Man, this "counting" stuff is hard.
- Thread starter EasyRhino
- Start date
Automatic Monkey
Banned
What if he loses all his chips, reaches into his pocket and pulls out $500 in cash, then the dealer calls the floor over, they check the bills, "no I wanted that in red not green", "can you give me some whites with that too", etc., etc.?ScottH said:
Nothing slows the game more than people running out of chips and buying in for more, or new players sitting down with cash and buying chips. Thus it is encouraging people to play proper BS and stay in the game with the chips they have that has more value, in terms of speeding up the game.
EasyRhino
Well-Known Member
Well, I was able to get my gamble on this weekend a little. Bounced up to Niagra Falls and did the tourist thing, and dropped by Seneca Niagra.
Pros: The games are S17, and penetration was decent in the 8D shoes (usually under 2, and once or twice close to 1 deck cut off).
Cons: The pansyass ATMs only dispense $500 at a time, and, well, there are eight decks in the shoes.
It was kind of fun being able to flat-out refuse to get a player's card, for good reason (hell, it's not like it would do me any good anyway, since I probably won't be back in the area).
But god, 8D shoes are terrible. After an early wong in on a hot shoe, I spent a lot of time backcounting shoes that went nowhere. I don't know how long, because my watch stopped in the middle, but over an hour. I started to get bored. Very bored. Had time for a very quick hit and run on a shoe (like 3 hands), and even, in desperation, played a little bit of an 8D shoe off the top at table minimum. Count was slowly inching towards my way halfway through the shoe, and then went in the toilet in two hands. So I finally had to call it quits.
Despite getting beat-up on that early hot shoe, the damage wasn't too bad, lost about $170.
Pros: The games are S17, and penetration was decent in the 8D shoes (usually under 2, and once or twice close to 1 deck cut off).
Cons: The pansyass ATMs only dispense $500 at a time, and, well, there are eight decks in the shoes.
It was kind of fun being able to flat-out refuse to get a player's card, for good reason (hell, it's not like it would do me any good anyway, since I probably won't be back in the area).
But god, 8D shoes are terrible. After an early wong in on a hot shoe, I spent a lot of time backcounting shoes that went nowhere. I don't know how long, because my watch stopped in the middle, but over an hour. I started to get bored. Very bored. Had time for a very quick hit and run on a shoe (like 3 hands), and even, in desperation, played a little bit of an 8D shoe off the top at table minimum. Count was slowly inching towards my way halfway through the shoe, and then went in the toilet in two hands. So I finally had to call it quits.
Despite getting beat-up on that early hot shoe, the damage wasn't too bad, lost about $170.
EasyRhino
Well-Known Member
Well, I was able to get my gamble on this weekend a little. Bounced up to Niagra Falls and did the tourist thing, and dropped by Seneca Niagra.
Pros: The games are S17, and penetration was decent in the 8D shoes (usually under 2, and once or twice close to 1 deck cut off).
Cons: The pansyass ATMs only dispense $500 at a time, and, well, there are eight decks in the shoes.
It was kind of fun being able to flat-out refuse to get a player's card, for good reason (hell, it's not like it would do me any good anyway, since I probably won't be back in the area).
But god, 8D shoes are terrible. After an early wong in on a hot shoe, I spent a lot of time backcounting shoes that went nowhere. I don't know how long, because my watch stopped in the middle, but over an hour. I started to get bored. Very bored. Had time for a very quick hit and run on a shoe (like 3 hands), and even, in desperation, played a little bit of an 8D shoe off the top at table minimum. Count was slowly inching towards my way halfway through the shoe, and then went in the toilet in two hands. So I finally had to call it quits.
Despite getting beat-up on that early hot shoe, the damage wasn't too bad, lost about $170.
Oh, and the online casinos just keep getting more and more complicated. Click2pay stopped processing withdrawals. So that strands some more money (although I can still use it for casino purchases) And one casino from whom I had requested a check actually sent part of the withdrawal via Western Union, which I need to pick up now (after I get home). Weird.
Pros: The games are S17, and penetration was decent in the 8D shoes (usually under 2, and once or twice close to 1 deck cut off).
