Top ten mistakes of counting?

blackchipjim

blackchipjim

Well-Known Member
I would like everyone at this time to review in their carear of counting no matter how long or short to answer this profound question. Review mentally your past games and sessions good or bad and compile your mistakes that you would of done different if you had a chance to. You don't have to post all the mistakes at once just the biggest ones. Thread will show a common mistakes we all make and gaurd against. blackchipjim
 
My biggest mistake

This is probably not a huge mistake, but it is one that I make the most. 16 v10 is a hit on negative counts and a stand on positive counts. However my mistake is when it is 16 vs 9, 16 v 8, or 16 v 7, I sometimes forget to look at the dealers upcard. All I will notice is that they do not have a "bust card" and I will play it as a 10 showing. Does not happen often, but probably is my most frequent error.
 
My biggest mistake was long ago.

I had won Six (6) figures in about 6 months and I headed for Vegas.

My pockets were loaded with over $300,000 in cash.

My ego was severely inflated.

I was delusional enough to think that, as a BJ player, I could walk on water.

The truth was far from that.

I found a fine DD game and proceeded to bet $1,000 to three (3) hands of $10,000.

MY MISTAKE was that I completely ignored Risk of Ruin considerations.

I blew 95K in a few hours.

In a few days I left town with about $100,000 ...

... and a badly punctured ego.

Just what I was in need of.

 
Flipping the sign..

Probably the biggest was flipping the count sign.:eek:

Luckily, it was only during practice.

Another - perhaps forgetting that on an A7 between 3-6, if it can't be doubled, it's a stand, not a hit.
 
Didn't investigate cc strat in depth before picking one to learn - had all HO1 indices to memory just to find out later is was not a good strat for shoes - very outdated

At the Beginning: distractions - stop playing if the distraction become to much to keep an accurate count/ tc conversion/ betting ramp

Steaming :flame:

over/under betting - developed a flashcard of my betting schedule and studied to follow it perfectly.

Reading advanced theory books above my mathamatical understanding :confused: , somehow over time and alot of reading, it all becomes alot more clearer.

BJC
 
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Insurance vs fast dealer

Flash1296:My pockets were loaded with over $300,000 in cash


Just wondering what kind of pockets can hold 300k in CASH!!!:eek: J/K

some dealers just wave their hands and check for BJ,without saying a word.
they too fast or me being slow:laugh:
P.D.
 
Actually a good sports jacket's pockets can hold a LOT.

I used to enjoy using free $1,000 Traveler's Checks from A.A.A.

Nowadays, only Canadian Taveler's Checks come in $500 and $1,000 denominations.

Then again I am so old that I remember actually using U.S.A. $500 and $1,000 dollar bills,
before they were withdrawn from circulation in the mid 1960's.

 
FLASH1296 said:
Actually a good sports jacket's pockets can hold a LOT.

I used to enjoy using free $1,000 Traveler's Checks from A.A.A.

Nowadays, only Canadian Taveler's Checks come in $500 and $1,000 denominations.

Then again I am so old that I remember actually using U.S.A. $500 and $1,000 dollar bills,
before they were withdrawn from circulation in the mid 1960's.
Click to expand...

You cannot hold $300,000 in cash on your person with just pockets. And I know there is very little chance you did this pre mid 60's when there were bigger bills available. And don't give me this double talk that you were carrying in it in travelers checks because your first post here about it said your pockets were full of CASH. Without the aid of a money belt and or taping it to the body it is hard to carry much more than $100,000 in cash without much notice. Seeing your propensity for being mistaken and spouting off on things you know nothing about, I'd say one of the biggest mistakes one could make would be taking your advice or even believing any of your hair brained stories.
 
Critical Thinking

MAZ said:
You cannot hold $300,000 in cash on your person with just pockets. And I know there is very little chance you did this pre mid 60's when there were bigger bills available. And don't give me this double talk that you were carrying in it in travelers checks because your first post here about it said your pockets were full of CASH. Without the aid of a money belt and or taping it to the body it is hard to carry much more than $100,000 in cash without much notice. Seeing your propensity for being mistaken and spouting off on things you know nothing about, I'd say one of the biggest mistakes one could make would be taking your advice or even believing any of your hair brained stories.
Click to expand...

One of your many Skillz :)

Happy Holidays,
CP
 
Rookie Mistake

I made the too common mistake of not knowing what I was doing when I started - which wasn't very long ago. Blessed be for me that I was one of the lucky few who had initial positive deviations from EV :grin:. The guy I started with was not so lucky and went the other way and gave up after a month :(.
Am pretty clued up now though!

Rookie mistakes: Not spreading enough, not wonging enough, not knowing enough about long run, losing streaks etc.
 
celadore said:
I made the too common mistake of not knowing what I was doing when I started - which wasn't very long ago. Blessed be for me that I was one of the lucky few who had initial positive deviations from EV :grin:. The guy I started with was not so lucky and went the other way and gave up after a month :(.
Am pretty clued up now though!

