Tally Up Time for 2018

[Midwest Player]

KJ, I'm wondering if you are going to do a year end summary like you have been doing for the last 15 years or so. I always enjoy them.

My results for the year have been good for a red chipper. It was my second best year on a dollar per hour basis and fourth best for total amount won. I'm very satisfied to just play at the red chip level and so far have been tolerated at most places. For a while this year, I was getting shuffled up on anytime I put a large bet out, but that appears to have stopped. I find in my old age I'm playing a lot less, but still enjoy the game very much. It is the traveling I don't enjoy and getting all ready for a trip.

PS. It would be great for others to chime in and tell about their year. I always enjoy year end results.

 

[21forme]

I responded to your poll across the street.

 

[Midwest Player]

KJ, I'm wondering if you are going to do a year end summary like you have been doing for the last 15 years or so. I always enjoy them.

It looks like you are not going to do it for 2018. I hope it isn't because of the bad turn that you had at the end of the year. I don't know if you recovered from it or not, but since you don't want to talk about it I will assume you didn't recover.

 

[LC Larry]

Nobody should discuss their finances. Nothing good can come from it as KJ once found out.

 

[KewlJ]

MWP, if you think that I wouldn’t share my results because I had a bad year or bad ending to the year, then you haven’t been paying attention. Probably the year that I gave the most details about was 2014 (I was on Wizard of Vegas at the time). Blackjack earnings of $27,345 vs expected value of about $87,000. My blackjack earning were in the neighborhood of what a fast food worker makes, so no I have no problem sharing the bad. I always say “the good, the bad and the ugly”.

Problem is my intent on sharing my journey, experiences and results has been misconscrewed. People seem to think it as some kind of braggadocious exercise. The money I have made on a yearly basis is nothing to brag about. Just a comfortable (for me) living, probably below middle class standards. I really just wanted to show what kind of money can realistically be made playing mid-level stakes by a grinder type card counters in today’s world. I am hoping I have done that.

But since you are pressing me on several forums now, I will share my year, unusual as each of them seem to be in different ways. I warning you now...it will be long.

Some of you might remember my 10-year million dollar plan (posted at BJTF and WoV). Well this was year 15 and entering 2018 I needed $128k to hit that million dollar blackjack earnings milestone. I am well over a million (1.2) in total AP earnings, including some supplemental stuff, but ”the plan” was really about blackjack.

So needed 128k. Problem is I had never had a 128k year from blackjack. My best was 115k. And I have averaged about 80k from blackjack over the last 5 years. So no real reason, outside of very strong positive variance to think I would get there.

This became a very unusual year for me blackjack playing-wise (among other) when my partner passed away in early April. I was and still am crushed and heartbroken. I dealt with that by playing blackjack. Much, much more than usual. And as a result, and some positive variance, I went over 128k and hit that million dollar milestone in September.

However, as it has a way of doing, variance and the blackjack gods, have a way of evening things out. Several weeks after I hit that milestone, I experienced the worst week of my blackjack career. Lost 29 thousand dollars in 4 days, including 2, five figure days. At my level of play, I only have 4-5 losing five figure days a year, so two in a couple days was most unusual.

Anyway, as quick as that milestone came….it went away. And over the final 3 months of the year, I just sort of hung at that level, making up about ⅓ of that worst week loss. End result, 2018 was 108k. Only my second year of six figures solely from blackjack and again 20k (now 23k) below that meaningless milestone.

While 2018 was a successful year for me blackjack-wise, my non-BJ, supplemental AP stuff is really drying up. Almost gone. I am talking about very elementary video poker advantage play. Between worsening paytables and casino mailer offers being reduced or eliminated, the play that I did, or more precisely my late partner handled, is just almost gone. And with his passing there justis no reason for me to invest much time in that anymore.

So I enter 2019 back to my roots, blackjack card counting only. A grinder. A salamander. And still loving it.

 

[21forme]

I dealt with that by playing blackjack. Much, much more than usual.

KJ, I know you've been very careful in your rotation not to hit the same store/shift too often. I wonder if the increased play caused more backoffs than usual.

Have you considered asking Dancer via the GWAE Q&A shows if he's experienced similar loss of offers/cashback/freeplay with VP? Not that I'd trust anything he says...

 

[Midwest Player]

Nobody should discuss their finances. Nothing good can come from it as KJ once found out.

This is probably true, but KJ has been doing this for years. He has always told the "good, the bad and the ugly.” I was already aware of his huge down turn in Sept because he posted about it on another site. I just thought something really bad happened for the rest of the year, and I was puzzled as to why he didn't do a year end summary for 2018.

KJ, thanks again for another great year end rap up report. Second best year from blackjack is great to hear.

 

[DSchles]

"Problem is my intent on sharing my journey, experiences and results has been misconscrewed."

Nominated for one of the best misspellings I've ever seen, and God knows I've seen a million. For future reference: misconstrued!!

Don

 

[BoSox]

KewlJ, I am very sorry for your loss.

 

[21forme]

"Problem is my intent on sharing my journey, experiences and results has been misconscrewed."

