Gambling Days from Hell!!!

[Cardcounter]

I got killed playing yesterday losing about $750 and that wasn't even the worst part the worst part was that I got backed off from playing blackjack at the Siena a casino I used to love. I start off my day playing craps with $50 in match play coupons and I only bet the pass line with the coupon and take the odds and I ended up losing $445 in craps I didn't win a single hand with the match play. Than I go on to play blackjack do so so take a break eat and switch casinos to the fitgerald where I win $135 in a quick session take a bathroom break lose the $135 back plus another $560. So I take a break to do my shopping and to pull out $400 from the atm machine I come back too the Siena and play heads up with the dealer and win a $135 back and the pit boss comes up to me and says that you can no longer play blackjack I tell her that I'm getting killed today and she says to me you can not play because you are counting cards. The first time that a pit boss directly told me that I was counting cards but I have been backed off before and they never told me why but I know why!



P.S. Has any one ever called gaming control on a casino that has backed them off from playing blackjack?

 

[Sonny]

I start off my day playing craps with $50 in match play coupons and I only bet the pass line with the coupon and take the odds and I ended up losing $445 in craps…

Was the match play coupon covering your odds bet as well? That would be very surprising to me. If not, there are much better bets to make with a coupon. You want to make a bet that pays better odds than the pass line to get a better value.

Has any one ever called gaming control on a casino that has backed them off from playing blackjack?

What for? There’s nothing that Gaming can do to help you. The casino didn’t break any laws. You got caught fair and square so they have the right to tell you to leave. On the good side, you can probably go back there after a while and keep playing.

-Sonny-

 

[ihate17]

What would be your compalint to gaming?

P.S. Has any one ever called gaming control on a casino that has backed them off from playing blackjack?

Since it is well established that in Nevada a casino can refuse your bet and even go further if they wish and refuse you entrance, what would you say to gaming? I got my butt kicked at blackjack and then they said, "no more blackjack." The gaming agent would not come but if he did he probably would laugh at you.

On a more personal note to you: As a casino employee yourself, if word got to your casino that you called gaming, without real cause or perhaps even with real cause, against another casino, could it possibly effect your job security?

ihate17

 

[Cardcounter]

Stipulation of matchplay

The matchplay coupons only cover even money bets, that is why I used them on the passline and no I didn't use them on odds bets other wise I would bet them on roulette hoping to collect a 70 to 1 payout when a number hit. I had 4 seperate bets on the pass line with coupons and every single one of them lost. For the last two times I have played craps I have played it with $50 in matchplays for a total of $100 in match plays bet nothing but passline and odds and I'm down more than $500! I could use them on roulette for red and black or odd and even. I should of used the matchplays on zero commision pai gow poker.

 

[Cardcounter]

Insurance nightmare

I made about 4 or 5 insurance bets when I was pretty sure that I had an edge on the insurance bet and the dealer never had blackjack and to top it off I had bad hands that I lost most of the time.

 

[Kasi]

I made about 4 or 5 insurance bets when I was pretty sure that I had an edge on the insurance bet and the dealer never had blackjack and to top it off I had bad hands that I lost most of the time.

That might have been one of their tip-offs, especially if you had a crappy hand. What game were you playing and how? Any thoughts as to what led them to figure this out? Did you change anything at all after having been backed before?

Does casino policy allow dealers to gamble where they play on non-duty hours? Maybe only at casinos not owned by where you work? Just was wondering. No big deal.

I've never thought they cared whether you are winning or losing, that session or lifetime, they just want your seat filled by a -EV player if they perceive you're counting.

 

[creeping panther]

You should know

that these type of losses can happen, no surprise here.

I suspect you are a skilled AP making few if any mistakes. (?)

Do you think outside the box?

None the less don't whine about it, just be a "BJ Warrior", gather back your strength and confidence and attack the house again. (With the proper skillz set).

"Strength And Honor"
"Creeping Panther"

 

[Cardcounter]

My skill level!

