halcyon1234
Well-Known Member
Hey, folks. I just got back from my first real live, full blown, gosh darn-its-true counting trip.
My brother and I trooped down from Toronto to Niagara Falls to hit Fallsview. He's a poker player, I'm a blackjack/sorta poker player. I told him straight out "If I'm betting big, you can bet more without worry. If I'm at table min, don't screw around. And if I take insurance on the first hand at table min-- don't." =)
We got there around 1, and got into the groove. Scoped out the tables and signed up for poker-- which worked out synergistically perfect. From the $10 and $15 non-CSM table, you have a clear view of the Poker Wait List board-- which we were a respectable distance down. So we stood behind the tables, chatted, cheered for the blackjack players, and I made a point of constantly looking over at the Poker board. Once the dealers shuffled, I started backcounting. I quickly eliminated the $10 table, since it tanked to TC -2 almost right away. The other table went up to TC +1.5 almost right away. Sure, it was a $15 table, and my unit is $5-- but my 1.5 bet is 3 units. So I gave a loud sigh, complained about how long poker's taking, and told the table I'd turn their luck around (after the dealer drew a 21 than was worth +5RC
).
The table was right out of a Blackjack stereotype! First base was a grizzled vetran who refused to play who "stupid players had money on the table". To my left, a wisened old asian man who dispensed sagely advice on how to play, and gave people victory taps when we beat the dealer. And third base were two slightly inebreated college dudes who wouldn't hit a 14 against a 10 (which is why the grizzled vetran was sitting out and scowling). The pit was almost non existant, but I kept the act up-- donkey poker player out of his game. Looking to the poker board for my wong-out. Asking how to split. Getting over excited about pairs. Cheering for busts and booing "suck outs". My big bets went out (8 units, sometimes 15!), and I ended up almost 100 units. ($500, starting BR $800-- I know, I know). Another shoe, another high count-- and it ends JUST as my name goes up on the board. Woot. Perfect excuse to wong out without drawing heat.
Actually, not only did I not draw heat-- but I also managed to get a buffet comped! :laugh: When you win $500, but rathole $650, they like you. Now, I was trying to get a free room due to the massive freaking ice storm that was rolling through the region, shutting down roadways and knocking out power-- but alas, new player doesn't get that much love.
I sat down for some poker, and I can identify that as my mistake for the night. =) After my second $100 buy it got busted, I should have just taken my money and gone back to the tables. Alas, I ended up losing ~$350 to poker. I claim some bad moves (must listen to my instincts more), and also being card dead for 5 hours. You know how often you should see pocket pairs? About once every sixteen hands. You know how many I saw? ONE. Okay, two-- but the dealer accidently flipped one of my cards and redealt. Everything else-- 7-2, 8-3, K-2-- crap, crap, crap. And being on the same table as a luck box who, I swear this is true, got SEVEN quads and fullhouses in a row... bad.
In the end, I'm still up a bit. So we hit the (free) buffet. The Grand at Fallsview-- I'm not much of a buffet person-- but it was good. Everything was fresh and tasty, and there was enough to have a little bit of a of different things. Oh yeah, and I put my rathole skills to use again-- and snuck out about six gourmet cookies to bring back to my girlfriend. =) (Ultimate irony: The brand of napkins I used to do this with? "Swipes")
After dinner, poker was an enormous wait, and the roads were only starting to improve. So we backbenched some blackjack tables again. There were two games in progress (too far in to count)-- including a $25/$500 game. And when I say $25/$500 game-- I mean it was a $500 game. I know there's high rollers-- but I've never actually seen someone sit down and casually start playing two hands of $500 each. (In a negative count at that--- hah!)
Soon enough, a couple tables break up, and I can backcount after a shuffle. A $10 table quickly zings up to TC +2. Before hand, I told my brother "sit down with me, flat bet, and if I'm betting big, increase your bets."
