UnevenSeven
Active Member
Last night I made my first trip to a casino. Well, it turned out to be of a reconaisance mission in the end. Let me explain further, but first, a little about myself.
I first got into all of this about 6 months ago when I came across a link on a web page which promised to show you how to make £££'s in online casinos. It was a free link and in it it explained the Martingale progression system as applied to red/black betting on the roulette. I understood that roulette outcomes were independant from each other, however, with a background in IT with a minor in simulation, I also knew that random number simulators are also not truly random, hence, the red that I would be piling my chips on had to come up sooner or later (as confirmed by my demo play). I practiced, drew up progression charts, probability charts,experimented, started learning about odds, house edge etc. and finally bit the bullet and had a go. To cut a long story short, I was up 50 one minute, down 150 the next and quit when had recovered a little. It wasn't working.
Then I started looking at Blackjack. Had a few go's, won a bit, lost more and then I started thinking. Surely, these were not independant trials; the probability of not busting by hitting was dependant on the exact composition of my hand (back then I thought BJ was all 1D, shuffle between hands and I was the only player as it was an online flash game).
So I started working out the probabilities by hand. It was complicated to say the least, and after a while I said to myself, "surely someone has done all this before!" I did a search on "Blackjack" on Google and a door to a whole new world opened up before me.
And so I started reading, and reading and reading a bit more. Did the Gamemasters' lessons (was chuffed when he personally answered emails I sent him), started counting down decks, memorized basic strategy (I searched endlessly for Advanced strategy once!), counted a bit more, then started practicing with BJ games on the internet e.g. The free demo online casino games.
I knew by then that counting did not apply because the decks were reshuffled between hands, but I was practicing anyway. Read BBIB, changed HiLo to Red 7, read Blackjack secrets, changed back to HiLo and figured that I could keep count pretty well.
But there was something nagging at me all this time. I didn't know what it would be like at a *real* casino. I had been to casinos before, but with no interest in any of the games, I hadn't taken part. I had never actually observed a BJ game at a casino before, hence I knew my experience was lacking. I was paying heed to that advice given on this forum about the distractions of a real casino; the lights, the people, the fast dealers, the conversations etc. Moreover, as I have already mentioned on this forum, I just love the casino stories and the ploppie tales - I wanted to see this for myself. Besides, how difficult could it be? I could kinda keep count at home if somewhat slowly, and I didn't see the need to be able to count down a deck in 25 secs; I'd just count as the cards were being dealt! In any case, I thought that there would be no substitute for real world exprience, I was prepared to pay for it (i.e. Lose the lot) and lets face it, I wanted to try out my newly developed skills. I'd be able to get in quite a few hands at a £5 min. table.
So, last night after work, a little tired but armed with £300, BS and I18 (didn't know these off by heart but could work them out), I took the underground to Leceister Square, London and visited Napoleons, as recommended here (by newbee I think). Found the joint and went in.
I had decided to have a good look before indulging, so I stood by a table and watched. Well what can I say? What a shocker! Advantage player, my ar$e, more like disadvantaged player. Could I keep up with the dealer? Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam bam, bam, bam .... bam, bam .. bam ... Hand over (errrm, minus 1, minus 3, minus 4 ..... Eh? Where did the cards go?). "Ok concentrate, concentrate" I told myself, but it was of no use. Why was that guy standing? Oh, it's 16v3 and BS says to stand. I was forgetting my Basic Strategy!! God forbid should anyone try to talk to me! I kept observing, thinking that if I could prove to myself that I could count, follow BS with the distractions present, then I'd have a go, but as I said earlier, I was forgetting BS, so this wasn't going to happen.
Then I remembered a signiture I'd seen on this forum, something along the lines of "Tell you what, give me half your money, we'll go round the back, I'll kick you in the nuts and we'll call it quits" and figured that for me to try this now was just to give my money away. So after an hour of watching and a beer I headed off home. Was I disapointed? Yes. Did I do the right thing? Definitely. Was it a waste of my time? Most definitely not! Would I give up? No, but I figured it'd take me a year of practice before I was up to speed.
However, I did have a good time. That place was ploppie heaven. The gamblers there had no rhyme or reason to their betting or playing strategy. It was like watching betting at the roulette table, where punters pick up a bunch of chips and then deposit it randomly, a stack at a time, on different numbers, except that in this case these were other players betting circles. There were many ridiculous plays occurring; standing on bad hands against dealers good hands, doubling and splitting on a whim etc. Etc. Etc. (I'm sure you all know the score). On one occasion, a lady drew 2 face cards, and the gentleman next to her offerred to split them, to which she agreed, all this against a dealer's 10. There was also a lot of people betting on other players hands, again with this roulette mentality, stacking chips willy-nilly and then damning their bad luck. A real eye opener. Oh yeah, one other thing, judging from what I saw, in terms of heat and the casino personnel there, it looks like you can pretty much do anything you want - it ain't Vegas.
So what did I take away from all this?
1. When you think you are ready, go home, practice some more, and then maybe you might be.
2. You are only afforded minor thinking time i.e your decisions must be all reflex.
3. BS must be instinctive.
4. Counting must be instinctive.
5. Strategy variations must be instinctive.
6. BJ at a casino for an AP must be instinctive.
7. It is not enough to count as the cards come out, a glance at the table should yield the same result.
8. Walk before you can run.
9. Practice at a casino is useful and can be done without laying down a single chip.
10. When I actually sit down and do it for real, I must prepare myself for the fact that doing is different from watching and I may be in for another shock, nevertheless, I think actual experience is valuable.
Oh, and one last one:
11. Tiredness doesn't help your game.
I'll keep you posted.
