your worst losing streaks

I just went through a losing streak in which I won 38 out of 118 bets, (38 wins , 80 loses, I count blackjacks as 1.5, and double downs as 2 either way). Any similar or even worse experiences?

Im curious to other peoples losing streaks or winning streaks for that matter, I think the most hands I won or lost in a row are 18

Just for fun.

I watched a friend go into the "High Stakes" room (6-decks) with a couple of $K and come out $4k ahead. He then went to the main floor and sat down at a $10 BJ table and played heads-up against the dealer and literally lost every hand in an 8-deck shoe.

He left the table and Played Roulette just for fun, and made several hundred more. He doesn't count, doesn't need the money, and plays because he enjoys it. (The dirty rat.) :laugh:

23 in a row

I have had three streaks of over 20 hands losing in a row. I think my longest is 23 but I might be off by a hand or so and did not count doubles as 2 so you might consider it longer.

ihate17

varaience is a bitch and a saint

i wouldn't call it a losing streak just a day of really bad varience. It was just two days ago so i can still feel the burn.
I am not sure how many hands I played but I spent 6 hours at my favourite casino wonging in and out. At the end of it I was down 72 units. maybe nothing special to most of the regulars here, but for me who just started playing it was really unpleasant and it was my biggest loss so far.

I only got 2 BJ, both with my minimum bet out. I found quite a few oportunities to but my max bet out but it usually went like this:

get 11 against dealer 10. double down for a ten to 21 only to see the dealer pull an ace BJ.

next day I went to another casino and won 55 units in one shoe(6d). I don't think I lost more than one or two hands.

it sure would be comfortable if you could just cash out your supposed advantage with out this blessed/damned varaience but i geuss that wouldn't be as interesting

I don't keep track but honestly don't believe I've ever lost more than 10-12 hands in a row.
Same thing with winning,but the last day at The Sands,a fellow playing at my table commented the dealer had busted 12 hands in a row,and then busted twice more after that. I think I won each of those hands.

A few weeks ago, I lost 7 out of 8 ten unit bets on a positive count. Dealer pulled 3 BJs in a row!

I have twice spread from $10-$50 in a deeply cut 2 deck game and lost $700 in one session (2-3 hours).

[Qget 11 against dealer 10. double down for a ten to 21 only to see the dealer pull an ace BJ.

You got the wrong BS play mate. You are playing European BJ and you are using the wrong BS chart

Unfortunately losing streaks are longer and more frequent than winning streaks, no matter whether you are counting or not. The dealer can get the good hands instead of you, and if you are not getting the double down hands or BJ, then counting does not help. That makes card counting so frustrating, I have my doubts about anyone's long term success based on my own many years of playing. For all the extra work that counting involves, is it worth it?

Mr. T said:

[Qget 11 against dealer 10. double down for a ten to 21 only to see the dealer pull an ace BJ.

You got the wrong BS play mate. You are playing European BJ and you are using the wrong BS chart

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actually i am sure that i have the right BS. They do deal all cards face up and the dealer don't get a hole card. But I lose original bet only to BJ which makes it the same as american BJ rules in all but practise. . since it is H17 I am even supposed to dubble on 11 against ace

I am wondering:

Has anyone documented that has played often for five plus years whether you have an overall profit, even if a small profit, using a counting system. I bet they are few and far between. Anyway, I have given up counting as simply I have NOT experienced overall wins in 5 plus years of counting. Another way that I like better that has worked better for me recently is to play at one table and make level bets until you lose four hands in a row, then quit that table, then increase your level bet by one unit on the next table if behind after the first series and start the same four loss series system. Starting with $5 bets, if losing after the first series then $10, $15, $20, and stay at this $20 max level until a winning series with changing tables after the four losses. If you are losing on each series then go up in $5 increments on each series going no higher than $20. If win on a series, go down one level only and start over, when you get down to the $5 base level again consider quitting that session IF you have an overall profit, example: win at $15 level after the four losses, next series is $10 level. $500 session bankroll. You have to quit some time and you dont want to quit while winning and you dont want to stay on a losing table sequence. I have done better, although limited sessions on this non counting system, than the counting. Anyway counting does carry more risk as you are making big bets with positive counts that are no guaranteed wins as we know. Many sessions I know that I have lost more hands than won with positive counts when the dealer gets the ten card showing and I am sitting there with 15, when the odds were suppose to be in my favor. So why put yourself thru this counting ordeal, unless you are showing positive results, which I did not. You may want to give my above betting strategy a try, and if so give us the results which might just be favorable like I have experienced in 4 winning sessions vs no losses to date.