Cons: The pansyass ATMs only dispense $500 at a time, and, well, there are eight decks in the shoes.
It was kind of fun being able to flat-out refuse to get a player's card, for good reason (hell, it's not like it would do me any good anyway, since I probably won't be back in the area).
But god, 8D shoes are terrible. After an early wong in on a hot shoe, I spent a lot of time backcounting shoes that went nowhere. I don't know how long, because my watch stopped in the middle, but over an hour. I started to get bored. Very bored. Had time for a very quick hit and run on a shoe (like 3 hands), and even, in desperation, played a little bit of an 8D shoe off the top at table minimum. Count was slowly inching towards my way halfway through the shoe, and then went in the toilet in two hands. So I finally had to call it quits.
Despite getting beat-up on that early hot shoe, the damage wasn't too bad, lost about $170.
Oh, and the online casinos just keep getting more and more complicated. Click2pay stopped processing withdrawals. So that strands some more money (although I can still use it for casino purchases) And one casino from whom I had requested a check actually sent part of the withdrawal via Western Union, which I need to pick up now (after I get home). Weird.
EasyRhino
Well-Known Member
And that reminds me of another annoying thing of playing at full tables. When playing a shoe game with an unbalance count, the addition of more hands per round means that there's a greater chance of having really big spreads in the count in one round, which would tend to encourage large erratic jumps in bet... thub obviating one of the few advantages of shoe games.
Jerks.
Jerks.
Mimosine
Well-Known Member
noticed that as well. i was pulling back bets and doubling bets from round to round in one game this weekend, it was wonderfulEasyRhino said:
also going from a nice DD game with 2 other people, to a 6Der with 6 other people - i just cringed every single time the count got high in the 6D, to see it last for a whopping 3 rounds (then shuffle), where most of the good cards were taken up by people busting with 12-16s vs dealer high cards, and me getting squat! thanks a$$holes for not surrendering your 16s, EVER, especially when the TC is +5!
EasyRhino
Well-Known Member
You can't blame them for not playing surrender right. No one plays surrender right.
You know, one of the tables I wonged in to, I probably only got like four rounds in (immediately started playing two spots, two other players). Was betting 2x$100. One second to last round I won both hands. The next I lost one and tied one. When the cut card came out I got up and left the table, looked down at my chips, and thought "Wow, I just netted $100 in 70 seconds".
It almost made up for the pain of the hour I spent backcounting.
Almost.
Jerks.
You know, one of the tables I wonged in to, I probably only got like four rounds in (immediately started playing two spots, two other players). Was betting 2x$100. One second to last round I won both hands. The next I lost one and tied one. When the cut card came out I got up and left the table, looked down at my chips, and thought "Wow, I just netted $100 in 70 seconds".
It almost made up for the pain of the hour I spent backcounting.
Almost.
Jerks.
I share in your frustrations. That is why I fantasize over being at a table full of AP's, that way we preserve the positive count and watching the poor dealer busting hand after hand while squeezing one more hand out before the shuffle. It would be very funny to watch the identical bet sizing occuring also:laugh:Mimosine said:noticed that as well. i was pulling back bets and doubling bets from round to round in one game this weekend, it was wonderful
also going from a nice DD game with 2 other people, to a 6Der with 6 other people - i just cringed every single time the count got high in the 6D, to see it last for a whopping 3 rounds (then shuffle), where most of the good cards were taken up by people busting with 12-16s vs dealer high cards, and me getting squat! thanks a$$holes for not surrendering your 16s, EVER, especially when the TC is +5!
Automatic Monkey
Banned
$70/hr with a 2x $100 max bet and $800 total action in? I'll take it.EasyRhino said:
EasyRhino
Well-Known Member
Today's gambling wasn't particularly noteworthy: Picked the joint to visit based solely on who I had the most accumulated mail coupons for. Spent longer than optimal at one joint (but I wanted my free meal!), had a couple dealer payout mistakes in my favor, and caught a mistake that would have cost me (wish I had caught it before the floorman had to get involved, I don't want to make the dealers look bad). Caught a couple of winning hands with bet bets, and won like $500. Yay. Slow progress towards repairing the bankroll damage caused by my Amazing Day of Losing.