I first got into all of this about 6 months ago when I came across a link on a web page which promised to show you how to make £££'s in online casinos. It was a free link and in it it explained the Martingale progression system as applied to red/black betting on the roulette. I understood that roulette outcomes were independant from each other, however, with a background in IT with a minor in simulation, I also knew that random number simulators are also not truly random, hence, the red that I would be piling my chips on had to come up sooner or later (as confirmed by my demo play). I practiced, drew up progression charts, probability charts,experimented, started learning about odds, house edge etc. and finally bit the bullet and had a go. To cut a long story short, I was up 50 one minute, down 150 the next and quit when had recovered a little. It wasn't working.
Then I started looking at Blackjack. Had a few go's, won a bit, lost more and then I started thinking. Surely, these were not independant trials; the probability of not busting by hitting was dependant on the exact composition of my hand (back then I thought BJ was all 1D, shuffle between hands and I was the only player as it was an online flash game).
So I started working out the probabilities by hand. It was complicated to say the least, and after a while I said to myself, "surely someone has done all this before!" I did a search on "Blackjack" on Google and a door to a whole new world opened up before me.
And so I started reading, and reading and reading a bit more. Did the Gamemasters' lessons (was chuffed when he personally answered emails I sent him), started counting down decks, memorized basic strategy (I searched endlessly for Advanced strategy once!), counted a bit more, then started practicing with BJ games on the internet e.g. The free demo online casino games.
I knew by then that counting did not apply because the decks were reshuffled between hands, but I was practicing anyway. Read BBIB, changed HiLo to Red 7, read Blackjack secrets, changed back to HiLo and figured that I could keep count pretty well.
But there was something nagging at me all this time. I didn't know what it would be like at a *real* casino. I had been to casinos before, but with no interest in any of the games, I hadn't taken part. I had never actually observed a BJ game at a casino before, hence I knew my experience was lacking. I was paying heed to that advice given on this forum about the distractions of a real casino; the lights, the people, the fast dealers, the conversations etc. Moreover, as I have already mentioned on this forum, I just love the casino stories and the ploppie tales - I wanted to see this for myself. Besides, how difficult could it be? I could kinda keep count at home if somewhat slowly, and I didn't see the need to be able to count down a deck in 25 secs; I'd just count as the cards were being dealt! In any case, I thought that there would be no substitute for real world exprience, I was prepared to pay for it (i.e. Lose the lot) and lets face it, I wanted to try out my newly developed skills. I'd be able to get in quite a few hands at a £5 min. table.
So, last night after work, a little tired but armed with £300, BS and I18 (didn't know these off by heart but could work them out), I took the underground to Leceister Square, London and visited Napoleons, as recommended here (by newbee I think). Found the joint and went in.
I had decided to have a good look before indulging, so I stood by a table and watched. Well what can I say? What a shocker! Advantage player, my ar$e, more like disadvantaged player. Could I keep up with the dealer? Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam, bam bam, bam, bam .... bam, bam .. bam ... Hand over (errrm, minus 1, minus 3, minus 4 ..... Eh? Where did the cards go?). "Ok concentrate, concentrate" I told myself, but it was of no use. Why was that guy standing? Oh, it's 16v3 and BS says to stand. I was forgetting my Basic Strategy!! God forbid should anyone try to talk to me! I kept observing, thinking that if I could prove to myself that I could count, follow BS with the distractions present, then I'd have a go, but as I said earlier, I was forgetting BS, so this wasn't going to happen.
Then I remembered a signiture I'd seen on this forum, something along the lines of "Tell you what, give me half your money, we'll go round the back, I'll kick you in the nuts and we'll call it quits" and figured that for me to try this now was just to give my money away. So after an hour of watching and a beer I headed off home. Was I disapointed? Yes. Did I do the right thing? Definitely. Was it a waste of my time? Most definitely not! Would I give up? No, but I figured it'd take me a year of practice before I was up to speed.
However, I did have a good time. That place was ploppie heaven. The gamblers there had no rhyme or reason to their betting or playing strategy. It was like watching betting at the roulette table, where punters pick up a bunch of chips and then deposit it randomly, a stack at a time, on different numbers, except that in this case these were other players betting circles. There were many ridiculous plays occurring; standing on bad hands against dealers good hands, doubling and splitting on a whim etc. Etc. Etc. (I'm sure you all know the score). On one occasion, a lady drew 2 face cards, and the gentleman next to her offerred to split them, to which she agreed, all this against a dealer's 10. There was also a lot of people betting on other players hands, again with this roulette mentality, stacking chips willy-nilly and then damning their bad luck. A real eye opener. Oh yeah, one other thing, judging from what I saw, in terms of heat and the casino personnel there, it looks like you can pretty much do anything you want - it ain't Vegas.
So what did I take away from all this?
1. When you think you are ready, go home, practice some more, and then maybe you might be.
2. You are only afforded minor thinking time i.e your decisions must be all reflex.
3. BS must be instinctive.
4. Counting must be instinctive.
5. Strategy variations must be instinctive.
6. BJ at a casino for an AP must be instinctive.
7. It is not enough to count as the cards come out, a glance at the table should yield the same result.
8. Walk before you can run.
9. Practice at a casino is useful and can be done without laying down a single chip.
10. When I actually sit down and do it for real, I must prepare myself for the fact that doing is different from watching and I may be in for another shock, nevertheless, I think actual experience is valuable.
Oh, and one last one:
11. Tiredness doesn't help your game.
I'll keep you posted.
I need to track down a copy of the avatar I made for the blackjacktournaments.com site; it's a modified version of the album cover.