Nominated for one of the best misspellings I've ever seen, and God knows I've seen a million. For future reference: misconstrued!!

Don

Don - I passed on commenting on that to see if you would.

 

[KewlJ]

Don, I knew the word was misspelled due to the red line under it, but decided it looked right to me and served my purpose.

As for backoffs and heat. Answer is no. I keep very detailed records of each session, including personnel involved, especially any time I even sense heat. I will back myself off much more frequently that anything else. This is one area that I am very pleased with.

 

[Luis Veiga]

How many hours did you play in 2018, KJ?

 

[JohnCrover]

Are those after tax numbers?

 

[KewlJ]

Are those after tax numbers?

Of course not.

How many hours did you play in 2018, KJ?

ok, this gets a little tricky. I don't track my play in hours or segments of time. I used to. But an hour of play heads up with a reasonably quick dealer is far different than an hour at a table with 3 other people, 2 who are making side bets. Like 20x different. I have used segments of time, # shoes, but what it really comes down to is rounds played. So that is what I attempt to track by estimating rounds played in each session. Can be done fairly quickly by number of players x 2.8 cards per player and dealer (2.7 when playing heads up).

So anyway in recent years I have averaged about 70,000 rounds played. This year was about 102,000. About a 50% increase. In terms of time, in recent years I played about 6 days a week, 4-5 hours a day. This year, most days I played closer to 7-8 hours or played a second evening session for a few hours.

I know I am not giving the answer you want. I apologize.

 

[KewlJ]

Have you considered asking Dancer via the GWAE Q&A shows if he's experienced similar loss of offers/cashback/freeplay with VP? Not that I'd trust anything he says...

I have not spoken with Dancer. But I do network and talk with some other machine players in Vegas. What I have experienced is not unique to me. Vegas has been going down hill for a couple years now as far as VP play and this year there has been a correlated effort, lead by Boyd, but spreading to other casinos, against machine player type AP's. They have changed wording on promotions, stating players that they designate as AP's are not eligible for drawings and such, as well as just a general tightening of games, offers, points. A couple guys have had points zeroed out.

Since what I do, or did, with my partner's help was very basic elementary stuff, highly dependent on mailer free play offers, it just isn't worth it for me to continue, other than maybe a very, very small amount of play to generate some free meal offers. A boys gotta eat.

 

[Luis Veiga]

Won 108k in 2018.
Played 300 days.
6 to 7 hours per day.
You can tell that your bets are very conservative, right?

 

[Midwest Player]

[QUOTE = "KewlJ, post: 498783, member: 8774"] Claro que não.



ok, isso fica um pouco complicado. Eu não acompanho meu jogo em horas ou segmentos de tempo. Eu costumava. Mas uma hora de jogo com um dealer razoavelmente rápido é muito diferente de uma hora em uma mesa com 3 outras pessoas, 2 que estão fazendo apostas paralelas. Como 20x diferente. :rolar os olhos: Eu usei segmentos de tempo, # sapatos, mas o que realmente se resume a rodadas é jogado. Então é isso que eu tento rastrear estimando as rodadas jogadas em cada sessão. Pode ser feito rapidamente pelo número de jogadores x 2,8 cartões por jogador e dealer (2,7 ao jogar heads up).

De qualquer forma, nos últimos anos, tenho em média cerca de 70.000 tiros jogados. Este ano foi de cerca de 102.000. Cerca de um aumento de 50%. Em termos de tempo, nos últimos anos eu joguei cerca de 6 dias por semana, 4-5 horas por dia. Este ano, na maioria dos dias eu joguei mais perto de 7-8 horas ou joguei uma segunda sessão noturna por algumas horas.

Eu sei que não estou dando a resposta que você quer. Peço desculpas. [/ QUOTE]

How about the English version.

 

[DSchles]

How about the English version.

It's above!!

Don

 

[KewlJ]

You can tell that your bets are very conservative, right?

I am not sure what you are getting at? I suspected when you asked about hours, you wanted to figure out a nice little hourly rate type number. Unfortunately the way I play doesn't work like that. I bounce around a great deal. Short sessions, hit and run style. When I say 7 hours a day that time includes traveling between sessions, casinos and I don't really even stop the clock for my lunch break. That is the time I am out each day.

Actually sitting at a table playing would be less than half that. And it would be a bunch of small segments of time. 15 minutes here, 22 minutes there. This is precisely why I stopped tracking my play in time, a while back and started tracking by rounds played. After all rounds played is what really matters.

 

[Luis Veiga]

I am not sure what you are getting at? I suspected when you asked about hours, you wanted to figure out a nice little hourly rate type number. Unfortunately the way I play doesn't work like that. I bounce around a great deal. Short sessions, hit and run style. When I say 7 hours a day that time includes traveling between sessions, casinos and I don't really even stop the clock for my lunch break. That is the time I am out each day.

Actually sitting at a table playing would be less than half that. And it would be a bunch of small segments of time. 15 minutes here, 22 minutes there. This is precisely why I stopped tracking my play in time, a while back and started tracking by rounds played. After all rounds played is what really matters.

OK! I got it, thanks.