What is interesting is that I visited my folks over the weekend, and my Dad seems to have a perverse sense of amusement, or even pride, in my little hobby. For instance, one night, me, the folks, my cousin, and her boyfriend were at dinner (we hadn't met the BF). The BF asks me what I do for a living. I tell him (it's boring). And then Dad immediately volunteers "but that's just his day job, he's also a high stakes gambler!". Geeze. Fortunately, the BF wasn't a puritan and didn't think my eternal soul was doomed. He was actually pretty familiar with card counting, although he didn't do it himself.
Still pretty sure Mom thinks I'm going to Hell, though.
What is interesting is that I visited my folks over the weekend, and my Dad seems to have a perverse sense of amusement, or even pride, in my little hobby. For instance, one night, me, the folks, my cousin, and her boyfriend were at dinner (we hadn't met the BF). The BF asks me what I do for a living. I tell him (it's boring). And then Dad immediately volunteers "but that's just his day job, he's also a high stakes gambler!". Geeze. Fortunately, the BF wasn't a puritan and didn't think my eternal soul was doomed. He was actually pretty familiar with card counting, although he didn't do it himself.
Still pretty sure Mom thinks I'm going to Hell, though.
EasyRhino
Well-Known Member
owie
Got in a lot of play this weekend.
Nothing much on Friday, short session, small win. On Saturday, probably spent about 2.5-3 hours playing, throwing around a lot of money. The most notable result was the lack of result: I walked away with winnings of $8.
Got in a lot of play Sunday, abouy 6 hours at two different venues. But man, the wheels just came off. Had another "virtual tapout", lost almost $2000. Was able to blunder my way into a lot of very positive counts, but they consistently left me with one or two big bets less than when I entered them.
The matter of my final tapout was also a bit frustrating. The count was off the chart. I blow the last of my chips. I let my last $100 bill play, it loses too. I realize that I've got enough greens ratholed in my pockets to make one or two more bets, but the floorman was already in the vicinity due to my money play. I chose to leave rather than pull green chips out of my pocket like clowns out of a car. But the count was really high. *sigh*
Anyway, regarding the ratholing, I uh, I think I might have some kind of addiction. (I think part of the problem was due my using of greens very very commonly now, they don't pack as much oomph when ratholed as back when I was red-chipping). I was doing it too much, and I ended up with a crapload of chips at one point where I knew the excess would trigger extra scrutiny, and I had to really finesse the action at the cashier. I need to meter out an exact ratholing target on a per-hour basis, and stick to that. Much like timing your play at a casino to make sure you don't wear out your welcome.
Anyway, on the drive home, I felt unusually hyper, since it had been a long day, and mainly I felt pissed. I can see how gamblers can really start steaming in losing sessions, rather than merely acting like they're steaming.
The biggest irony of the day? I probably would have had a blast if I was just flat betting the minimum all day. I was having fun with the dealers and other players when I wasn't getting my own ass handed to me.
From a bankroll perspective, the net loss of just over $1700 neatly cancels out two hard-fought withdrawals from online casinos that I received last week. Kind of a pity.
Got in a lot of play this weekend.
Nothing much on Friday, short session, small win. On Saturday, probably spent about 2.5-3 hours playing, throwing around a lot of money. The most notable result was the lack of result: I walked away with winnings of $8.
Got in a lot of play Sunday, abouy 6 hours at two different venues. But man, the wheels just came off. Had another "virtual tapout", lost almost $2000. Was able to blunder my way into a lot of very positive counts, but they consistently left me with one or two big bets less than when I entered them.
