Over the last month, I feel I've gained more experience in blackjack. However there are a lot of questions I have to those that are experienced. Feel free to answer 1 or all of them.
1) What exactly is the right move with 6,6 vs. 7 and 7,7 vs. 8 in pitch (SD and DD) games. I've seen numerous sources saying different things. Intuitively, I believe the hi-lo count has no correlation in them, and splitting seems to be the correct move... Can someone elaborate on this for H17 DAS, S17 DAS, H17 NDAS, and S17 NDAS deviations. Is there a chart somewhere with the precise indices or is the hi-lo count very poor in estimating the correct play with this.
2) I believe my image matches precisely that of a card counter. My fear is to be backed away from my local casinos. However it seems that the casinos here are tolerable even in DD games. Comparing my local casinos to Reno, I receive no staring or immense interest from the pit boss. Should I play it safe and take a break? I've been hitting these casinos once a week with an average of 4 hour sessions (keep in mind short sessions are impossible, since it takes me 2 hours to get from one to another). I've never sensed heat and the casino is usually very busy. How long would you guys say I'd last spreading 1-8 in greens for DD and 1-20 in reds for shoe games.
3) Should I get paranoid when a pit clerk or floorman takes notice of my play? My first backing came from Reno when a female floorman was just taking interest in watching my game. I didn't get paranoid, and within another 15 minutes I was shown out the door by a pit boss from out of nowhere. Now, the same scenario has occurred in my local casino where I had a female pit clerk watch my game with immerse interest. Not taking the chance, I left the game. Is there a reason to be paranoid when they watch my game or is it merely because they are bored?
4) I finally began to gain interest in the uncommon but abundant game with almost a 3.5% edge. My question is should I play those when I get the chance to at my local casinos? I've spotted several games where I can play 100% correctly to gain the full edge. However I feel uneasy, especially if I've gained the image of a card counter. It would only be obvious that I'm trying to gain some sort of edge from a game where normally a person of my reputation would avoid... Should I go for it or avoid it like a plague? I'm pretty sure they are even less tolerable if I play those games...
5) Is 1/4th to 1/2th kelly of a replenishable ($10,000 to be exact) bankroll too conservative? Ever since I've began to take more interest in the game, I've been playing more and more conservative. I feel I should be playing bigger since I feel like I can afford to, but I don't feel too confident especially hearing horror stories on even teams running bad for thousands of hours (from blackbelt in blackjack). But I feel playing based on a <1.5% ROR is a tad too wimpy... I'm not sure what most people do. I'd like to hear opinions.
6) Ever since my Reno trip, I've won 12/13 sessions. I'm running a little over 1 stdev above EV this month, while more than doubled my initial bankroll in under 200 hours of play. Is this just beginner's luck? Am I suppose to win this many sessions or am I doing something wrong? A big weakness I have is pulling longer sessions whenever I'm in the red. Am I going to see the opposite tail sooner or later and not be optimistic as I am right now?
7) I use hi-opt 1 with a side count of aces in pitch games. I just bet and play accordingly to the adjusted TC with the exception of insurance and 11, where I play accordingly to the unadjusted TC. Recently I've stumbled upon a Hi-opt 2 article where it suggests betting accordingly to the adjusted TC, while playing accordingly to the unadjusted TC for most hands with these exceptions:
for every abundant ace in the deck using hi-opt 2:
a) -2 from unadjusted RC with doubling 11, insurance, and 16.
b) +4 from unadjusted RC with doubling 10 vs. 10.
c) +6 from unadjusted RC with splitting 9,9 vs. 7.
My question is this strategy for hi-opt 2 kind of contradicts that of hi-opt 1 when it tells me to play accordingly to the unadjusted TC for most hands. Did I misinterpret the article and the author or am I suppose to play accordingly to the unadjusted TC? Does this apply to hi-opt 1?
For example, using hi-opt 1, what is the adjusted TC in a DD game with 1 deck remaining, 2 aces seen, with an unadjusted RC of 0 (my wager would assume an unadjusted RC of 2), when I hold 54 (the unadjusted RC becomes 2) in the following scenarios:
1) Dealer holds ace
2) Dealer holds 6
3) Dealer holds 10
8) How do you guys deal with the social factors. My friends (even poker buddies) think I'm wasting time with this. Either they think I'm delusional with the belief that I can beat the house or they think I have better opportunities in poker or a job. My dad thinks I'm delusional as well (even though he fully believes in martingaling roulette after seeing 6 consecutive reds/evens/1-18s).
9) What is the percentage of card counters out there? Ever since becoming educated on this game, to my knowledge I've spotted 3 total with close to 300 hours of play. It seems like 99.9% of the players are ploppies... It's kind of depressing to be the only one with this playing style. It also gets irritating when superstitious players give you crap for playing perfect basic strategy or "taking their bust card" or spreading to two hands (it breaks the flow of the cards).
10) I've also spotted one player in a DD game with a big spread. The one thing I don't understand is he always places a bet on lucky lucky. His spread correlated to mine (no he didn't mimic me) and he would on several occasions not place the lucky lucky bet. He would also stand on 14-16 vs. 7-10 from time to time, yet hit from time to time. I could not figure out whether this character was doing, since his spread was correlated to the count, yet he broke BS and severely several indices while making a "sucker's bet" the majority of the time.
