you should have 0 errors per 100 hours of play."

I don't know what an error is. If we learn basic strategy for a 6D H17 NDAS, game, but we are playing 6D S17 DAS, is this an error? If we fail to learn composition dependent basic strategy and hit 7-7 Vs. T in a single deck game, is this an error?

The truth is, if you always play the stiffs correctly, and double when you are supposed to, that's most of what the ploppies give up. You might read my essay "the real cost of mistakes in blackjack" -- we can play very poorly and still not hurt ourselves very much.

The mystique (and mythology) is that we must play errorlessly to win, the truth is that we can have tons of errors and still clean their clocks.

--Mayor
 
#7
Errors are where you find them.

"I don't know what an error is."
An error is after you have made a decision, after further thought and study, that you should have taken some other action.

"If we learn basic strategy for a 6D H17 NDAS, game, but we are playing 6D S17 DAS, is this an error?"
Yes. Most 6D games include DAS, so your error was learning the incorrect basic strategy to begin with.

"If we fail to learn composition dependent basic strategy and hit 7-7 Vs. T in a single deck game, is this an error?"
Yes. 7-7 vs T in single deck is the most obvious SD compositon dependent play. You shouldn't need to know the entire composition dependent BS, but you should include this one play when playing SD.

The original poster stated he had made several errors in basic strategy.
I don't know what Basic strategy he was using, or how he determined he had made an error. All I know, if your money is in the circle, you have enough things to worry and think about without having to worry and second guess basic strategy.

Yes, Babe Ruth used to show up to the game, drunk and hungover, and still whacked the ball out of the stadium. However, if someone was paying me to hit home runs, I think I would at least show up sober.

Yes, Mistakes really don't cost you THAT much in the long run. But it is rather simple to eliminate that 'little' cost with very little effort.

But what do I know? I'm just a cranky old man.
 

hammer

Well-Known Member
#8
Re: 2nd Step

Exactly mayor. AND the real issue is if you do not have the bankroll,
do not play at all,and go get some cash.
 

The Mayor

Well-Known Member
#9
Re: Errors are where you find them.

This is such an interesting topic.

I had a respected professional get quite upset that I started telling the truth about errors. He said that if it ever got out to casinos just how poorly we could play and still have positive EV against them, they would get much tougher on us. I am talking about advantage play here, not just simple basic strategy.

All things considered, finding a better game with better penetration and rules is much more important than learning the specific Basic Strategy for that game. Advantage play means putting out a lot of money when the game favors the player, whether we should double or A-6 vs. 2 (single deck vs. multiple deck) is of three orders of magnitude of less importance than finding a shoe game with 5|6 penetration vs. one that is 4.5|6.

Nevertheless, I tend to learn these correct basic strategy plays too.

I appreciate your position, and I certainly would not want to encourage anyone to play with errors, I just believe that we focus too much on being able to play an errorless game, when the real money is in the table conditions.

--Mayor
 
#10
Even more to the point

Penetration, rules, playing indices -- phooey!

The most important factor is putting the money on the table when the advantage calls for it.

A large enough spread (and a bankroll to support it) will overcome almost any obstacle. You have to get the big money in the circle when it is the right time, and IF you can do that consistently, you really don't have to worry about the rest. Of course, that is a mighty big IF.
 

The Mayor

Well-Known Member
#11
Re: Even more to the point

Yes, I agree with you. The bankroll to support a large spread and the willingness to put it on the table when required. Certainly, absolutely, this is the biggest error that most advantage players make. No question!

Best regards,

--Mayor
 

Rob McGarvey

Well-Known Member
#13
Re: I'll tell you what an error is.

16 v 10 @ >0 is not an error. As stated above, it is a big error when you have 10 units out there at +3TC to hit 16 v 10.

Then you have to figure in your cover playing, which is another matter. Take out a coin and flip it. Heads are cover, tails are proper play.
 
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