Rookie mistakes: Not spreading enough, not wonging enough, not knowing enough about long run, losing streaks etc.
Click to expand...


I'll bet a lot of us here had high initial wins, that encouraged further play and proper learning. I know I did. I remember "counting" high vs. low cards, and betting accordingly, when I knew nothing about BS. The dealer scolded me for doubling a soft 20. Somehow I came out way anyway and thought I was the sh1t!
 
You can certainly hold $300,000 in $100 bills in your trousers, fanny pack, and a Sports Jacket's pockets.

I ought to know, as I did it.

In any case, that was only for traveling.

Once safely ensconced in my suite, 2/3 of that would go into the safe.
 
---My first time playing blackjack, i was confronted with a soft 18 vs 5, but i had already drawn cards, i didnt know what to do because i couldnt double?!?!? i hit it incorrectly, i went home that night to learn how to play these hands properly. Its often not directly mentioned that you should stand when you cant double or its in small print somewhere on the chart.

---When playing "turbo mode" heads up against the dealer, i doubled down on 3 hands in a row, the next hand i was dealt, i continued the double down motion almost instinctively when i saw i had 9 and doubled a 9 vs 8?!?!?!? :cry: she flipped over the cards so fast i couldnt take it back. Be carefull when the dealer is dealing the cards out very vast and you are playign very fast.

---Dont get all excited when you win!!! I cant remeber how many times in my early playing, that toward the end of the shoe i was so excited about all the money i had on the table that i forgot the coutn and had to start over at a fresh game, this usally happend when there were only a few hands left and i thought the shuffle was coming, but it didnt and i abandoned the count when i could have played a few more hands, more recently, iv gotten up from tables and walked away after a big win only to remember that i was supposed to follow the cards from the first deck thorough the shuffle!!! DOH!!! Dont forget to win ALL of the money that your supposed to

---I used to think that the pit people were ALWAYS out to kill me everytime they watched my game, its simply not so, they are mostly very nice people, so try to have fun playing cards instead of being paranoid, it will greatly add to the enjoyment of your blackjack adventure.

---While this isnt a mistake, i just want to share with everybody that statistics ARE REAL and that i just went on a losing streak of 89 maximum bets in 20 hours of playing, while also, even after that loss i still have profits to show
 
johndoe said:
I'll bet a lot of us here had high initial wins, that encouraged further play and proper learning. I know I did. I remember "counting" high vs. low cards, and betting accordingly, when I knew nothing about BS. The dealer scolded me for doubling a soft 20. Somehow I came out way anyway and thought I was the sh1t!
Click to expand...

You know the crazy thing is I started with a 1000 losing steak and almost gave it up, but i kept persuing and went on a 1000 winning streak to make it back. I know that is not much money compared to many of you, but it is a good bit to me. I had to use a replenishing bankroll for long time.
 
higher level count

My biggest mistake was upgrading to a higher level count. After 3 years of using hi-lo, I decided to change to a level 2 count. For the game I play most (6-8 deck shoe atlantic city) Hi-lo was just fine. I played the level 2 count (revere point count) for 15 months with almost identical results. Problem was I was not as quick counting (even after 1800 hours). I have now switched back and can count quicker and am less taxed and free to observe more thing going on around me. This mistake didn't really cost me anything financially, just wasted a lot of effort and time on my part.
 
FLASH1296 said:
You can certainly hold $300,000 in $100 bills in your trousers, fanny pack, and a Sports Jacket's pockets.

I ought to know, as I did it.

In any case, that was only for traveling.

Once safely ensconced in my suite, 2/3 of that would go into the safe.
Click to expand...

You can. A standard briefcase holds $1M in $100 bills, and you can surely secrete 30% of that volume on your person, especially if you are a big person.

But it would be a terribly unwise thing to do. So you can include that as one of your mistakes.
 
My biggest mistake, was losing my DL(drinking and driving). I didnt realize at the time, how much of a effect this would have on my BJ career. At the time I got arrested, I had 1,500$ in my pocket, brand new vehicle, and a kick ass union job, dismantling drag-lines. This was about five years ago, and I was planning my second trip ever to Tunica that weekend when I got busted. Less than 1.5 yrs to go.

Another mistake, was spending too much time with complex counts and less time building a BR.

O'ya....Booze and Women too:whip:
 
mistakes!

One of the biggest mistakes I made when I first started out was wasting time researching worthless counting systems. I lost alot of time playing them to see results. Overbetting my bankroll would rank up there too. I know alot of players tend to be unaware of what's going on around them they caught up in the game and forget to watch for telltale signs that they are being made. blackchipjim
 
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