Thanks!
1) What exactly is the right move with 6,6 vs. 7 and 7,7 vs. 8 in pitch (SD and DD) games. I've seen numerous sources saying different things. Intuitively, I believe the hi-lo count has no correlation in them, and splitting seems to be the correct move... Can someone elaborate on this for H17 DAS, S17 DAS, H17 NDAS, and S17 NDAS deviations. Is there a chart somewhere with the precise indices or is the hi-lo count very poor in estimating the correct play with this.
2) I believe my image matches precisely that of a card counter. My fear is to be backed away from my local casinos. However it seems that the casinos here are tolerable even in DD games. Comparing my local casinos to Reno, I receive no staring or immense interest from the pit boss. Should I play it safe and take a break? I've been hitting these casinos once a week with an average of 4 hour sessions (keep in mind short sessions are impossible, since it takes me 2 hours to get from one to another). I've never sensed heat and the casino is usually very busy. How long would you guys say I'd last spreading 1-8 in greens for DD and 1-20 in reds for shoe games.
3) Should I get paranoid when a pit clerk or floorman takes notice of my play? My first backing came from Reno when a female floorman was just taking interest in watching my game. I didn't get paranoid, and within another 15 minutes I was shown out the door by a pit boss from out of nowhere. Now, the same scenario has occurred in my local casino where I had a female pit clerk watch my game with immerse interest. Not taking the chance, I left the game. Is there a reason to be paranoid when they watch my game or is it merely because they are bored?
4) I finally began to gain interest in the uncommon but abundant game with almost a 3.5% edge. My question is should I play those when I get the chance to at my local casinos? I've spotted several games where I can play 100% correctly to gain the full edge. However I feel uneasy, especially if I've gained the image of a card counter. It would only be obvious that I'm trying to gain some sort of edge from a game where normally a person of my reputation would avoid... Should I go for it or avoid it like a plague? I'm pretty sure they are even less tolerable if I play those games...
5) Is 1/4th to 1/2th kelly of a replenishable ($10,000 to be exact) bankroll too conservative? Ever since I've began to take more interest in the game, I've been playing more and more conservative. I feel I should be playing bigger since I feel like I can afford to, but I don't feel too confident especially hearing horror stories on even teams running bad for thousands of hours (from blackbelt in blackjack). But I feel playing based on a <1.5% ROR is a tad too wimpy... I'm not sure what most people do. I'd like to hear opinions.
6) Ever since my Reno trip, I've won 12/13 sessions. I'm running a little over 1 stdev above EV this month, while more than doubled my initial bankroll in under 200 hours of play. Is this just beginner's luck? Am I suppose to win this many sessions or am I doing something wrong? A big weakness I have is pulling longer sessions whenever I'm in the red. Am I going to see the opposite tail sooner or later and not be optimistic as I am right now?
7) I use hi-opt 1 with a side count of aces in pitch games. I just bet and play accordingly to the adjusted TC with the exception of insurance and 11, where I play accordingly to the unadjusted TC. Recently I've stumbled upon a Hi-opt 2 article where it suggests betting accordingly to the adjusted TC, while playing accordingly to the unadjusted TC for most hands with these exceptions:
for every abundant ace in the deck using hi-opt 2:
a) -2 from unadjusted RC with doubling 11, insurance, and 16.
b) +4 from unadjusted RC with doubling 10 vs. 10.
c) +6 from unadjusted RC with splitting 9,9 vs. 7.
My question is this strategy for hi-opt 2 kind of contradicts that of hi-opt 1 when it tells me to play accordingly to the unadjusted TC for most hands. Did I misinterpret the article and the author or am I suppose to play accordingly to the unadjusted TC? Does this apply to hi-opt 1?
For example, using hi-opt 1, what is the adjusted TC in a DD game with 1 deck remaining, 2 aces seen, with an unadjusted RC of 0 (my wager would assume an unadjusted RC of 2), when I hold 54 (the unadjusted RC becomes 2) in the following scenarios:
1) Dealer holds ace
2) Dealer holds 6
3) Dealer holds 10
8) How do you guys deal with the social factors. My friends (even poker buddies) think I'm wasting time with this. Either they think I'm delusional with the belief that I can beat the house or they think I have better opportunities in poker or a job. My dad thinks I'm delusional as well (even though he fully believes in martingaling roulette after seeing 6 consecutive reds/evens/1-18s).
9) What is the percentage of card counters out there? Ever since becoming educated on this game, to my knowledge I've spotted 3 total with close to 300 hours of play. It seems like 99.9% of the players are ploppies... It's kind of depressing to be the only one with this playing style. It also gets irritating when superstitious players give you crap for playing perfect basic strategy or "taking their bust card" or spreading to two hands (it breaks the flow of the cards).
10) I've also spotted one player in a DD game with a big spread. The one thing I don't understand is he always places a bet on lucky lucky. His spread correlated to mine (no he didn't mimic me) and he would on several occasions not place the lucky lucky bet. He would also stand on 14-16 vs. 7-10 from time to time, yet hit from time to time. I could not figure out whether this character was doing, since his spread was correlated to the count, yet he broke BS and severely several indices while making a "sucker's bet" the majority of the time.
Thanks!
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Why wouldn't he spread his bets?
