It's like riding a bike!

Kaiser

Kaiser

Well-Known Member
Hey all,

Haven't been here in ages. Well, I guess it's actually May, but it seems like ages.

I basically quit blackjack after I got back from my Vegas trip. I can't afford much of a bankroll at all. My god having a family is expensive. :laugh:

Anyways....

The other day I had some free time and thought what the hell. I scanned over Renzey's latest BB for 20 minutes to freshen up on it and headed over.

I bought in for 20 units. Playing heads up for 2 shoes I end up ahead a few units and am really chatty with the dealer. She's new and has never seen me there, since I think I've been in this place maybe twice this year, and not in the last several months. I'm acting like I don't really know how to play and take a few extra seconds each hand to make sure I have the count, since I'm out of practice. She took this as me not really having much experience, and started to tell me my total as soon as she laid the cards down, and after giving me every hit card. It was nice having the help. :)

Over the next 2 shoes I'm sitting with a stack of chips in front of me. I'm up to about 110 units. I've never made this much this quickly before. I notice the dealer beside me (who had an empty table) is watching me play, and there are *2* pit critters standing beside the table watching me play. I was making jokes and trying to deflect their attention, but it was pretty obvious I was a player of interest.

The coolest thing was cutting the cards for one shoe. I was playing a couple dollars at a time on the Lucky Lucky sidebet in one shoe, and almost got a 6-7-8 which pays 30 to one. The dealer offers me the cut card on the next shoe and says "make it a good cut, try to get that 6-7-8". I had been watching the shuffle pretty closely trying to cut in a chunk of high cards, but ended up not really being able to follow them. But it probably made this look even worse for the pitboss. I very slowly and carefully say "ok... there. 6-7-8 right there" and smile at the dealer. I even put down a $5 chip on the side bet.

First three cards out of the shoe.... 6 - 7 - 8. Un-freaking-believable. She was freaking, said she'd never seen anything like that. So I got $150 for my little trick. Actually, I'm sure most of you won't even believe that little story. it even sounds like bullshit to me as I'm typing it, and I'm the guy who did it! :laugh:

So anyway, not any real point to this other than to say hey to you guys, and say that the whole counting thing really comes back to you quickly. I was flying along again in no time. It didn't hurt that I hit a lucky streak and turned my $100 into $500 in less than an hour, too.

Three cheers for Fred Renzey! :grin:
 
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eps6724

Well-Known Member
Kaiser said:
Three cheers for Fred Renzey! :grin:
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I'll second that. I've been using his Kiss III and-even though I'm not winning EVERY hand, I'm seeing the cards come out when the count says they should. And for my math-pea-sized-brain that's amazing! (Now, if only Fred could tell us which SEAT they were going to show up at...:rolleyes:)
 
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eps6724

Well-Known Member
Automatic Monkey said:
Last time I rode a bike, I hit a pothole, fell, and tore my scrotum on the handlebar.

Be careful out there!
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Somehow, I don't want to know HOW he was riding that he ended up in that position...
 
bj bob

bj bob

Well-Known Member
Automatic Monkey said:
Last time I rode a bike, I hit a pothole, fell, and tore my scrotum on the handlebar.

Be careful out there!
Click to expand...
See, you wouldn't have had that problem if you were carrying your BR where it was supposed to be.That'll teach ya!
 
aslan

aslan

Well-Known Member
bj bob said:
See, you wouldn't have had that problem if you were carrying your BR where it was supposed to be.That'll teach ya!
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So where are you supposed to carry your BR? Might of helped if he had been sitting on it.
 
Kaiser

Kaiser

Well-Known Member
Sometimes this game is so much damn fun. :grin:

I visited my buddy that I went to Vegas with earlier this year, and we hit a casino in Calgary, AB. It was your standard H17 6 deck game with about 1.5 decks being cut off. I sat at first base and he was just to my left. We both bought in for 20 units.

The count doesn't do anything at all for the first 2 shoes, but my buddy loses a total of 4 hands. 4 hands in 2 shoes!! He's up by about 35 units or something. I'm up about 12 units in the same time. Just having fun, laughing at the drunk angry dude at third base who can't catch a break, and ordering way too many drinks so I can talk to the cute waitress.

Nothing too much is happening in the way of good counts, but I'm having a blast and getting pretty drunk. I'm not here specifically to raise my bankroll or anything, just having fun with a friend I haven't seen in a while. As usually happens with me when the rye is flowing, I start talking a little louder and don't pay much attention to what is happening around me. I'm having a hard time keeping the count so I start to do it outloud, a notch or two above a whisper. My buddy doesn't count; he usually just follows my betting, but I have told him a few times what the count should be before you start betting more. I'm using KISS III so he knows that when it hits 20 he bets a few units, etc.