I know what I should do when I get my hand 99% of the time and I usually do it. 1% of the time I will have to think about how to play my hand especially if the play is really close. Occasionally I will mess up a play that is correct for one set of rules but not the set of rules I'm playing. There are times when I'm not sure if I made the right play or not so I will look at pages 55 and 61 in playing blackjack as a business later on to see if I made the right play. A couple of days ago I played at my first table with surrender I just wasn't that confident in my skill level at that table so when I got back home I played the stragedy trainer again with the surrender option on and I missed a couple of plays that I should have surrendered.
I strive to play mathamatically perfect when possible and if I make errors in my playing stragedy I want them to have little impact on my EV. The right play is not always the play that will win that particular hand it is just the play that will win the most money!
My skill level of play allows me to adjust to the cards that I see in other peoples hands as well as my own hand. If I see a lot of 10's when I have 12 vs a 4 I will hit.

 

[bj bob]

Siena environment

To get a handle on why you were backed off at the Siena we need a little more info. First what day of the week and what time/s of day was it? Secondly, what was your min.bet and what spreads were you using? And finally, were the pits crowded and which of the two gals gave you the good news? River Card or no?

 

[Cardcounter]

Siena

It was a thursday and my Minimum bet was $10 and my maximum bet was 3 hands of $50. My bets off of the top of the deck where completly random I would bet any where from one hand of $10 to two hands of $40 off of the top with $30 being common. The hands off the top I bet on gut feel and the rules where such that I only had .25% disadvantage off the top so I would only lose $1 for every $400 wagered. This was my cover that I used and it worked for more than 6 months. However from the second hand on I would adjust my bet accordingly to what I bet and the count if I bet small on the first hand and the count went positive I would parlay my bet if it was negative and I happened to bet $10 on the first hand I would just bet $10 on the next hand. If I bet $30 on the first hand and the count went positive I would play 2 hands of $30 if it went negative I would play 1 hand of $10 until the shuffle. If I bet two hands of $40 and the count went positive I usually would not increase my bet at all but I would match the bet win or lose on my next hand if it went negative I would take it down to one hand of $20.
I know that my bet scheme is very confusing but I made it like that on purpose in hopes that survilance and the pit would think that I'm a ploppy who likes to change his bets. Personally when I look for card counters the first thing that I look for is somebody who frequently changes his bets and always bets the same on the first deal.

What do you think of my betting scheme?

 

[bj bob]

Let's see now

Your betting pattern does indeed seem complicated, however, after all is said and done it was still 1:15 and that's just toooo much for single deck. If you don't believe me, just confer with my alter ego. My gut tells me that your first session had been reviewed and analyzed and then when you showed up later you were in their cross-hairs.
Just a wild guess here, but The Siena either meets or beats the El Cortez for the most fatalities among our forum members here. There is a good reason for that. Just as a good sniper picks off his prey without being spotted, so too does the wiz kid upstairs at the Siena. The only proof of his existence is his body count. Most, but not all of the pit casualties there are due to excessive bet spreads, so if and when you return I would suggest playing a $25-75 single hand with one other player, ideally one with a similar bet size. Weekends are a good time to play as well, when the eye had it's focus on other games. Don't forget the small size of that pit layout is like a fish bowl to surveillance. It's hard to hide anything from it.
I could go into a lot more about that place, but I'll tackle one issue at a time. BTW, they're having a little Howdy Doody BJ tourney there on Mar. 16-17, but I guess you won't be invited now.:whip:

 

[nc-tom]

Your betting pattern does indeed seem complicated, however, after all is said and done it was still 1:15 and that's just toooo much for single deck. If you don't believe me, just confer with my alter ego. My gut tells me that your first session had been reviewed and analyzed and then when you showed up later you were in their cross-hairs.
Just a wild guess here, but The Siena either meets or beats the El Cortez for the most fatalities among our forum members here. There is a good reason for that. Just as a good sniper picks off his prey without being spotted, so too does the wiz kid upstairs at the Siena. The only proof of his existence is his body count. Most, but not all of the pit casualties there are due to excessive bet spreads, so if and when you return I would suggest playing a $25-75 single hand with one other player, ideally one with a similar bet size. Weekends are a good time to play as well, when the eye had it's focus on other games. Don't forget the small size of that pit layout is like a fish bowl to surveillance. It's hard to hide anything from it.
I could go into a lot more about that place, but I'll tackle one issue at a time. BTW, they're having a little Howdy Doody BJ tourney there on Mar. 16-17, but I guess you won't be invited now.:whip:

Well said bob from my experiance at the place going more than 1to4 or 1to 5 and playing black is sure to bring heat.For sure the guy upstairs is a tightass. Ive gotten heat playing red.