Now this table, for a first timer-- I must say I am very proud of. I got to do freaking everything over the course of about six shoes. When I first sat down, a very friend pit critter came over. We talked for a bit-- but university and teacher's college and living in urban areas and alternate routes home-- all while I was counting. I had to give him the "one second" while I played my own hand-- and used the "I'm at the end of a 9 hour session and I'm thinking of ways to get home" excuse to the max for seeming a bit distracted. I might have missed a RC +/-1 here and there-- but it was going up and down like a horse on rubber stilts. And it was an 8 deck game, so the fuzziness didn't really impact much. I tried to get a room comp from him-- and he really, really tried. (Plus it got him busy for a good ten minutes =) ). Alas, he couldn't since I'm still a new player, but I thanked him anyways. Complimented him on a fine pit, great dealers, and that he's good luck (whenever I won a hand while talking to him).
There was even a time during a new shoe where the count tanked a bit. I kept telling my brother that we'd leave when "I get a call from my H (my girlfriend)" code for when the count tanks. It was starting to go down, so I stood up, moved a bit away from the table, and whipped out the cell. Talked to friend critter about cell providers and reception while "checking my messages" (and back counting). And then some other pitboss wanders up and barks at me "move AWAY from the tables with the phone!" I didn't argue, but friend critter turns to him and says "Dude, he's far enough away. Try being nice" LOL! Having a critter defend you while you're actively counting-- priceless.
Eventually, the deck ran dry. By my count, I was up a few more bucks. By the pit's count, I was down about one fifty (but that's because they didn't know about my rathole :laugh: ). I shrugged while I was coloring up, saying "Win some, lose some, right?" Thanked the critter for trying to get the room, for the good coversation, and a fun night.
By then, the roads had mostly cleared. Thank goodness for snow tires, though! Slush, ice, snow everywhere. And trucks barrelling down at 130km/h. wtf?
Oh yeah, and while driving past a power station, we got to see a transformer explode. Right next to the highway, about 100 metres off. A huge blue flash lit the sky, and off to the left-- giant blue explosion of sparks. Power's out in various places around Toronto. Fun!
So what I learned:
1) If I'm up a month of rent, just fusking stop already! =) $100 is nice, but $500 is better
2) Wonging rocks
3) Cover plays are fun
4) Don't get used to winning. Being up 20 units over 3 hours is not a bad haul, but it's above average. Thank the gambling gods, beg their forgiveness for misusing their original bounty.
So until summer time graces us with another break from school, I shall continue to practice on the kitchen table, study my indices-- and hit online monthly reloads. =)
Over'n'out.
My brother and I trooped down from Toronto to Niagara Falls to hit Fallsview. He's a poker player, I'm a blackjack/sorta poker player. I told him straight out "If I'm betting big, you can bet more without worry. If I'm at table min, don't screw around. And if I take insurance on the first hand at table min-- don't." =)
We got there around 1, and got into the groove. Scoped out the tables and signed up for poker-- which worked out synergistically perfect. From the $10 and $15 non-CSM table, you have a clear view of the Poker Wait List board-- which we were a respectable distance down. So we stood behind the tables, chatted, cheered for the blackjack players, and I made a point of constantly looking over at the Poker board. Once the dealers shuffled, I started backcounting. I quickly eliminated the $10 table, since it tanked to TC -2 almost right away. The other table went up to TC +1.5 almost right away. Sure, it was a $15 table, and my unit is $5-- but my 1.5 bet is 3 units. So I gave a loud sigh, complained about how long poker's taking, and told the table I'd turn their luck around (after the dealer drew a 21 than was worth +5RC
).The table was right out of a Blackjack stereotype! First base was a grizzled vetran who refused to play who "stupid players had money on the table". To my left, a wisened old asian man who dispensed sagely advice on how to play, and gave people victory taps when we beat the dealer. And third base were two slightly inebreated college dudes who wouldn't hit a 14 against a 10 (which is why the grizzled vetran was sitting out and scowling). The pit was almost non existant, but I kept the act up-- donkey poker player out of his game. Looking to the poker board for my wong-out. Asking how to split. Getting over excited about pairs. Cheering for busts and booing "suck outs". My big bets went out (8 units, sometimes 15!), and I ended up almost 100 units. ($500, starting BR $800-- I know, I know). Another shoe, another high count-- and it ends JUST as my name goes up on the board. Woot. Perfect excuse to wong out without drawing heat.
Actually, not only did I not draw heat-- but I also managed to get a buffet comped! :laugh: When you win $500, but rathole $650, they like you. Now, I was trying to get a free room due to the massive freaking ice storm that was rolling through the region, shutting down roadways and knocking out power-- but alas, new player doesn't get that much love.