So he'll ask "how is it?" and I answer "shitty man, it's at like 14" or "yeah, it's at 28. Go for it." How the dealer is not picking up on this is beyond me. (well, except for the two dealers rotated in who did not speak more than 5 english words)

After about 2 1/2 hours I'm getting pretty sloshed. I'm up 10 units and he's up about 15. ($5 units, so no huge amounts of money) But we're having a fun time, so what the hell

About 3/4 into the shoe things start heating up. The counts hits 20 then keeps marching up to 31-33. Whoa. I had gone to a 10 unit bet when the count hit 23 and won a couple, lost a couple... but the count keeps going up and when it hits 30 I push out a 20 unit bet. My buddy is scared to so he bets 15 units. We were winning more big hands than we were losing, and he eventually went to 20 unit bets too. I had a double down hand which I won, then won the last 3 hands of the shoe with 20 each time. The last hand of the shoe a guy in the middle didn't hit 16 and was nervous because he had started betting bigger too (just following us on a hunch I'm sure) and I said loudly "don't worry bro, she's going to get 2 10s and bust". Sure as ****, she hits her 6 with 2 10s and busts out. The table erupts in cheer, everyone is looking at us, and my buddy and me are laughing our asses off in disbelief. Apparently there was a suit sitting behind us watching the table and the pitboss was standing right beside me for the last few hands of the shoe, but I was too blurry to even notice.

At the end of that shoe my buddy is sitting with 110 units in front of him, and I've got 156 in front of me. He says "think we should leave?" to which I reply "let's get the HELL out of here! HA HA HA!"

It was freakin' unreal. I'm counting outloud, spreading 1-20, and only getting guys watching us. I thought for sure they'd back us off.

I've never made that much in one session. Ever. We literally walked out of there laughing like hell and shaking our heads.

That's it. I'm quitting my job. Blackjack is easy.

:laugh:
 
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EyeHeartHalves

Well-Known Member
congrats on ur calgary win kaiser

in Nj, thanks to the immortal Ken Uston, that's how I always play. I wong-out as soon a previous hand has ended at or below a TC (wong's halves) of negative one AND i either lost or pushed on that previous hand. (I never leave after a net win no matter how low the count and I never decrease my bet after a net win, no matter what. I try to enjoy the fluctuations at neutral counts that arise due to this technique and it's good camoflauge. This cover was taken from Andersen. However, I'm just a Green Chipper so I just take Andersen's ideas and adopt them to my own style. I can't afford to use too much cover inside of my bet spread but a little is neccessary.)

I play a 20 to 1 bet spread with wonging and some cover until I hit my "20". When that plus six shoe is finished, I leave -- win, lose or draw. Admittedly, I'm in NJ so that's a little easier for me to do. But still, even hittin up Calgary for around $500 worth of Red Chip play or Two Grand worth of Green Chip play twice a year or so isn't bad for just a couple hours of actual work.

THE BOTTOM LINE IS, YOU WON TOO FAST FOR THEM TO ARRANGE COUNTERMEASURES OR TO BACK YOU OFF. THEN YOU GOT OUT OF THERE. GOOD JOB!

PS: Think of how well you'd be if you weren't drunk and actually practiced this playing style ahead of time?
 
Kaiser

Kaiser

Well-Known Member
So... like riding a bike. Well it is, I'm just hitting more than my share of potholes lately!

I have my bankroll up to $1250. I'm able to add to it fairly regularly, so I am willing to take a little more risk that I otherwise would. I'm spreading $5-$50 which is pretty rich.

Anyway, I dropped 80 units in a short, short session last week. It was heartbreaking. The only consolation I have is that I know I am playing a perfect game, and I'm just riding a downward wave of bad luck. It happens. But when you dump 1/3 of your bankroll in one night, it can be a little hard to take.

I've been working on my game, and reworked my betting schedule, as per a post of Fred Renzey's here recommending something to a member wanting to reduce his risk (at the expense of greater return). So I'm still spreading 1-10, but waiting until higher counts to move beyond the 5 unit bets. I'll grind it out for a while until I have a decent BR saved up.

So I go to the casino tonight, ready to rock and roll, $500 in hand. I walk up to the first table I see and there are 3 people at it, playing the first round of a new shoe. I watch their hands being played, the dealer makes a 5 card 20 and wipes everyone out. Every single card on the felt is a baby. Woo-hoo! Fastest wong-in ever. I buy in for 20 units ($100).

5 minutes later, I'm into my wallet for another $100 buy-in.

Hmm. What the hell. 5 minutes later, another $100 buy-in. Still the same shoe. This, uh, isn't working.

A few minutes later I've got $50 out and get an 11 versus the dealer's Ace. I only have $40 in chips. Jesus. Not exactly the kind of double down you jump and down over, either. But it's a H17 table and the count is high, so I go for it. Into my wallet again for ANOTHER $100 buy-in. $400 out of my $500 is on the table in the *first* shoe.

I lose the hand. :cry:

I'm out $390 of my $500 trip roll, the count still warrants a 10 unit bet, and it's the same frickin' shoe I started on! My god this game is an evil whore.

Somehow I manage to get through it with some money left. Over the next hour or so I manage to get myself to $402.50. I tipped the dealer $2.50 and left with my tail between my legs, lucky to break even.

What a hard way to make easy money.
 
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