Rat holing
- Thread starter JohnCrover
- Start date
We understand why you desire to rat hole...to reduce or erase a large accumulative win as far as the casino records. But the problem is consequences can be far worse than the accumulated win, so weigh the risk/rewards carefully.
My view on rat-holing comes mostly from thoughts shared by a couple friends that work the pits. Most players aren't hiding their rat-holing as much as the think they are and there are 2 huge consequences when the pit or surveillance see you go south, and they eventually will. 1.) This almost marks you as a card counter/AP. You might as well have "card counter" tattooed on your forehead. There just is no other reason why a player would rat-hole and be trying to hide it. Yes. some non-AP players put away chips to preserve a win or whatever their rational is, but they do so very openly. 2.) Once you are identified as a rat-holer and that notation made on your account, you will be credited with all "unaccounted" for chips from this time forward. And playing unrated does not protect you from this. Every time someone walks with chips or the chip total just doesn't add up for whatever reason, they credit those chips to you. This will result in the opposite of what your goal is. The casino will have you down for a larger accumulated win that you actually have.
If you are in a situation where you only have 1 or 2 limited casinos to play and really need to try to preserve longevity, my advice would be to rat-hole out of sight. Take a trip to the men's room once per session (during negative count). Take the larger denomination chips, leaving smaller chips or a marker to hold your spot. Rat-hole out of view of the camera, returning with just a bit fewer chips. But the thing to remember about any attempt at rat-holing is you only need rat-hole a very small amount...your EV or partial EV for that session and do so in green. Black chips are very carefully monitored. Don't try rat-holing 4-5 hundred dollars in chips because you have won a couple thousand. Those chips have to be accounted for and will be noticed!
My view on rat-holing comes mostly from thoughts shared by a couple friends that work the pits. Most players aren't hiding their rat-holing as much as the think they are and there are 2 huge consequences when the pit or surveillance see you go south, and they eventually will. 1.) This almost marks you as a card counter/AP. You might as well have "card counter" tattooed on your forehead. There just is no other reason why a player would rat-hole and be trying to hide it. Yes. some non-AP players put away chips to preserve a win or whatever their rational is, but they do so very openly. 2.) Once you are identified as a rat-holer and that notation made on your account, you will be credited with all "unaccounted" for chips from this time forward. And playing unrated does not protect you from this. Every time someone walks with chips or the chip total just doesn't add up for whatever reason, they credit those chips to you. This will result in the opposite of what your goal is. The casino will have you down for a larger accumulated win that you actually have.
If you are in a situation where you only have 1 or 2 limited casinos to play and really need to try to preserve longevity, my advice would be to rat-hole out of sight. Take a trip to the men's room once per session (during negative count). Take the larger denomination chips, leaving smaller chips or a marker to hold your spot. Rat-hole out of view of the camera, returning with just a bit fewer chips. But the thing to remember about any attempt at rat-holing is you only need rat-hole a very small amount...your EV or partial EV for that session and do so in green. Black chips are very carefully monitored. Don't try rat-holing 4-5 hundred dollars in chips because you have won a couple thousand. Those chips have to be accounted for and will be noticed!
This point deserves to be highlighted as it is key. You're trying to make yourself look like a loser over the long run, not for every session. If your hourly EV is $25, then you should only be rat holing 2 green chips per hour, at most. This will make it appear that you are losing at the expected rate over time.
Doing it away from the table is also a very good strategy.
Doing it away from the table is also a very good strategy.
Do not rat hole if you cannot handle periodic money swings where you need to start pulling out chips out of necessity. On the same token, do not try to cash them in at the cage during breaks. Do not make yourself look like a joke, doing this is really serious shit, as they only need to catch you once, and then you are labeled for life.