4,000 Miles in Search of an Advantage – Part One

“What do you do for a living?” It’s a simple and direct question for most, but it’s one that I often have trouble responding to accurately. I rarely tell people that I’m a professional gambler or an advantage player. It’s easier to say that I travel for work and move the subject elsewhere. It’s a difficult subject to broach – most don’t understand what such a career entails, while others hold a wildly inaccurate perception about what it is that I do or how I do it. One assumption is that I’m a degenerate living dollar to dollar or that even if I’m making a living, gambling is immoral. Those types are rarely worth educating.  Some are intrigued and think I live a life of adventure and luxury – and while it’s sometimes the former, it’s rarely the latter. If I’m on the road, I’m likely in a Red Roof Inn off the highway. I’ve likely left the door ajar to usher out the smell of stale smoke, and I’m probably concerned about how the yellow stain on the worn checkered armchair came to be.  Rarely will you find me in a comped casino suite. I prefer anonymity to luxury.

La risposta breve sulla mia occupazione è che trovo il modo di estrarre denaro dai casinò.

Each casino is a goldmine – finding a way to mine it and keep the gold is the challenge.

Il metodo più diffuso è quello di giocare a blackjack e contare le carte. Altre volte ricorro a tattiche più avanzate, oppure sfrutto le opportunità offerte dal casinò attraverso le giocate gratuite o gli omaggi chiamati comps. Se analizzate a fondo un casinò, troverete sempre un metodo di estrazione. Tenete gli occhi aperti e troverete il vostro vantaggio.

Sono tornato di recente da un viaggio nel Mid-West. Più si viaggia verso ovest, più la strada sembra aperta e, se si prosegue abbastanza a lungo, la situazione diventa un deserto senza legge. Mi piace molto. Le città anguste sono sostituite da sfondi aperti e strade di montagna (consiglio di viaggio 1: prendete sempre la strada panoramica. Il vostro obiettivo sarà comunque lì, e il viaggio è appagante quanto la destinazione). Questo viaggio mi ha portato a percorrere 4.000 miglia, attraversando 15 Stati in 14 giorni.

My first destination was Missouri. There are a good number of casinos in the area, and I knew a couple of advantage players who were in town. I met up with one, whom we’ll call John (names and locations may be altered in my articles – as you recall, we value anonymity). He’s a great card-counter and family-man based out of the mid-west. We both started counting cards at roughly the same time and were able to progress to full-time play due to the positive variance we encountered early on.  We talked, shared information, and I decided to stick around town for a few days.

La prima cosa che faccio in una nuova località, come precursore dello sviluppo di una strategia, è esplorare la zona e vedere cosa offre ogni casinò. Esistono pubblicazioni che forniscono informazioni sulle condizioni del blackjack in tutto il paese, ma spesso le cose cambiano frequentemente o sono travisate, quindi vedere con i propri occhi è l'unico modo per capire davvero con cosa si può lavorare.

Once I find out what games are offered, I’ll develop a strategy. Often that means deciding whether or not I want to play rated, what games I want to play, and whether I need to jump my action around town or hammer a certain casino. I make those decisions based on what conditions I observe – I want to see how busy the casino is and what size bets the locals are making. Often how busy a casino is and how heavy patrons are betting dictates how hard I can hit them with action. When counting cards, you don’t want to stick out, and you don’t want to be the biggest bettor if everyone else is a low-roller – especially if you’re playing unrated. Blending in is often the best strategy.

Durante questo viaggio, ho trovato diversi vantaggi in ogni casinò. Ho notato che uno dei casinò offriva un buffet gratuito una volta accumulato un certo numero di punti attraverso il sistema del club dei giocatori. Ho trovato un gioco di videopoker con un basso margine della casa, Jacks or Better, che pagava con una scala di pagamento di 9/6 (cioè pagamenti di full-house e colore, la scala di pagamento più desiderabile per questo gioco che ha un rendimento atteso di 99,46% per una strategia semplice). Sapevo di aver bisogno di 2000 punti per ottenere il buffet, quindi ho affrontato i calcoli per capire se ne valesse la pena o meno.

First, I need to find out how many points I get for playing a $5 hand of video poker. If, for example, each $5 hand accrues 10 points, I need to play 200 hands to accumulate 2000 points, which at $5 per hand, runs $1000 through the machine (you don’t put $1000 into the machine – you’re winning and losing from your original buy-in, but $1000 is “run through” the machine with 200 hands at $5 a hand). My expected loss for 200 hands, using the .54% house edge, is $1000*.0054 = $5.40. If you pay out of pocket, the cost of the buffet is $25.00 – so instead of paying $25.00, we pay $5.40 through the mathematical expectation of our video poker game and save ourselves $20.00 on a good dinner. That doesn’t count the other perks from that casino or player’s card. Those perks make that type of play and the variance that comes with it worth it in the long run.

