Getting ready to rock'n'roll

[Tarzan]

I've only made one trip to AC for the week, being lazy and just having odds and ends to do for upcoming holiday, putting those damn elves to work! I slept all day, relaxed this evening and played a few shoes at the table in the den with real cards, played a bit on the computer and flipped over cards doing drills a bit and I'm coming up on time to get showered and get going...it's almost 2AM. There's always a period of getting mentally prepared to go with me that has become almost ritualistic.
In the one trip I did thus far for the week, I did a quick stop at Borgata playing an hour at the low stakes table and got quickly bored with that and went to the boardwalk casinos where I pumped up the betting and did okay but I am a far cry from the consistently great weekly average that I have had for the last few months with only one trip in. At Borgata I didn't see a good count worth betting all that high on in the several shoes I played. The cards were "well mixed", they have autoshufflers at their low stakes tables), so I stuck to pathetically small bets for the most part never seeing any good time to start whacking out 500 max bets or anything. The $15,000 I brought to play on never left my pocket! It got somewhat better than the whopping $55 I made at Borgata at the other stops but not much so it's been a tough week! You can play and watch a heck of a long time before you see a great count that is worth pushing it out on sometimes and other days it's golden right at the very first shoe! Nature of the beast, I guess.
Does anyone else have any "ritualistic" preparedness that they do prior to going the way I do with flipping over cards doing drills and such? For me it's a matter of feeling that I am totally in tune with accomplishing the task at hand and being properly prepared to "go into battle". I review notations of previous play and money management, make comparisons to data on bjmath.com and a few books, I flip through cards doing drills, play a few shoes on both my table at home and on the computer and just spend a few hours with this whole process before I shower and go.
Am I nuts and just sweat it too much or does anyone else do stuff the way I do prior to a playing session? I play about 4-6 days a week normally, aside from this last week and STILL go through this whole mental preparedness thing for a few hours prior to each trip down the street to the casinos.

 

[Split10]

you are not alone:laugh:
i play a shoe or two of real cards, and then do some drills before bed.

 

[rollem411]

You brought $15,000 in your pocket?!

 

[InPlay]

For "ritualistic" I spread 6 decks of cards on the floor. Then I start to dance naked around them chanting Blackjack, Monkey, Bust you Mother F----R, a few hundred times as this usually whips me into a frenzey. Also the wearing of the garlic wreaths to ward off fellow players. (Only wear if you want a private table.) I also like to bring out the old Vodoo replica of the casino I play in and stick a few pins in them. If things have been going bad for you on your last couple of trips you can always do a sacrifice to the BLACKJACK GODS. This usually puts me in the mood to play cards.

 

[eps6724]

For "ritualistic" I spread 6 decks of cards on the floor. Then I start to dance naked around them chanting Blackjack, Monkey, Bust you Mother F----R, a few hundred times as this usually whips me into a frenzey. Also the wearing of the garlic wreaths to ward off fellow players. (Only wear if you want a private table.) I also like to bring out the old Vodoo replica of the casino I play in and stick a few pins in them. If things have been going bad for you on your last couple of trips you can always do a sacrifice to the BLACKJACK GODS. This usually puts me in the mood to play cards.

Heyyyy...I think I caught your act at the Indiana Fringe Festival!:grin:

 

[Tarzan]

Another successful mission...

I am thinking my strategy for prepping up is good...but not as good as InPlay's! Damn, I need to get a small herd of large-breasted swedish massage girls and hang at InPlay's prior to going to wind down from getting all tensed up with the flipping cards drills and such!

Did okay today, at least "up to par" playing heads up no midshoe with 6 decks most of the time, riding it out and biding my time and doing quite well when it was time to up the bet. The dealer, whom I've played with often only cut off about one deck and luckily did not get 20 every single hand when the extra face cards were kicking in and broke often enough. I know this has happened to others, gosh it's happened to me often enough where you have BIG TIME supposed player advantage but the dealer slams out 20, 21 and blackjack every hand while you get 13, 14, 15 and of course break every hand because of the abundance of face cards!

