Man, this "counting" stuff is hard.

[EasyRhino]

mdlbj, Harrahs NOLA is actually pretty snazzy, at least to a civilian. I did mention the go-go pit, right?

avs, you're right about no car (and no time, spent most of the time touristing, not gambling). But aren't Boomtown and Lucky Nugget still 6D shoes?

And you know, it's a good thing I didn't have internet access right after the trip, because for a moment there, I thought I had completely pissed away my advantage by overtipping and was playing a losing game. And I was livid (at myself, for being such an idiot). I mean... that's like the first commandment of AP that I was breaking. It was only when I estimated the effect of white-rabbiting on my play and tipping to where it got on the good side of break-even, and then it was only slightly less enraging.

 

[avs21]

Boomtown has one DD game during the week and sometimes during the weekend it opens up a 2nd game both games are in the high limit room min bet $25 S17 DAS the rest of casino is 6d. Treasure chest is all 6d with table mins as low as $5 on some tables. It is good to hear you spent most of your time enjoying the city

 

[EasyRhino]

Updates:

Last week: Got to play 2-3 hours on a good doubledeck game. Still lost $900.

Weird event a) A civilian and the dealer started talking about Ken Uston's Million Dollar Blackjack... I had to ask them a lot of questions about the "Pac-Man Guy". Weird event b) Got in a situation - in a doubledeck game - where I was splitting and re-splitting 3s. I maxed out at four hands, and then proceeded to get two more 3s; in other words, of the eight 3s that were in the shoe to start with, I just had six of them (I think the hand was a net loss).

This week:

Casino A: Not as crowded as usual (nasty weather), but still had to fight crowds and keep moving between tables. Won over $1200 in a little over a net hour of play.

Casino B: Not crowded at all, played heads up a lot, but lost about $700 in a string of bad beats.

Casino C: While driving here, I started hydroplaning and nearly ran the car into a pile of rocks. Fortunately, I survived. Thinking it must have been my lucky day, I continue on to the casino. Sat down, put a fairly large bet out just to get the PC to mark me down as a bigger bettor, and proceeded to go on a really amazing winning streak. I think I was winning over 75% of hands, including ones that I had no business winning, stuff like 15 vs 9. The streak lasted through a couple of shoes, and a variety of counts, but mainly neutral and positive And since I was stuck with largish bets out because my "system" didn't allow dropping bets after a win, I just kept raking in money (but believe me, I was looking for any excuse to drop my bets). The game stabilized when I new dealer moved in about halfway through, but I think I slowly gained more ground. Net result, in a short session (under an hour), I won about 60 units (or in real money, over $3000). I wish all my sessions could be that short, and that fun.

Casino D: Fought crowds some more, was on there for about an hour, lost about $800. But at least some of the dealers were pretty good-looking.

Casino E: Fought crowds yet again, but got a brief window in one 2D shoe where the count got very high very early with only one other person at the table, spread to two hands, and got some big wins. Gave a good chunk back later when I wonged into a 6D table. Net result: a win of over $1700.

Anyway, it's really refreshing to have strung together a meaningful series of wins.

Oh, and for my new year's resolution, I started keeping a more permanent gambling log (for both intelligence-gathering, and taxes).

For near-future plans, I think I noticed some online casinos over at aka's site that I have not yet whored, so I may be ramping up some of that activity again.

 

[Diver]

First, congrats on a very nice trip.

You must have a smile on. Given the time and other details, it sounds as if your positive results were mostly with DD games, is that right? Also, when you set up an initial bet that is higher than your basic unit, are you generally using 2x or something else? At that level, do you still blend into the background or is is potentially noteworthy?

 

[EasyRhino]

I've been playing a lot of DD lately. Mainly because I can afford it now. And frankly, it's more fun to sit and count and play a DD game that it is to backcount (or worse, play-all) shoes.

The largish-bet (2-4 units) right away is kind of a combination comp-counting move and cover play. Maybe they'll mark be down with a bigger average bet than I really make, and it will get annoying warnings like "checks play" out of the way quickly. It's pretty overt (and I can't guarantee if it's *smart* or not). In terms of noticeability, at the place I was recently backed off, I was always the biggest bettor on the floor whenever I was there, but it was a smallish joint.

A true hit and run sneak attack would be to go in, bet small, ramp up the bets, and then leave before they know what hit them. Better suited for shoe games than for DD or SD.

Oh, and tonight was... interesting. I had enough of a crush of coupons that I needed to make a run, even on a schoolnight, and today was the day to do it.

At Casino A, $100 of free machine play turned into almost $600 on a video poker machine. That was nice. And while playing BJ, I finally too the opportunity to split 10s vs a 6 in a very, very, very high count. So I ended up with 4x max bets on the table. Net result of the hand: a push.

And at Casino B, it turns out that I drove in and the entrance was blocked off as a full-blown crime scene. The casino was nearly empty, only the true degenerates were there (which generally meant me and one other player at the table). Got lucky and won a few hundred after a downward swing, and then these two creepy old Chinese ladies started hitting on me and trying to mooch chips. It was not pleasant. But it was kind of funny.