davidmcclung said:

Unfortunately losing streaks are longer and more frequent than winning streaks, no matter whether you are counting or not. The dealer can get the good hands instead of you, and if you are not getting the double down hands or BJ, then counting does not help. That makes card counting so frustrating, I have my doubts about anyone's long term success based on my own many years of playing. For all the extra work that counting involves, is it worth it?

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If you honestly have been counting and losing for years,its fairly safe to say that counting isn't for you.
Looking back at your experiances,do you think a martingale would have worked better for you? Oscars Grind? Or another system? Or is BJ just too tough for you?Perhaps you should just flat bet and comp count.
If someone has repeated an experiment over and over,and gotten results different from the norm,you need to look at all aspects of the experiment,not just the results.

davidmcclung said:

Has anyone documented that has played often for five plus years whether they have an overall profit using a counting system.

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My records go back about 7 years and they show a nice overall profit.

davidmcclung said:

I am wondering if simply a negative progression that lets you lose more times than wins and still produce a session profit would do better overall, with less effort.

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A negative progression will produce many small wins and a few huge losses. Unfortunately, the huge loss will more than wipe out all of the profit from the small wins. It will still show an overall loss.

davidmcclung said:

Many sessions I know that I have lost more hands than won with positive counts when the dealer gets the ten card showing and I am sitting there with 15, when the odds were suppose to be in my favor.

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Even in positive counts you will still lose more hands than you win. The reason that positive counts are more profitable is because you will win more money on the “money hands” like blackjacks, doubles and insurance. It has nothing to do with the number of hands you win. This is a very important concept.

-Sonny-

davidmcclung said:

Has anyone documented that has played often for five plus years whether you have an overall profit, even if a small profit, using a counting system. I bet they are few and far between.

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I have only been playing for 6 months and have already doubled my starting bankroll.

21forme said:

A few weeks ago, I lost 7 out of 8 ten unit bets on a positive count. Dealer pulled 3 BJs in a row!

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Hope you at least got a couple insurances out of that.

EasyRhino said:

Hope you at least got a couple insurances out of that.

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On one. The other two had the T showing.

Counting is worth it provided you have a large enough bankroll for a large enough EV so that you can move around without travel expenses bogging you down. If you don't have that bankroll it is still worth it as long as you can play tons of hours whenever you want. That is why there are video poker pros. Way smaller advantage but they can put in 80 hours a week with no cover. Counting is not worth it for the recreational player who's casino's heat prevents them from camping out and reaching the longrun faster.

Enjoy when it's good, but don't forget to keep learning along the way!

I've been playing about 4 months as well... started with $100 and brought it up to $500. I was a happy camper. But... after another month, I'm back to -$100. I'm thinking this is probably the way it goes in the beginning??

Not just the beginning!

kmartonik said:

I've been playing about 4 months as well... started with $100 and brought it up to $500. I was a happy camper. But... after another month, I'm back to -$100. I'm thinking this is probably the way it goes in the beginning??

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Actually, that's kind of the way it always goes. You get used to it. You hope that the wild swings in the bankroll will have an upward bias to them over time.

blackjacksquirrel said:

actually i am sure that i have the right BS. They do deal all cards face up and the dealer don't get a hole card. But I lose original bet only to BJ which makes it the same as american BJ rules in all but practise. . since it is H17 I am even supposed to dubble on 11 against ace

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Yes you have the right BS play. Yes it is bad variance.
I know we all double down 11 vs 10 and lose. What can we do. It sure hurts like hell when we double down and lose by one point