I always bring 10,000-15,000 to play on but that doesn't neccessarily mean I'll see ridiculous counts that would warrant huge bets. I bring that much in case I decide to play in the pit and happen to run into "the golden shoe" but I never know what I am going to do until I get there and look around. More often than not I play a $25 min table and only buy in for 1000 or so. This brings up ANOTHER question! How much of your bankroll do you normally stroll into the pit with if you intend on betting $100 min?

I like InPlay's prep! Sounds a hell of a lot more fun than what I do!!

 

[rogue1]

Dealer Vau At The Tropicana In AC

If you see him tell him I think he is a hoople.

 

[EasyRhino]

I don't have a prep ritual.

If I find the team of large breasted Swedish massage girls available, I may reconsider.

 

[Kasi]

I always bring 10,000-15,000 to play on but that doesn't neccessarily mean I'll see ridiculous counts that would warrant huge bets. I bring that much in case I decide to play in the pit and happen to run into "the golden shoe" but I never know what I am going to do until I get there and look around. More often than not I play a $25 min table and only buy in for 1000 or so. This brings up ANOTHER question! How much of your bankroll do you normally stroll into the pit with if you intend on betting $100 min?

Spend less time flipping cards and more time how you want to bet a game you expect to find with the roll you have etc.

Tell us what game you play with what rules, how you play it, how you spread it, with what bankroll and then we'll probably tell you don't even think about going into a $100 min pit and probably not play a $25 min either.

But even better you figure it out yourself than ask us.

As usual, it appears I'm the only one that fears he may be way over-betting.

Convince me I'm wrong Tarzan lol.

 

[Automatic Monkey]

I am thinking my strategy for prepping up is good...but not as good as InPlay's! Damn, I need to get a small herd of large-breasted swedish massage girls and hang at InPlay's prior to going to wind down from getting all tensed up with the flipping cards drills and such!

Did okay today, at least "up to par" playing heads up no midshoe with 6 decks most of the time, riding it out and biding my time and doing quite well when it was time to up the bet. The dealer, whom I've played with often only cut off about one deck and luckily did not get 20 every single hand when the extra face cards were kicking in and broke often enough. I know this has happened to others, gosh it's happened to me often enough where you have BIG TIME supposed player advantage but the dealer slams out 20, 21 and blackjack every hand while you get 13, 14, 15 and of course break every hand because of the abundance of face cards!

I always bring 10,000-15,000 to play on but that doesn't neccessarily mean I'll see ridiculous counts that would warrant huge bets. I bring that much in case I decide to play in the pit and happen to run into "the golden shoe" but I never know what I am going to do until I get there and look around. More often than not I play a $25 min table and only buy in for 1000 or so. This brings up ANOTHER question! How much of your bankroll do you normally stroll into the pit with if you intend on betting $100 min?

I like InPlay's prep! Sounds a hell of a lot more fun than what I do!!

A $10K playing stake for a $100-$800 spread with Wongout isn't unrealistic. In my usual game I typically head out with $3K to spread $25-$200, and I can get $1500 more at an ATM if I need it. That's a late surrender game, if it didn't have LS I'd probably bring a bit more.

I don't prepare. I'll walk in, do any kind of cover I'm going to do (VP, craps etc.) and get into it.

 

[Tarzan]

Playing in the pit

Kasi, I read someplace or other that you need a $55,000 bankroll to be able to play a $100 min game(I have seen some variations to this ratio but all in that range to account for fluctuations)...but does anyone here take a whole $55,000 with them to the casino even if your bankroll is $100,000? I figure if I can lose $10,000-$15,000 in one pop/playing session (which I have never done) it just "ain't my day" and it's just as WELL I don't bring more than that!

I don't play in the pit often anyway but when I do I play heads up (all the tables in the pits in AC are 6 decks no midshoe) and start betting $300-500 when it is favorable. As far as "wonging" what you do is if the count goes south you simply decide you have to go to the bathroom, you have to take a break, you have to go make a call, etc. and have them reshuffle but there is no watching the shoe being played out from the beginning with a group of "crash test dummies" in place with you jumping in toward the end in a favorable count, I WISH---That would make a HUGE difference.

