NEED INSPIRATION & BANK ROLL ADVICE! LETS HEAR THE STORIES I KNOW THEY ARE OUT THERE!

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Matt Mohapp

Member
I am a wannabe card counter. I know I keep a perfect Hi-Lo count, basic strategy is second nature and I know my deviations. Long story short I need advice.

I have been going to the casino about twice a week for the past month, it's about a 10 min drive. I bring 200$ and stay until it's gone or until I have made a decent profit ( about 200). I made 1250$ without losing, now have lost 400 combined on my last two visits. My bank roll is 1500....

I play at 5$ min. table
H17
no surrender
6 deck
5 Deck pen.

I never jump in mid shoe, and wong out at a TC of -2, but -1 if it's deep in the shoe. Now the advice....

I don't have any clue on betting deviations. I dont know what my spread should be or what true counts should yield what bets. Betting conservative to not appear as a card counter is a non issue, the casino I am at is clueless. What should my strategy be?

Lastly, if anyone has stories like mine, I WANT TO HEAR THEM. Starting out with the same money as me and where you are now. How you did it, how you trained. That sort of stuff! Brag about it!

Thanks.
 
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DSchles

Well-Known Member
Playing a shoe game, especially H17, you need a decent spread of at least 1-10 if not more. That makes your top bet an absolute minimum of $50, so I think you must understand how grossly under-bankrolled you are. You have only 30 top bets, which is woefully inadequate.

Moreover, coming to the casino with only $200 is just plain foolish. The count goes high, you bet $50, split, double each hand, and lose both. You're done in five minutes!

Bottom line: your playing bankroll needs to be much more, and you need to bring much more with you. Finally, setting a stop loss (and, worse, a stop win) for each casino visit is a singularly bad idea. Set a time limit on your play; the result is immaterial.

Don
 
JohnCrover

JohnCrover

Banned
Don't go to the casino with less than $1,000. Be ready to lose $700 of it before quitting. The reason you want to quit before you lose the full $1,000 is so that you have cash behind to double and split if need be.
You might not want to win too much in a single casino visit because you don't want to draw any unwanted attention. I learned the hard way that you can't count cards if you're sitting at home barred.
If you want an inspirational story look up "Yoshi" on gambling with an edge.
 
M

Matt Mohapp

Member
DSchles said:
Playing a shoe game, especially H17, you need a decent spread of at least 1-10 if not more. That makes your top bet an absolute minimum of $50, so I think you must understand how grossly under-bankrolled you are. You have only 30 top bets, which is woefully inadequate.

Moreover, coming to the casino with only $200 is just plain foolish. The count goes high, you bet $50, split, double each hand, and lose both. You're done in five minutes!

Bottom line: your playing bankroll needs to be much more, and you need to bring much more with you. Finally, setting a stop loss (and, worse, a stop win) for each casino visit is a singularly bad idea. Set a time limit on your play; the result is immaterial.

Don
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Thank you guys for your input it is much appreciated. I understand that my bankroll is small but it is what it is and that’s that. You mention a spread of 1-10, what bets should I be making at each tc? For example, tc 1= 5 dollars, 2=20 etc.
 
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DSchles

Well-Known Member
Matt Mohapp said:
Thank you guys for your input it is much appreciated. I understand that my bankroll is small but it is what it is and that’s that. You mention a spread of 1-10, what bets should I be making at each tc? For example, tc 1= 5 dollars, 2=20 etc.
Click to expand...
I'm not going to play that game with you. Someone else will have to help you with that.

There is no bet ramp that's correct for you, because your starting capital is inadequate to play even for a modest $5-$50. Basically, what you're asking is: "I know I don't have enough money to be playing for these stakes, but just humor me and let me lose all my money." The way you're playing, each trip is a 50-50 tossup as to whether you'll make your $200 or lose it. And, your overall ROR is greater than 50%, which, of course, is suicidal.

But, I'm new to all of this myself, so perhaps you should seek other opinions.

Don
 
M

Matt Mohapp

Member
DSchles said:
I'm not going to play that game with you. Someone else will have to help you with that.

There is no bet ramp that's correct for you, because your starting capital is inadequate to play even for a modest $5-$50. Basically, what you're asking is: "I know I don't have enough money to be playing for these stakes, but just humor me and let me lose all my money." The way you're playing, each trip is a 50-50 tossup as to whether you'll make your $200 or lose it. And, your overall ROR is greater than 50%, which, of course, is suicidal.