Bankroll snapshot: Almost $38,500. (Not counting a couple grand sloshing around online)

 

[Kasi]

I've been playing a lot of DD lately. Mainly because I can afford it now. And frankly, it's more fun to sit and count and play a DD game that it is to backcount (or worse, play-all) shoes.....Bankroll snapshot: Almost $38,500. (Not counting a couple grand sloshing around online)

Glad you're making a comeback:grin:

 

[EasyRhino]

Quick update, managed to string together some good losses over the alst couple of days.

Casino A: wong about $650 in about an hour and a half. Most of this win was ratholed... sweet. This casino is a particular dilemna for me, because the DD penetration is horrible (about 50-60%), but I can pretty much always find an empty table for heads up play.

Casino B: had a traffic accident blocking the only road in. Aborted.

Casino C: managed to lose nearly $1500 in an hour in a half.

Casino D: Lost $600 quickly. Had to abort when crowds got too bad to be supported by the poor penetration.

Casino E: Won about $60 on a coupon run.

Casino D: Lost nearly $1800 in a couple of hours scattered around. I'm pretty sure I'm a significant loser at Casino D, even though the game should be pretty good. But I haven't really put in THAT many hours into it yet.

I did manage to get an $890 online casino cashout processed though. It had taken a while.

Bankroll snapshot: about $36k.

Conclusion: At least I'm not the guy I saw at the table today betting much more than me, and playing much much worse, and continually being bitchy about it. He wasn't actually that bad a guy, but he was definitely a loser.

 

[White Guy]

I have the same crappy pen DD games at my local casinos. I just wong 6 D when I am playing in town since the spread is only 25-200 on the DD plus can't play two hands unless you started with two and starting with two a 1-8spread is impossible because you have to double the min to play two. I feel your pain! Did find a really good DD game in the South though and managed a nice win over a few day trip there. I am suprised it is not flooded with people. S17 good pen DAS DA2. It is amazing what a difference those variations can make in N0 plus confidence knowing it's by far a better game. Craziest hand I have ever played in DD happened there. Split 8's against a 10 with a high count, ended up getting to where I had four hands, half the eights were out on one hand! I was sick to my stomach with a 19, 18, 18, and one 11 DD for a 20. I just knew he had another 10 under there, amazingly the dealer flopped a 2 to further my agony but busted for a 2k win on one hand. It feels good when it happens that way even though there was a good amount of luck involved. Thanks for the stories.

 

[Kasi]

I Craziest hand I have ever played in DD happened there. Split 8's against a 10 with a high count,...

Yeah that's actually one of those screwy hands that works in reverse and you actually don't split when the count gets really high. Maybe +8 or so in the Hi-Lo world anyway lol.

Anyway, nice going!

 

[White Guy]

Thanks. I don't split eights v 10 at a count of six and the count was just below that so it was marginal. Glad I decided to do it though. haha

 

[EasyRhino]

This long weekend, I paid my respects to the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by grinding out some hours at the local wagering establishments.

Most of the weekend's play was notable for its relatively benign lack of volality. Sure, I'd occasionally lose a grand or so during a session, but I rarely needed to tap into additional buyin cash (except perhaps one induced by ratholing). It's always kind of nice when you brought WAY more money than turned out to be necessary.

At Casino A, where I hadn't been in a while, I managed to put in quite a few hours. Way more than than is probably advisable during one sessoin, but this one was very fragmented (different tables, different pits, meal breaks, etc.). Most of that "mobility" was forced by crowding. More people at the table means there's less cover that I can acceptably use. At one point in the session I lost $1k, but, somewhere in there, I also had a couple of significant winning streaks, and ended up walking away +$1600.

Casino B's session was a couple of hours, also broken up a bit. This session's results were particularly hard to reconstruct after the fact, due to multiple buy-ins and excessive ratholing, but I think I had a modest loss, about -$100. At first I thought the loss was much bigger, but it seems it was another case where my ratholing fooled myself on how I was doing. It helps that this casino has a lot of different cashiers.

Casino C actually had two sessions. A short DD session, where I ended up +$200 (which was entirely ratholed). And another where I broke down and played a couple of shoes, rather than sit at the utterly packed DD tables. I also walked away from the shoe game up nearly $300 (mostly ratholed). Ironically, this win came from min bets in neutral counts, where I had quite a lucky streak. The high-count portion where I finally got to ramp up the betting cost me two or three max bets.

Casino D was completely aborted on one attempt, due to crowds. On the second try, I was able to find some workable tables, and play for about an hour and a half. Left up +$700. Most of that win could be attributed towards a stretch where I was flat-betting, but winning lots of hands. Again, the high counts were actually slightly destructive to the bankroll.

Also, scattered in there, I picked up about $100 in coupons.