The matter of my final tapout was also a bit frustrating. The count was off the chart. I blow the last of my chips. I let my last $100 bill play, it loses too. I realize that I've got enough greens ratholed in my pockets to make one or two more bets, but the floorman was already in the vicinity due to my money play. I chose to leave rather than pull green chips out of my pocket like clowns out of a car. But the count was really high. *sigh*
Anyway, regarding the ratholing, I uh, I think I might have some kind of addiction. (I think part of the problem was due my using of greens very very commonly now, they don't pack as much oomph when ratholed as back when I was red-chipping). I was doing it too much, and I ended up with a crapload of chips at one point where I knew the excess would trigger extra scrutiny, and I had to really finesse the action at the cashier. I need to meter out an exact ratholing target on a per-hour basis, and stick to that. Much like timing your play at a casino to make sure you don't wear out your welcome.
Anyway, on the drive home, I felt unusually hyper, since it had been a long day, and mainly I felt pissed. I can see how gamblers can really start steaming in losing sessions, rather than merely acting like they're steaming.
The biggest irony of the day? I probably would have had a blast if I was just flat betting the minimum all day. I was having fun with the dealers and other players when I wasn't getting my own ass handed to me.
From a bankroll perspective, the net loss of just over $1700 neatly cancels out two hard-fought withdrawals from online casinos that I received last week. Kind of a pity.
EasyRhino
Well-Known Member
angst time!
Well, got in a lot of play (by my standards) at a few different joints this weekend. Probably 8 hours on Saturday, and 5-6 on Sunday. Typical scenario was to get hammered in neutral/negative counts with small bets, then get hammered in plus count with big bets, only then to stage a comeback in the next plus count, which would leave me at a point slightly lower than when I started. Rise and repeat for the rest of the time. Net bankroll damage from the weekend: $750 (losses fairly evenly spread at the different stores).
So, I've had three substantial losing weekends in fairly tight succession, which, in my mind, qualifies as a losing streak. And to be honest, it's stressing me out a little bit. What's most worrisome is the trajectory that my losing sessions have been taking. My bet patterns have looked almost exactly like a compulsive gambler who tryies to make up his losses, starts steaming, has some modest success, but then gets carried away only to give it back to the casino. The good part is that I probably looked like a loser to the casino. The bad part is that I felt like a loser while going through it. I've looked at my game, and it's the same one that I've always played (not a particularly strong game, but a winning one nontheless), but it's still a bit unnerving.
I wonder if it's more or less stressful to play with an investor's money rather than your own?
The bacon-saver to the bankroll has, of course, been the online money, but that tap has basically dried up, I've decided to curtail activity there dramatically, as the opportunities have shrunk and the hassle has increased dramatically. In other words, I won't have that to bail my ass out any more.
On specific notes, I think I got a little more attention than I wanted from a couple of floorman. One lady was very nice and chatty and was on an immediate first name basis with me, I don't it helped that I was in and out of her end of the pit multiple times over a too-long session. The other lady seemed to be looking at my table a lot, but was maybe 12ft away, too far to engage. Both are likely innocent, but still highlighted some things I need to work on.
Oh, and I'm trying to rathole less, so that my pockets won't be comically overflowing with green chips. Since the ratholing can't really hide the violent swings I've been having at the table, I've dialed the goal back down to simply ratholing double my EV, and making adjustments to cashier policy to keep things at a more manageable surplus.
Finally, I did end up playing a pitch game one on one vs a very new dealer. He did just about everything wrong that a new dealer could do wrong, except for flashing his hole card. Sigh.
Well, got in a lot of play (by my standards) at a few different joints this weekend. Probably 8 hours on Saturday, and 5-6 on Sunday. Typical scenario was to get hammered in neutral/negative counts with small bets, then get hammered in plus count with big bets, only then to stage a comeback in the next plus count, which would leave me at a point slightly lower than when I started. Rise and repeat for the rest of the time. Net bankroll damage from the weekend: $750 (losses fairly evenly spread at the different stores).
So, I've had three substantial losing weekends in fairly tight succession, which, in my mind, qualifies as a losing streak. And to be honest, it's stressing me out a little bit. What's most worrisome is the trajectory that my losing sessions have been taking. My bet patterns have looked almost exactly like a compulsive gambler who tryies to make up his losses, starts steaming, has some modest success, but then gets carried away only to give it back to the casino. The good part is that I probably looked like a loser to the casino. The bad part is that I felt like a loser while going through it. I've looked at my game, and it's the same one that I've always played (not a particularly strong game, but a winning one nontheless), but it's still a bit unnerving.