 

[bj bob]

Yeah, for sure

Well said bob from my experiance at the place going more than 1to4 or 1to 5 and playing black is sure to bring heat.For sure the guy upstairs is a tightass. Ive gotten heat playing red.

Tom, to this day I still keep memories of your unpleasant experience there in the back of my mind. For the sake of all the newcomers here 'ol N-C got the boot from the Siena playing nickels with a 2-1-5 spread while wearing a monkey suit after a wedding. Go figure!

 

[nc-tom]

It was a thursday and my Minimum bet was $10 and my maximum bet was 3 hands of $50. My bets off of the top of the deck where completly random I would bet any where from one hand of $10 to two hands of $40 off of the top with $30 being common. The hands off the top I bet on gut feel and the rules where such that I only had .25% disadvantage off the top so I would only lose $1 for every $400 wagered. This was my cover that I used and it worked for more than 6 months. However from the second hand on I would adjust my bet accordingly to what I bet and the count if I bet small on the first hand and the count went positive I would parlay my bet if it was negative and I happened to bet $10 on the first hand I would just bet $10 on the next hand. If I bet $30 on the first hand and the count went positive I would play 2 hands of $30 if it went negative I would play 1 hand of $10 until the shuffle. If I bet two hands of $40 and the count went positive I usually would not increase my bet at all but I would match the bet win or lose on my next hand if it went negative I would take it down to one hand of $20.
I know that my bet scheme is very confusing but I made it like that on purpose in hopes that survilance and the pit would think that I'm a ploppy who likes to change his bets. Personally when I look for card counters the first thing that I look for is somebody who frequently changes his bets and always bets the same on the first deal.

What do you think of my betting scheme?

dont worry CC give the place a rest for a couple of weeks then you can get back in the saddle. just lower your spread. have been back myself many times since my BO. funny place for me though I seem to have really good sessions there or really bad sessions. nothing in between

 

[EasyRhino]

I got backed off from playing blackjack at the Siena

Welcome to the club.

It was a thursday and my Minimum bet was $10 and my maximum bet was 3 hands of $50.

I just shot cola out of my nose. That's a huge spread, even with erratic betting off the top.

Also, changing the number of hands in play in single deck can have pretty unpredictable effects on penetration. I think it would depend heavily on the dealer's reaction when you're changing hands. And I probably wouldn't be able to figure out what was going on, so I probably wouldn't do it.

 

[jimbiggs]

I got killed playing yesterday losing about $750 and that wasn't even the worst part the worst part was that I got backed off from playing blackjack at the Siena a casino I used to love. I start off my day playing craps with $50 in match play coupons and I only bet the pass line with the coupon and take the odds and I ended up losing $445 in craps I didn't win a single hand with the match play. Than I go on to play blackjack do so so take a break eat and switch casinos to the fitgerald where I win $135 in a quick session take a bathroom break lose the $135 back plus another $560. So I take a break to do my shopping and to pull out $400 from the atm machine I come back too the Siena and play heads up with the dealer and win a $135 back and the pit boss comes up to me and says that you can no longer play blackjack I tell her that I'm getting killed today and she says to me you can not play because you are counting cards. The first time that a pit boss directly told me that I was counting cards but I have been backed off before and they never told me why but I know why!



P.S. Has any one ever called gaming control on a casino that has backed them off from playing blackjack?

What the hell? I hope this wasn't the same woman you gave the chocolate coverd macadamia nuts to. Please tell me it was somebody else.

 

[Jeff25]

funny place for me though I seem to have really good sessions there or really bad sessions. nothing in between

I've had the same expereice at one of my local joints, big wins and big losses, nothing in between. There are also two casinos that I cant seem to loose at and one that I could never win at. The funny part is that im still playing at the two winning casinos but I was tossed from the casino that I always lost at.

 

[Cardcounter]

No it wasn't

No this was not the same person that I gave the Choclate covered macodamina nuts too. Maybe I should of gave some more out to more members of the pit crew. Maybe I wouldn't have gotten kicked out. I earned 2 tickets for the progressive egg drawing this time most of the time I just earn 1 and have too work anyway.