We’re here to talk about blackjack, though – so let’s get back to it. One fun fact about Missouri is that it’s similar to Atlantic City – you can’t be barred from a casino for counting cards. While card counting isn’t illegal anywhere in the U.S, most other states allow casinos to pick their patrons. A casino is a private property, and they’re able to bar whomever they want; some casinos seem to thoroughly enjoy barring card-counters. We’ll come back to that. I found another casino, casino A, with a good game of blackjack. I was told that it was a bit intolerant of card counters, but I was on the road and didn’t intend to return anytime soon. I played for a few hours without any discernible cover, and I did well. The pit-boss scowled in my direction as I colored up. I figured they’d had enough for one day.

The hour was getting late, and I was ready to pack up. I hopped into my rental car, a gray Toyota Yaris. To say it’s a compact car isn’t telling the whole story – I’m amazed it’s supported by 4 wheels.

Mi diressi verso un vicino Wal-Mart, mi accoccolai sul sedile posteriore e mi appisolai al suono dei carrelli trasportati nel parcheggio da una povera anima che faceva il turno di notte. Ho già detto che la vita di un giocatore d'azzardo professionista è raramente lussuosa?

(Suggerimento di viaggio 2: spesso è possibile pernottare in una Cracker Barrel o Walmart. Wal-Mart è dotato di luci e telecamere, anche se prima di passare la notte dovreste verificare di essere in un'area sicura che consente il parcheggio notturno. Inoltre, se avete un abbonamento a Planet o LA Fitness, potete allenarvi e fare la doccia mentre siete in viaggio, risparmiando centinaia di euro sui costi dell'hotel. Se riuscite a farlo per un periodo prolungato, consideratevi dei guerrieri della strada).

Il mattino seguente fui accolto di buon'ora dal sole cocente e decisi che era giunto il momento di muovermi. Dopo un'altra giornata di esplorazione e dopo aver approfittato di un'altra opportunità che avevo trovato, mi incontrai di nuovo con John e un altro giocatore di vantaggio itinerante che chiameremo Luke. Luke era un uomo del sud con un forte accento che si era recentemente ritirato dal gioco di vantaggio ed era in viaggio per raccogliere gli ultimi comps. Ci incontrammo al Casinò B, bevemmo un paio di drink e decidemmo di divertirci un po'. (Nota: in genere sconsiglio di farsi vedere con altri giocatori di vantaggio all'interno di un casinò, ma io non stavo giocando e non avevo intenzione di tornare presto).

We split up and descended onto the casino floor like a hit-squad. John branched off to hammer the main floor while Luke and I tackled the high-limit room. We went to two different tables and started to play. The count rose and fell like the tide, and we jumped our bets accordingly. The casino pit seemed flustered, running from my table back to his when each dealer shouted “checks play” to signify a large bet being placed. They couldn’t keep up. I could only imagine the confusion with John playing nearby. We played this way for about an hour until another pit boss arrived. I saw them convene at the computer, looking over a video of Luke’s play alongside his information. I crept away to the bathroom and sent him a message about the pit activity – he cut his play short and retired to his comped hotel room and offered me a spare bed. I played on for a bit before retiring as well. Thanks to our teamwork, he avoided countermeasures, and I was able to forego Wal-Mart for a night.

The following day I went back to Casino A to see if I could press my luck a bit more and follow up with my positive variance from the first visit. As soon as I sat down at a table to play, the phone in the pit rang, and the pit-boss answered and looked discretely in my direction. This has happened before the majority of my back-offs and is one huge indication that the pit is concerned about your presence or knows who you are (though it can also mean a number of other things – so don’t always run at first glance – use your eyes and ears).

“Do you know his name?” he nearly spat into the receiver. I smiled – they didn’t.  The pit-boss hung up the phone and walked over to the dealer and whispered in her ear. The next round, the dealer only dealt a dozen cards out of a 6-deck shoe before proceeding to shuffle.

"Perché ci rimescoliamo così presto?". Chiesi con la voce più innocente possibile.

"Faccio solo quello che mi dicono", ha detto, fissandomi con aria assente.

I knew my time was up, and the casino would soon send a flyer of my face to all of the casinos in the area – complete with a description of my play, my vehicle, and every bit of information they could muster or fabricate. I tipped my hat and left with my chips, avoiding the cashier where the best cameras could be found.

Era ora di rimettersi in viaggio.

Parte seconda