I wonder if it's more or less stressful to play with an investor's money rather than your own?
The bacon-saver to the bankroll has, of course, been the online money, but that tap has basically dried up, I've decided to curtail activity there dramatically, as the opportunities have shrunk and the hassle has increased dramatically. In other words, I won't have that to bail my ass out any more.
On specific notes, I think I got a little more attention than I wanted from a couple of floorman. One lady was very nice and chatty and was on an immediate first name basis with me, I don't it helped that I was in and out of her end of the pit multiple times over a too-long session. The other lady seemed to be looking at my table a lot, but was maybe 12ft away, too far to engage. Both are likely innocent, but still highlighted some things I need to work on.
Oh, and I'm trying to rathole less, so that my pockets won't be comically overflowing with green chips. Since the ratholing can't really hide the violent swings I've been having at the table, I've dialed the goal back down to simply ratholing double my EV, and making adjustments to cashier policy to keep things at a more manageable surplus.
Finally, I did end up playing a pitch game one on one vs a very new dealer. He did just about everything wrong that a new dealer could do wrong, except for flashing his hole card. Sigh.
EasyRhino
Well-Known Member
crossing of the Rubicon
Well, this may come as a shock, but winning is definitely more fun than losing.
This weekend I really wanted to get in a fairly serious number of hands. I figured the only way out of the slump was to grind my way out of it.
When I was looking for games, I was operating with two general rules of thumb. a) I really wanted to play heads up or with limited people at the table, and b) I really wanted to stick to double deck games if at all possible. Now, around these parts, (b) may be a fairly dodgy proposition, as the DD games all had barely over 50% penetration. A few had surrender, at least.
I didn't expect much, but I visited two joints on Friday night. Too crowded to get in much play, and when I did, I managed to lose some. A real drag, especially since I was only operating with ATM money, so I was kind of short-stacked.
Saturday and Sunday I started fairly early in the mornings. Since joints tended not to have a lot of tables open, I spent a lot of time waiting for one to empty out, and "wonging" to it, because of the count, but seeking less crowded tables. I did manage to get in possibly 3 hours of heads up play over the weekend, which I would call fairly miraculous (And most of the rest of the play was only with 1 or 2 other people). I mainly stuck to DD, but I did end up playing about four 6D shoes off-the-top. No wonging opportunities showed themselves when I looked for them in between hopping between tables.
At one place, my white-rabbiting became comical, at least to me. Only two pits were open in the morning, and only one of them (the higher roller area) had any games that were non-full. However, as I was avoiding ploppies and horrible counts in 6D shoes, I ended up playing at five or even six different tables over the course of an hour, but all in the same pit. So I became pals with the two floor supervisors. It began to get silly, so I cut the session short.
Oh, and I also got to use some fun negative-index plays in a stupidly negative count.
On the upside for the weekend, I got a nice win out of the whole thing, up $2400. I bet into quite a few high counts over the weekend with my max bet ($250), and the high counts were generally pretty good to me. I also just topped my personal record for biggest single hand, when I had over $1000 on the table. And I actually won that hand, unlike my previous personal max. This was and especially nice surprise, the splits were defensive, and I was at a slight disadvantage.
On the downside, I think I may have found a breaking point at one of the local places I'm quite fond if. It's the lowest-rolling joint that I frequent, and when I got the max bet pushed out, I immediately had two floormen hawking my play. Now, everyone was really friendly, and I wasn't backed off or anything, but a few key details lead me to believe that it's a 50/50 chance that they had me pegged, or were just about to have me pegged. I've got to figure out when I want to go back there, and more importantly, how I want to comport myself when I do return.
All in all, a good weekend. But I also crossed an symbolid threshold:
After I redeposited the money into bank account, my gambling bankroll* officially swelled to more than the amount of money I have in my employer's 401(k) plan. And I've been a diligent little saver for the last couple of years, so this is a really substantial chunk of change to me. And more symbolically, I think it demostrates that I'm through the looking glass with this whole advantage gambling thing.
