Hi All,
I've posted a couple times but never did an intro so this covers that and my first trip to the Casino. So anyhow a week or so before Christmas I decided I wanted to learn to count. It branched off from simply learning basic strategy over at the WizardofOdds to realizing that if I was going to bother doing that I may as well really give myself a true advantage and learn to count. While searching around looking for the rules of the two CT casinos so I could learn the right strategy I bumped into this site and have been reading a lot here ever since. A big thank you to all that freely share their expertise!
I also saw the link to the Blackjack School on the sidebar and proceeded to go through that as well (minus the flash cards - I used online tools instead though I do use real cards for deck countdowns). I picked up CasinoVerite and that has been a great tool for simulating play at the table.
Forward a few weeks and I'm curious as to where I was really standing so I decided to take a trip to visit one of the two warring tribes who has a 8 deck, S17, DAS, late surrender, 75-80% pen game recommended by some others on this site.
Now, they advertise a $5min game on the radio but let me say that if you go there early on a Saturday afternoon you are ****-out-of-luck ( I work “normal” hours and I was already halfway there on another errand so I decided to go). $5? Yeah, two tables fully occupied which were then raised to $15min. OK $10 table...took me a ½ hour to find a seat at one of those: back counting? Wonging? Forget it. Play all or go home or wait ½ hr to 1hr for a seat.
Anyhow I finally grabbed a $10min seat. I was there to practice/learn/learn what I'm missing so I was going to play. I guess I should mention I'm using Hi-Lo with the Sweet 16 and (obviously) late surrender. And it went well. The cards were coming out and I found I was able to keep the RC and able to figure the TC and “get into the act” with the other players at the table – cheering, groaning, etc...small talk – no real conversations, but they weren't folks I'd normally talk to anyway. The dealing was actually slower than what you get using the CV program which helped.
Now all was not roses. I did lose the RC once. Forgot if it was -1 or +1 so I set it to -1 and kept going. I made two (that I recognized) strategy errors – didn't hit a 4 card 15 that I should have and didn't split 9s against (hmm I forget.... I think a 9). They also then raised my table to $15min and didn't grandfather us which I though was shitty. I also need work on deck estimation LATE in the shoe in the 2.5-1.5 decks remaining area, thankfully I didn't have any counts where this was an issue but I did have trouble figuring if it was 5.5 or 6 or 6 or 6.5 decks in the discard tray.
I only had one shoe which justified a max bet (TC +6) or +4 or +5 for that matter. Unfortunately the cards weren't with me there and I got hammered pretty good – oh the good cards came out, just not to me. Let me tell you it was HARD to throw out that first $40 bet. It was even harder to lose it then proceed to throw out 3-4 more, then have to go up to $50 and one at $60. I got one BJ in the high counts that saved my ass and I only ended dropping $120 on the day (a lot more on that specific shoe). Combined with having to overbet in the low counts it worked out fairly well.
My favorite part of the day was the table talk. Everyone was on aghast when I doubled soft18 vs 6. “OMG!!!”
“Your're just greedy!” “Your taking the dealers bust card!” Hell even the backup dealer said I was “Taking her bust card”. :laugh: The second time I did it they really spazed. Later when I didn't vs a 7 they were “We though you'd double that too”. I said (and shouldn't have) “Well of course not against a 7”. Them: “What's the difference?” Amazing. Really amazing, I haven't played BJ at a casino in years (craps yes but not BJ) and forgot how people talk although the threads here reminded me.
That's it for now.
Good cards,
Waterrat
I've posted a couple times but never did an intro so this covers that and my first trip to the Casino. So anyhow a week or so before Christmas I decided I wanted to learn to count. It branched off from simply learning basic strategy over at the WizardofOdds to realizing that if I was going to bother doing that I may as well really give myself a true advantage and learn to count. While searching around looking for the rules of the two CT casinos so I could learn the right strategy I bumped into this site and have been reading a lot here ever since. A big thank you to all that freely share their expertise!
I also saw the link to the Blackjack School on the sidebar and proceeded to go through that as well (minus the flash cards - I used online tools instead though I do use real cards for deck countdowns). I picked up CasinoVerite and that has been a great tool for simulating play at the table.
Forward a few weeks and I'm curious as to where I was really standing so I decided to take a trip to visit one of the two warring tribes who has a 8 deck, S17, DAS, late surrender, 75-80% pen game recommended by some others on this site.
Now, they advertise a $5min game on the radio but let me say that if you go there early on a Saturday afternoon you are ****-out-of-luck ( I work “normal” hours and I was already halfway there on another errand so I decided to go). $5? Yeah, two tables fully occupied which were then raised to $15min. OK $10 table...took me a ½ hour to find a seat at one of those: back counting? Wonging? Forget it. Play all or go home or wait ½ hr to 1hr for a seat.
Anyhow I finally grabbed a $10min seat. I was there to practice/learn/learn what I'm missing so I was going to play. I guess I should mention I'm using Hi-Lo with the Sweet 16 and (obviously) late surrender. And it went well. The cards were coming out and I found I was able to keep the RC and able to figure the TC and “get into the act” with the other players at the table – cheering, groaning, etc...small talk – no real conversations, but they weren't folks I'd normally talk to anyway. The dealing was actually slower than what you get using the CV program which helped.
Now all was not roses. I did lose the RC once. Forgot if it was -1 or +1 so I set it to -1 and kept going. I made two (that I recognized) strategy errors – didn't hit a 4 card 15 that I should have and didn't split 9s against (hmm I forget.... I think a 9). They also then raised my table to $15min and didn't grandfather us which I though was shitty. I also need work on deck estimation LATE in the shoe in the 2.5-1.5 decks remaining area, thankfully I didn't have any counts where this was an issue but I did have trouble figuring if it was 5.5 or 6 or 6 or 6.5 decks in the discard tray.
I only had one shoe which justified a max bet (TC +6) or +4 or +5 for that matter. Unfortunately the cards weren't with me there and I got hammered pretty good – oh the good cards came out, just not to me. Let me tell you it was HARD to throw out that first $40 bet. It was even harder to lose it then proceed to throw out 3-4 more, then have to go up to $50 and one at $60. I got one BJ in the high counts that saved my ass and I only ended dropping $120 on the day (a lot more on that specific shoe). Combined with having to overbet in the low counts it worked out fairly well.
My favorite part of the day was the table talk. Everyone was on aghast when I doubled soft18 vs 6. “OMG!!!”
“Your're just greedy!” “Your taking the dealers bust card!” Hell even the backup dealer said I was “Taking her bust card”. :laugh: The second time I did it they really spazed. Later when I didn't vs a 7 they were “We though you'd double that too”. I said (and shouldn't have) “Well of course not against a 7”. Them: “What's the difference?” Amazing. Really amazing, I haven't played BJ at a casino in years (craps yes but not BJ) and forgot how people talk although the threads here reminded me.That's it for now.
Good cards,
Waterrat