Playing in the pit is scary for me though....huge fluctuations because of the larger bets. I had one month in this last year that I made a whopping minus $300 for the month from playing in the pit. This was the worst case scenario and the worst I've ever done. Roughly 120 hours at the tables and make nothing...ugh. The $25 tables are more palatable and there you can seriously wong it and watch your group of crash test dummies go at it and jump in at the end provided it's peachy. That's why I am at those $25 tables for the most part with few trips into that scary ol' pit! Automatic Monkey is an AC player so he knows what I am talking about as far as all no midshoe entry tables in all the pits, hence all you can do is bail when the count goes bad but you still have to ride it out until it becomes bad.

Overall I have been very successful, though. I have always thought my spread and betting versus bankroll was too CONSERVATIVE and not the other way around, Kasi! Am I wrong and should I modify what I do even if I have had tremendous success in the overall period of time(20yrs)? Do I need a $250,000 bankroll to play at the $5 min table??(Just kidding)....

What are your ideas on bankroll versus betting spread versus table min. to play at and if there is anything I can do to improve gains or cut down risk I certainly want to know. That's why I am here...to hear expert viewpoints and perhaps learn something to insure continued success.

 

[EasyRhino]

Tarzan, when you're referring to "the pit" do you mean high-limit games with only a $500 minimum?

Before getting into details, I would think that play-all in a 6D game where you can ONLY wong out with just a 1-5 spread would be very dangerous, perhaps money losing, and definitely not worth the volatility.

Risk of ruin calculators almost always assume that you're sizing your bets based on your "total" bankroll. But these simple systems assume that the bankroll is absolutely fixed and not replenishable by any other source (like you're a pro where this is the only source of income). If your bankroll is readily replenishable, then you can treat it as much larger. At the most aggressive level, your "bankroll" would be the amount you would be willing to contribute to the gambling bankroll over the rest of your life.

There's also a trip bankroll. You want a reasonable chance of not running out of cash while at the tables. This is less than your total bankroll, but depends on length of trip and inconvenience if you run out. Fred Renzey once said you shouldn't even start the day without at least 12 max bets. I agree this is a good minimum. Personally, I like to bring $5k with $300 max bets, or I feel "uncomfortable" (and I've blown through that before)

You can get some info one risks of ruin (total and trip) at qfit's site:
http://www.qfit.com/blackjack-online-calculators.htm

I think Blackjack Attack might have some good stuff on it, can't remember. Also, perhaps more importantly, it will have some data on how a 1-5 spread would work in a mediocre shoe game in play-all and wong-out-only scenarios, which might be a bit depressing for you.

 

[Tarzan]

Typical of AC

Typically "the pit" in AC casinos has $100 min. for the most part, Rhino.

 

[21forme]

I tend to avoid the high roller pits (even the few that start at $25 or $50 in AC) primarily because the PCs are watching things a lot more closely. 2 of my 3 AC back-offs were while playing there.

 

[mdlbj]

Tarzan,

55k at a 100 table would be playing about a .5 kelly. That is very reasonable. But you will only need about 12 max bets for your trip.

 

[Kasi]

What are your ideas on bankroll versus betting spread versus table min. to play at and if there is anything I can do to improve gains or cut down risk I certainly want to know.

First of all, make no mistake about, I am no expert.

And, hey, if you've been successful for 20 years, you must be doing something right lol.

All I'm trying to say there are alot of different ways to bet the same bankroll, depending on the game and how u play it, and keep the risk the same.

So, to me, things might change if I choose to wong-out at -2 instead of -1 or 0. And how much I might be betting at various TC's compared to a game I could wong-in at. What would I bet and spread if I always wong-in at +1 vs +2 or +3?

Would I have the same spread playing all in a 6D game cut to 5 vs 4?

Anyway, I never worry about winning - I worry about losing.

So, to me, even .5 Kelly is too risky for my taste. It's not that the ROR might be under 2%, which might sound OK, it's the 1 in 8 chance I have of losing half-my bankroll at some point.

And full-Kelly is nuts. Well, to me anyway.