And, looking back at my experiences so far, it still begs the question "Who the **** really does this?". Who really goes out and plays a couple hundred dollars a hand at a game with a built in disadvantage? While the hell pushes a grand out on the table in a situation where they have a 2% disadvantage, just because it's the less bad option? Why do people keep going to Vegas?
It's all crazy.
*Disclaimer: again, lest the gentle reader think that card counting is the path to easy riches, I must point out that of the $28k in my bankroll at the moment, the vast majority of it (around $20k) was from a year's worth of online casino hustling, not from honest work like card counting.
Well, this may come as a shock, but winning is definitely more fun than losing.
This weekend I really wanted to get in a fairly serious number of hands. I figured the only way out of the slump was to grind my way out of it.
When I was looking for games, I was operating with two general rules of thumb. a) I really wanted to play heads up or with limited people at the table, and b) I really wanted to stick to double deck games if at all possible. Now, around these parts, (b) may be a fairly dodgy proposition, as the DD games all had barely over 50% penetration. A few had surrender, at least.
I didn't expect much, but I visited two joints on Friday night. Too crowded to get in much play, and when I did, I managed to lose some. A real drag, especially since I was only operating with ATM money, so I was kind of short-stacked.
Saturday and Sunday I started fairly early in the mornings. Since joints tended not to have a lot of tables open, I spent a lot of time waiting for one to empty out, and "wonging" to it, because of the count, but seeking less crowded tables. I did manage to get in possibly 3 hours of heads up play over the weekend, which I would call fairly miraculous (And most of the rest of the play was only with 1 or 2 other people). I mainly stuck to DD, but I did end up playing about four 6D shoes off-the-top. No wonging opportunities showed themselves when I looked for them in between hopping between tables.
At one place, my white-rabbiting became comical, at least to me. Only two pits were open in the morning, and only one of them (the higher roller area) had any games that were non-full. However, as I was avoiding ploppies and horrible counts in 6D shoes, I ended up playing at five or even six different tables over the course of an hour, but all in the same pit. So I became pals with the two floor supervisors. It began to get silly, so I cut the session short.
Oh, and I also got to use some fun negative-index plays in a stupidly negative count.
On the upside for the weekend, I got a nice win out of the whole thing, up $2400. I bet into quite a few high counts over the weekend with my max bet ($250), and the high counts were generally pretty good to me. I also just topped my personal record for biggest single hand, when I had over $1000 on the table. And I actually won that hand, unlike my previous personal max. This was and especially nice surprise, the splits were defensive, and I was at a slight disadvantage.
On the downside, I think I may have found a breaking point at one of the local places I'm quite fond if. It's the lowest-rolling joint that I frequent, and when I got the max bet pushed out, I immediately had two floormen hawking my play. Now, everyone was really friendly, and I wasn't backed off or anything, but a few key details lead me to believe that it's a 50/50 chance that they had me pegged, or were just about to have me pegged. I've got to figure out when I want to go back there, and more importantly, how I want to comport myself when I do return.
All in all, a good weekend. But I also crossed an symbolid threshold:
After I redeposited the money into bank account, my gambling bankroll* officially swelled to more than the amount of money I have in my employer's 401(k) plan. And I've been a diligent little saver for the last couple of years, so this is a really substantial chunk of change to me. And more symbolically, I think it demostrates that I'm through the looking glass with this whole advantage gambling thing.
And, looking back at my experiences so far, it still begs the question "Who the **** really does this?". Who really goes out and plays a couple hundred dollars a hand at a game with a built in disadvantage? While the hell pushes a grand out on the table in a situation where they have a 2% disadvantage, just because it's the less bad option? Why do people keep going to Vegas?
It's all crazy.
*Disclaimer: again, lest the gentle reader think that card counting is the path to easy riches, I must point out that of the $28k in my bankroll at the moment, the vast majority of it (around $20k) was from a year's worth of online casino hustling, not from honest work like card counting.