But, I'm new to all of this myself, so perhaps you should seek other opinions.

Don
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Even if I bring more than 200$, say 1k. Will I still be a neg EV player?
 
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DSchles

Well-Known Member
Matt Mohapp said:
Even if I bring more than 200$, say 1k. Will I still be a neg EV player?
Click to expand...
I didn't say you were a negative-e.v. player. You can be a positive-e.v.player and still have a ROR that is unacceptably high. That is your case. I see you moved your question to another page and increased your bank to (a still too low) $2,000.

Don

P.S. Can you double after splits at night, too, or only in the afternoon? :)
 
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Dummy

Well-Known Member
What you need to learn right now is money management. When you learn about RoR etc you will learn you need a lot more money to play. Without getting into numbers you should bring more money with you than your worst expected downswing. You shouldn't start a shoe without a certain amount of money needed to play through a great count when you are losing. That is why you should rarely lose all the money you bring to the casino. If you don't have the amount required to start a shoe you leave. If you must play this suicdal BR you should be back-counting and only playing positive counts. You should wait for a big advantage and flat bet your max bet. You would still be a high candidate for busting your BR but your chances of growing your piddly BR to a playable one will increase.
 
M

Matt Mohapp

Member
Dummy said:
What you need to learn right now is money management. When you learn about RoR etc you will learn you need a lot more money to play. Without getting into numbers you should bring more money with you than your worst expected downswing. You shouldn't start a shoe without a certain amount of money needed to play through a great count when you are losing. That is why you should rarely lose all the money you bring to the casino. If you don't have the amount required to start a shoe you leave. If you must play this suicdal BR you should be back-counting and only playing positive counts. You should wait for a big advantage and flat bet your max bet. You would still be a high candidate for busting your BR but your chances of growing your piddly BR to a playable one will increase.
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When you say flat bet my max bankroll, are you saying wait for a TC of like +2 or 3 then hop in with a 50$ max bet and don’t change it until I need to wong out if the count decreases?
 
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stopgambling

Well-Known Member
wong in only and wong out once it is down to 0. of course it is possible to win with a $2000 and certainly not easy . You will need good/great games and no heat .
 
M

Matt Mohapp

Member
stopgambling said:
wong in only and wong out once it is down to 0. of course it is possible to win with a $2000 and certainly not easy . You will need good/great games and no heat .
Click to expand...
What bet spread and should I use and how would that correlate to TC
 
SplitFaceDisaster

SplitFaceDisaster

Well-Known Member
Ryemo

Ryemo

Well-Known Member
Matt,

I agree with Don. I’d save up more before making any attempts to play. You can attempt a Hail Mary approach, but just understand your RoR will be extremely high.
 
W

wipewith100s

New Member
Matt Mohapp said:
I am a wannabe card counter. I know I keep a perfect Hi-Lo count, basic strategy is second nature and I know my deviations. Long story short I need advice.

I have been going to the casino about twice a week for the past month, it's about a 10 min drive. I bring 200$ and stay until it's gone or until I have made a decent profit ( about 200). I made 1250$ without losing, now have lost 400 combined on my last two visits. My bank roll is 1500....

I play at 5$ min. table
H17
no surrender
6 deck
5 Deck pen.

I never jump in mid shoe, and wong out at a TC of -2, but -1 if it's deep in the shoe. Now the advice....

I don't have any clue on betting deviations. I dont know what my spread should be or what true counts should yield what bets. Betting conservative to not appear as a card counter is a non issue, the casino I am at is clueless. What should my strategy be?

Lastly, if anyone has stories like mine, I WANT TO HEAR THEM. Starting out with the same money as me and where you are now. How you did it, how you trained. That sort of stuff! Brag about it!

Thanks.
Click to expand...
i just spent two weeks caring for one private message. i would be glad to help u out. its just stout... and with your bank and success from that point I would have to say welcome my liege..
 
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Hell'nBack

Hell'nBack

Well-Known Member
Your advantages will be markedly higher on the side bets as opposed to straight counting. And its the best way to dramatically increase your bankroll with some good variance. But it will require deep pen for any chance of success. With a $2k stake, spreading is not a reliable resource. May as well reach for the sky if you're willing to play to a huge ROR.
 
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