I sat down for some poker, and I can identify that as my mistake for the night. =) After my second $100 buy it got busted, I should have just taken my money and gone back to the tables. Alas, I ended up losing ~$350 to poker. I claim some bad moves (must listen to my instincts more), and also being card dead for 5 hours. You know how often you should see pocket pairs? About once every sixteen hands. You know how many I saw? ONE. Okay, two-- but the dealer accidently flipped one of my cards and redealt. Everything else-- 7-2, 8-3, K-2-- crap, crap, crap. And being on the same table as a luck box who, I swear this is true, got SEVEN quads and fullhouses in a row... bad.
In the end, I'm still up a bit. So we hit the (free) buffet. The Grand at Fallsview-- I'm not much of a buffet person-- but it was good. Everything was fresh and tasty, and there was enough to have a little bit of a of different things. Oh yeah, and I put my rathole skills to use again-- and snuck out about six gourmet cookies to bring back to my girlfriend. =) (Ultimate irony: The brand of napkins I used to do this with? "Swipes")
After dinner, poker was an enormous wait, and the roads were only starting to improve. So we backbenched some blackjack tables again. There were two games in progress (too far in to count)-- including a $25/$500 game. And when I say $25/$500 game-- I mean it was a $500 game. I know there's high rollers-- but I've never actually seen someone sit down and casually start playing two hands of $500 each. (In a negative count at that--- hah!)
Soon enough, a couple tables break up, and I can backcount after a shuffle. A $10 table quickly zings up to TC +2. Before hand, I told my brother "sit down with me, flat bet, and if I'm betting big, increase your bets."
Now this table, for a first timer-- I must say I am very proud of. I got to do freaking everything over the course of about six shoes. When I first sat down, a very friend pit critter came over. We talked for a bit-- but university and teacher's college and living in urban areas and alternate routes home-- all while I was counting. I had to give him the "one second" while I played my own hand-- and used the "I'm at the end of a 9 hour session and I'm thinking of ways to get home" excuse to the max for seeming a bit distracted. I might have missed a RC +/-1 here and there-- but it was going up and down like a horse on rubber stilts. And it was an 8 deck game, so the fuzziness didn't really impact much. I tried to get a room comp from him-- and he really, really tried. (Plus it got him busy for a good ten minutes =) ). Alas, he couldn't since I'm still a new player, but I thanked him anyways. Complimented him on a fine pit, great dealers, and that he's good luck (whenever I won a hand while talking to him).
There was even a time during a new shoe where the count tanked a bit. I kept telling my brother that we'd leave when "I get a call from my H (my girlfriend)" code for when the count tanks. It was starting to go down, so I stood up, moved a bit away from the table, and whipped out the cell. Talked to friend critter about cell providers and reception while "checking my messages" (and back counting). And then some other pitboss wanders up and barks at me "move AWAY from the tables with the phone!" I didn't argue, but friend critter turns to him and says "Dude, he's far enough away. Try being nice" LOL! Having a critter defend you while you're actively counting-- priceless.
Eventually, the deck ran dry. By my count, I was up a few more bucks. By the pit's count, I was down about one fifty (but that's because they didn't know about my rathole :laugh: ). I shrugged while I was coloring up, saying "Win some, lose some, right?" Thanked the critter for trying to get the room, for the good coversation, and a fun night.
By then, the roads had mostly cleared. Thank goodness for snow tires, though! Slush, ice, snow everywhere. And trucks barrelling down at 130km/h. wtf?
Oh yeah, and while driving past a power station, we got to see a transformer explode. Right next to the highway, about 100 metres off. A huge blue flash lit the sky, and off to the left-- giant blue explosion of sparks. Power's out in various places around Toronto. Fun!
So what I learned:
1) If I'm up a month of rent, just fusking stop already! =) $100 is nice, but $500 is better
2) Wonging rocks
3) Cover plays are fun
4) Don't get used to winning. Being up 20 units over 3 hours is not a bad haul, but it's above average. Thank the gambling gods, beg their forgiveness for misusing their original bounty.
So until summer time graces us with another break from school, I shall continue to practice on the kitchen table, study my indices-- and hit online monthly reloads. =)
Over'n'out.
