Sonny said:
Here’s a better plan:
-Don’t play at places that sweat a $5 player. That way you can play a strong game without using any costly cover. If you’re playing with nickels then you can’t afford to use cover anyway. If you don't want to stick out, go to places that will ignore you.
-If you absolutely need to use cover, try playing a stronger game with a smaller spread. A 1-10 spread in a SD game is going to get heat no matter what. Try using a 1-6 spread and learn more indices, use more precise TC conversions, sit out a few negative hands, play faster, be alert for sloppy dealers (mistakes are easy to use to your advantage) or other things like that.
It's very, very hard to make a 1-6 spread perform like a 1-10 one, no matter how many indices you use. SD is a very special game, and in my experience your EV is going to depend on two things:
1) RO7 (or better!) pen. There is no substitute.
2) Avoiding crowds, so that you can always get 2 and only 2 hands in the game. This is just as hard as finding RO7.
Get these, and you can make money hand over fist with a 1-4 spread, and as long as you are not bumping against table limits you can get down an even bigger effective spread with betting cover. My favorite spread for SD involves playing one type of progression in high counts and a different type of progression in low counts. Together they equal... a generous spread! But a person who isn't analyzing very carefully is going to just see progression betting.
Sonny said:
-Wong around a bit more. This is very powerful in shoe games and it can be used quite well in pitch games too. Not only does it increase your advantage but it also makes your sobriety seem less suspicious. You can Wong around for hours with the same drink in your hand, and it doesn't even have to be alcoholic. Most people assume that any drink with soda has a shot of liquor in it.
There’s nothing wrong with having a few beers while you play, but don’t be fooled into thinking that it doesn’t affect your game. Any impairment, no matter how slight, is going to cause you to make mistakes or miss opportunities that you could have used to your advantage if you were more sober. Maybe you could have caught the burn card if you were paying closer attention, or seen that what next card in the deck is when the dealer almost drew to a hard 18 (it happens more than you would imagine with super-fast dealers). Maybe your TC conversions would have been faster and more accurate.
-Sonny-
Alcohol is such an individual thing. I drink a triple Grey Goose martini every night anyway, it would make me feel off-balance to not have such a thing while playing! Fortunately I'm one of those people that alcohol does not affect my emotions at all, just my sensations, and feeling dizzy or woozy is a lot less of a risk at the table than if you feel lucky, or brave, or depressed or desperate when you drink.
(Funny story from the table this week: an Arab guy is playing at my table, and he starts chanting in Arabic. Me: "Are you praying?" He:"No, I'm high." He played like it too! :laugh: )
Fatigue is something I watch out for even more, because you can keep track of how much you've had to drink, but it's a lot harder to judge how tired you are, and fatigue will affect my emotions. It also makes my vision go to hell, especially in smoky casinos. So I make it a point to always get my sleep in on BJ trips, whether I think I need it or not. My general rule of thumb for alcohol, fatigue, or any other state I might be in is that if I wouldn't want to drive this way, I shouldn't be playing this way (and vice versa.) Time to take a break, get something to eat, or call it a day.