The wins did slightly outweigh the losses from the previous week, so we had an upward nudge to the bankroll: it's almost $39k. From here, I can see the previous bankroll peak... but who knows how long it will take to catch up to it.

 

[EasyRhino]

Couple days ago made a quick trip out to casino country. Sat at one fairly empty table in an otherwise packed Casino A. Played two (DD) shoes, didn't see a positive count, and lost $300. Then the tables filled up ridiculously. Total time: 15 minutes. Wandered over to Casino B, where I would have expected big crowds, but actually got to play for over an hour with only one or zero other people at the table. I ended up winning over $1100 too (negative counts were pretty shitty, but the high counts treated me well).

So after that day, my bankroll was sitting about $70 away from its previous peak in October Man, I could just TASTE it. So of course, you know what happens next:

Went out today, played for almost two hours, and managed to lose about $1700. And mid-session it was worse, I was almost at the point where I needed to start thinking of running out of funds. I had a bit of a bounceback later in the session. It wasn't the most I've lost, the fastest (which was coincidentally at the same joint), but it was a quick and bloody session. A stretch where the dealer was alternating between blackjacks and drawn 21s was especially aggravating.

But on the upside, I'll probably get a monogrammed golf shirt out of it, so that will make everything worthwhile. :flame:

Anyway, bankroll snapshot, a little over $38k.

 

[Elhombre]

br

Not so much, looooooool.
I wished to have 20% of that.
the best rainer

 

[BlackChipBlackJack]

Couple days ago made a quick trip out to casino country. Sat at one fairly empty table in an otherwise packed Casino A. Played two (DD) shoes, didn't see a positive count, and lost $300. Then the tables filled up ridiculously. Total time: 15 minutes. Wandered over to Casino B, where I would have expected big crowds, but actually got to play for over an hour with only one or zero other people at the table. I ended up winning over $1100 too (negative counts were pretty shitty, but the high counts treated me well).

So after that day, my bankroll was sitting about $70 away from its previous peak in October Man, I could just TASTE it. So of course, you know what happens next:

Went out today, played for almost two hours, and managed to lose about $1700. And mid-session it was worse, I was almost at the point where I needed to start thinking of running out of funds. I had a bit of a bounceback later in the session. It wasn't the most I've lost, the fastest (which was coincidentally at the same joint), but it was a quick and bloody session. A stretch where the dealer was alternating between blackjacks and drawn 21s was especially aggravating.

But on the upside, I'll probably get a monogrammed golf shirt out of it, so that will make everything worthwhile. :flame:

Anyway, bankroll snapshot, a little over $38k.

damn 38k thats nice. how much do you usually bring out with you and whats your max bet?

 

[EasyRhino]

Max bet's $300 (or 2x$200 or $225).

I usually shoot for around $5k available for a weekend, as I hardly ever run out of money with that. But if it means I can avoid a trip to the bank, I'll get by with less. I can get a couple grand out of the ATM if I need to as a backstop (only had to do that once so far).

... I should really look into a line of credit.

 

[Doofus]

due to multiple buy-ins and excessive ratholing, \

What's your ratholing technique?

 

[EasyRhino]

What's your ratholing technique?

I take green chips that won't be missed and put them somewhere on my person.

Oftentimes, it's just a pocket, sometimes it's slightly more elaborate.

I don't have any illusion of having "quick hands", so just futz with the chips a lot as a nervous habit. And somewhere in all the fidgeting, some of the chips disappear. poof!

 

[Automatic Monkey]

I take green chips that won't be missed and put them somewhere on my person.

Oftentimes, it's just a pocket, sometimes it's slightly more elaborate...

What, don't tell me you boof them!

Ratholing techniques are one more reason to always, always wash your hands after handling cheques!

 

[EasyRhino]

A few hours of play this weekend was notable for its non-result: I ended up with $50 more than when I started ($45 of which was attributable to coupons, and $5 of which was a red chip I found stuck under my car seat). In other words, I broke dead even.

This is despite a downward swing I experienced of approx. $2500 in the middle of one session, and then a positive comeback (including a single hand which ballooned to $1000) which brought me to roughly even.

And also, I need to do some planning for a trip to Vegas next weekend. The main complication will be that I'll be meeting my folks, so I'll have to strike the right balance between entertaining them and working. It might be tough... and I'm afraid that musicals will probably be seen.

 

[jack.jackson]

A few hours of play this weekend was notable for its non-result: I ended up with $50 more than when I started ($45 of which was attributable to coupons, and $5 of which was a red chip I found stuck under my car seat). In other words, I broke dead even.

This is despite a downward swing I experienced of approx. $2500 in the middle of one session, and then a positive comeback (including a single hand which ballooned to $1000) which brought me to roughly even.

And also, I need to do some planning for a trip to Vegas next weekend. The main complication will be that I'll be meeting my folks, so I'll have to strike the right balance between entertaining them and working. It might be tough... and I'm afraid that musicals will probably be seen.

Aaaah, nice comeback! I bet that 1k hand, had your heart pounding:yikes: I bet it was a pair of 88s?