EasyRhino
Well-Known Member
Oh, I did a some playing last weekend. Booked a nice win. The variance was quite benign, I was even making money in overcrowded conditions, and also had a notable winning streak in a negative count. Bankroll's at a new all-time high. Yay.
Good news: There was no particular reaction to my appearance at the lower-roller casino I was worried about "spooking" the week previous. Although I went there mainly just to check it out and lay some cover, didn't do any serious play.
Good news: Found two dealers at one store that actually gave better-than-standard penetration on a doubledeck game (maybe 66%, which is unfortunately an improvement). Too bad they were working when it was packed.
Decision: I had a heart-to-heart with myself and realized that I wasn't fully comfortable being a full-fledged green chipper. I decided not to raise my max bet beyond its current level until I feel more comfortable with it, even if the bankroll increases.
Ironic Navel-gazing: This decision immediately took just a little bit off the excitement off the whole affair. Let's face it, if you're betting the same portion of bankroll, and the bankroll is increasing, then you can mentally extrapolate a line where you can be a terror to the casinos. That's quite a romantic notion, but those exciting new vistas are now closed off to me (even if it is a self-exclusion).
So yeah, I'm complaining about the increased bet level, and also increasing about not increasing the bet level. I'm not sure if it can get more hypocritical.
Good news: There was no particular reaction to my appearance at the lower-roller casino I was worried about "spooking" the week previous. Although I went there mainly just to check it out and lay some cover, didn't do any serious play.
Good news: Found two dealers at one store that actually gave better-than-standard penetration on a doubledeck game (maybe 66%, which is unfortunately an improvement). Too bad they were working when it was packed.
Decision: I had a heart-to-heart with myself and realized that I wasn't fully comfortable being a full-fledged green chipper. I decided not to raise my max bet beyond its current level until I feel more comfortable with it, even if the bankroll increases.
Ironic Navel-gazing: This decision immediately took just a little bit off the excitement off the whole affair. Let's face it, if you're betting the same portion of bankroll, and the bankroll is increasing, then you can mentally extrapolate a line where you can be a terror to the casinos. That's quite a romantic notion, but those exciting new vistas are now closed off to me (even if it is a self-exclusion).
So yeah, I'm complaining about the increased bet level, and also increasing about not increasing the bet level. I'm not sure if it can get more hypocritical.
EasyRhino
Well-Known Member
Well, as long as your comfortable, then I'm comfortable.Kasi said:
Yep.
When I started, (see the first two pages of this thread), my "bankroll" was only $500. Very replenishable, but that's all I was willing to test at that moment with this "counting" thing, and I kept it seperate from my regular funds. Through a lot of red-chip sessions, proportional overbetting, and some good luck (in hindsight, probably a lot of luck), that got up to a $3k-$5k. Still very much red chipping, but at least I wasn't overbetting as horribly.
Then, in spring, I got a series of much deferred cashouts from online bonus-hustling. These cashouts were the first "pure profit" from the online casinos, where I didn't have to replace my personal funds, so they went into the bankroll, and a brief series of cashouts swelled the bankroll to $10k-$15k. I figured "well gee, I should increase my bets now" (max bet $100/$150)
This coincidended with two long weekends in Vegas, where I had nice wins. Bankroll was up to around $20k. "Gee, maybe I should increase my bets again?" ($200) That's when I hit a rockier stretch with a few bad losses, but more online cashouts meant that the bankroll stayed roughly flat or increased slightly.
So a few weeks ago, I hit the "Golly willickers, maybe I should increase my bets again" stage ($250)... And yes, I say "willickers" to myself. Booked a couple more wins, and said "willickers" again.
But now I've got a few problems:
1) It wouldn't be remotely easy for me to replenish the bankroll without doing something crazy like cashing out retirement savings.
2) The online gravy train has basically dried up, (I've already signed up for every new casino out there that will take US players, and the ones that had juicy repeatable bonuses have bonus-banned me). The massive profit potential from online hustling was the dirty little secret that propped up my bankroll, but I don't have a crutch any more.
3) About half the time I push out a max bet, I still think to myself "Who the F- actually does this?" just because it seems so financially irresponsible. So I don't really come across as a carefree medium-roller.