New to Counting Questions

[mountaindew]

Hi all, I am fairly new to CC. I have soaked up a lot of excellent info on this site and wanna thank everyone for that. Anyways I have been practicing counting through DD at home with play chips and betting appropriately based on the count for a few months, fairly successfully the past few weeks. After I would "win" around $1000 or so I would call it quits and consider it a good session, and I "won" more sessions than I lost so all seemed to be working.

So I decided to test out my skills in the real casino. To put my experience in context i'm from the SW Twin Cities and live very close to a certain very large native american casino (anybody from the area probably knows where i'm referring to). The game I observed to fit my practicing the best was a double deck, great penetration (~80% from a few kind dealers), H17, No double after split, double any 2 cards, $25-$199 min and max. I had several hundred to play with of disposable cash and although I was able to keep the count just fine I felt nervous playing in the real setting vs. my living room .

I was doing well and frankly might have been a little obvious as to what I was up to (I was just watching the cards fairly intently and took off in negative counts, betting $25 for even and +1, $50 at +2 & +3, $75 at +4 and $100 at T.C. +5 and up which was rather rare), however this casino is literally full of stupid players that crowd rows and rows of low stakes tables, leaving the pit with more to worry about than a few counters and plenty of easy cash coming in so they don't care. Since I have been alone at the table all 3 times I have been they don't mind me much anyway compared to like 5 other tables with 7 players each per pit person!

All three times I have been I have scored around $100 - $250 per session (all under an hour), all times having come from losing the first few shoes. I feel that I just have been getting lucky more than exploiting card counting because although I take off when the count is not favorable I have had only two or three chances to get close to my max bet and feel I have not played long enough to let any sort of EV kick in, just playing on luck? And then when I get a few units up (4-10 in this case) I feel like I should just leave a winner than keep playing although Im sure I could keep doing better and win a fair stake.

So I guess Im asking what is your personal (or recommended) procedure for how long to play or how much to stop at when winning in my context. for that matter I have been fortunate enough to walk away with their money every time but when is it time to stop if i'm losing, I feel like I would want to wait for a good shoe and win it all back type of thing?

I really appreciate all of your wealth of knowledge and information, and would also like to ask if anyone has anything else I should know about the game I'm playing or tips about my situation I can benefit from? Thanks to all!

 

[plainplayer]

So I guess Im asking what is your personal (or recommended) procedure for how long to play or how much to stop at when winning

From this posting:

"Better to set a goal of hours played instead of units won."

(From the set of links down the left sidebar.)

 

[Blue Efficacy]

If you only have several hundred dollars I recommend you play lower stakes tables. A bad spell can wipe that out very quickly at the green chip level, ESPECIALLY playing by yourself.

Learn to utilize surrender. That's essential in building a bankroll.

 

[mountaindew]

Blue, The venue I play at doesn't offer DD blackjack for under $25 min. The next best thing is a 4 or 6 deck game at $15, or a 6 or 8 deck game for $10 and $5 respectively. I don't like the 5 dollar tables as they're poorly cut and full of horrible players, not to mention the T.C. barely fluctuates before a shuffle

 

[Blue Efficacy]

Blue, The venue I play at doesn't offer DD blackjack for under $25 min. The next best thing is a 4 or 6 deck game at $15, or a 6 or 8 deck game for $10 and $5 respectively. I don't like the 5 dollar tables as they're poorly cut and full of horrible players, not to mention the T.C. barely fluctuates before a shuffle

We play the same place. And I have seen many fluctuations on the 4 and 6 deckers. Horrible players don't matter.

The 6 deck surrender is the best game in the house, outside of HL.

 

[mountaindew]

Thanks for the advice Blue. I also wanted to ask about the difference in players, Im used to heads-up at the DD $25 (ideal) but know from experience that it can be quite tricky to find one of the surrender tables with even as little as like 2 other players at a time. Does this difference greatly affect me and if so is there anything I can do about it (2 hands, higher spreads than 1-6)?
I really appreciate all the help, and see you this weekend :grin:

 

[Blue Efficacy]

Thanks for the advice Blue. I also wanted to ask about the difference in players, Im used to heads-up at the DD $25 (ideal) but know from experience that it can be quite tricky to find one of the surrender tables with even as little as like 2 other players at a time. Does this difference greatly affect me and if so is there anything I can do about it (2 hands, higher spreads than 1-6)?
I really appreciate all the help, and see you this weekend :grin:

I do approximately 1-6 spread when I play the $10 4 deck personally. I have had great results. Same deal with the $10 surrender tables. They're both good games in their own right, i use crowdedness to decide which ones to play.

I see from another post that you found a different DD game. Do us all a favor and keep it a secret.

 

[shinyam]

mountain, as someone pointed out, your should set out a target number of hours, now how much you win or lose. This is absolutely critical.

It's a rookie mistake to do what you're doing, and it will cost you big time in the long run.

The easiest thing to do is to completely forget about wins and losses. If your expected win rate is $30 an hour, then if you play one hour, think of yourself as having earned $30, regardless of how much you actually have won or lost.

If you continue to do what you do, you're going to end up broke or just even. The time to drive, gas, wear and tear on your car, and other expenses is almost never worth it if you play only one hour.

My sessions are usually five hours long. Anything less makes it less worth the trip.

There have been times where I've won a thousand dollars in less than one hour. Instead of going home to "save" the win, I kept playing. Sometimes I won more, but sometimes I lost it back and then some. That is the proper thing to do.

Don't quit because you've won or lost a large sum. Unless it will impact you emotionally to the extent that you are no longer comfortable playing, or your playing will be affected...