I have been posting here for quite some months now. Firstly, thank you to all the guys that helped me with discussions related to counting and team play. Secondly, here is a bit of a progress report on how we are traveling...
As some of you may have read, we have kind of hit a bit of an unlucky streak, although luckily, we are still ahead a couple thousand dollars. Our local store is a 45 minute drive away, and has rules which are not that great, so we scout for dealers with great pen and exploit that. So far we have compiled a dealer log of those who work regularly in the particular room we play in, and found on average, pen to be 1.5/8 decks cut. The best dealer cutting 3/4 of a deck.
Our first trip was a bit of a feeler run, getting used to the environment, practicing signals, making sure our betting and play was correct etc. We only back count and Wong in when necessary, as it would be insane to play all with the rules employed. We did well and managed to come ahead a few units, much to the dismay of a couple of old ladies who were continually losing and looked at us with an expression of, "How did you just walk up and do that?" In fact, we often get those sort of looks like they know something is not quite right. Its probably because this room is frequented by middle aged Asians and Greeks, and we, well, are anything but.
Our next couple of trips were fantastic. A fellow team member was playing BP one night, and within the space of half a shoe made about 30 units with ease. I then assumed the role and did even better. We just couldnt lose. I was hitting stiffs and making 20s and 21s continually. I literally couldnt lose, and had a small crowd enjoying my HU play with the dealer. I made close to 50 units in 10mins. Our team was off to a great start, but then...
Then it all started. Id be pressing out the big bets when required, sometimes winning, sometimes losing, but you get that sometimes. I found myself getting to ridiculously high counts and having to deal with the cut cut emerging! Just one more round Id be thinking to myself! I got to a TC of +11 once, max bet out, 19 v 6. Perfect situation I thought. But I was wrong.
"Dealer has 4, 10...20. Sorry sir."
And again, the cut cut emerged that round! The TC was still astronomical. JUST ONE MORE ROUND!
Then we just hit a run of bad hands at high counts. Stiff after stiff vs dealer 10s and aces. We knew as soon as we tapped that table what was coming next. And more often than not, that 10 came out.
We even had a trip where we were getting 19s, 20s, 21s and still came out barely ahead because the dealer kept getting an ace up. Luckily ALL our insurance bets paid off. More recently, we found that we just couldnt find those great hot shoes anymore. In fact, last night we spent 5 hours scouting the tables and couldnt find an RC greater than +10. And we managed to find a marginally good shoe with a TC of +2/+3, we couldnt win a hand to save ourselves. I think we may have won 2-3 hands last night. TOTAL. After 5 hours.
However, like I said, we are still ahead at the moment. We just hope this streak doesnt continue for much longer, because some members of the team are very down at the moment and second guessing this venture. However, I keep reminding them that such streaks are not uncommon, and that the long run is what we need to aim for.
As some of you may have read, we have kind of hit a bit of an unlucky streak, although luckily, we are still ahead a couple thousand dollars. Our local store is a 45 minute drive away, and has rules which are not that great, so we scout for dealers with great pen and exploit that. So far we have compiled a dealer log of those who work regularly in the particular room we play in, and found on average, pen to be 1.5/8 decks cut. The best dealer cutting 3/4 of a deck.
Our first trip was a bit of a feeler run, getting used to the environment, practicing signals, making sure our betting and play was correct etc. We only back count and Wong in when necessary, as it would be insane to play all with the rules employed. We did well and managed to come ahead a few units, much to the dismay of a couple of old ladies who were continually losing and looked at us with an expression of, "How did you just walk up and do that?" In fact, we often get those sort of looks like they know something is not quite right. Its probably because this room is frequented by middle aged Asians and Greeks, and we, well, are anything but.
Our next couple of trips were fantastic. A fellow team member was playing BP one night, and within the space of half a shoe made about 30 units with ease. I then assumed the role and did even better. We just couldnt lose. I was hitting stiffs and making 20s and 21s continually. I literally couldnt lose, and had a small crowd enjoying my HU play with the dealer. I made close to 50 units in 10mins. Our team was off to a great start, but then...
Then it all started. Id be pressing out the big bets when required, sometimes winning, sometimes losing, but you get that sometimes. I found myself getting to ridiculously high counts and having to deal with the cut cut emerging! Just one more round Id be thinking to myself! I got to a TC of +11 once, max bet out, 19 v 6. Perfect situation I thought. But I was wrong.
"Dealer has 4, 10...20. Sorry sir."
And again, the cut cut emerged that round! The TC was still astronomical. JUST ONE MORE ROUND!
Then we just hit a run of bad hands at high counts. Stiff after stiff vs dealer 10s and aces. We knew as soon as we tapped that table what was coming next. And more often than not, that 10 came out.
We even had a trip where we were getting 19s, 20s, 21s and still came out barely ahead because the dealer kept getting an ace up. Luckily ALL our insurance bets paid off. More recently, we found that we just couldnt find those great hot shoes anymore. In fact, last night we spent 5 hours scouting the tables and couldnt find an RC greater than +10. And we managed to find a marginally good shoe with a TC of +2/+3, we couldnt win a hand to save ourselves. I think we may have won 2-3 hands last night. TOTAL. After 5 hours.
However, like I said, we are still ahead at the moment. We just hope this streak doesnt continue for much longer, because some members of the team are very down at the moment and second guessing this venture. However, I keep reminding them that such streaks are not uncommon, and that the long run is what we need to aim for.
