My first counting experience

[aslan]

I went to Reno a couple of weeks ago and tried the KO rookie system. Actually, I didn't think I was ready so I started out with BS, but after I got good and stuck, I resorted to counting even though I felt poorly prepared. I was amazed to find out how easy it was to maintain the count, at least at a table with only a few players. I onlt lost the count on two shoes.

I didn't even count the first go around, but waited for the second card to be dealt, because I found it easy to count two cards at a time since many of them simply cancel out (high and low card).

I was able to get my money back, but only after a few harrowing experiences. When the count was way in my favor, I kept getting things like 5/brick and 6/brick, while all around me players were getting brick/brick and blackjack. Also, many times the dealer got two bricks, as you would expect when the deck is rich in high cards. I started taking the heat and betting more than my planned $10/$50 spread, at least twice betting more than $100, trying to camoflauge it as a novice chasing his money, which wasn't far from the truth except that I knew I had an extremely favorable plus count. Fortunately, I won most of my $75 and $100 plus bets. Since I didn't have the suggested bankroll (100 times max bet), once I got even I spent the rest of the visit playing poker.

One thing I had a problem with is that I always started betting $10 at the beginning on each shoe, but always began betting $50 or more toward the end of the shoe (when the count turned favorable). Isn't this pattern a dead giveaway that one is counting? I always felt naked when after betting large, I suddenly began betting small again with each new shoe. If I was a pit boss I would have asked me to leave, but they didn't.

 

[EasyRhino]

Out of curiosity, did you play at the Siena? I'm trying to get an idea of how many people from this message board get backed off from there

Were you doing the true "rookie" betting method of just jumping between small and large bets? If so, beginning to bet semi-proportionally is a big improvement. Tends to reduce the fluctuation somewhat. I'd recommend working on that yet.

And yes, having a big bet out with the shuffle, then dropping to a min bet, really is a stereotypical counter move. One camouflage move (that isn't really that expensive), is to leave your big bet out after the shuffle on the first hand of the new deck. only reduce it once you lose. Even today I had problems doing this. I had a big ol' stack of green chips on the last hand of a shoe game. After the shuffle, I just replaced it with black chip (which was still a substantial decrease).

However, if you get tossed for a $50 bet, then the place may not be worth the camo anyway.

 

[aslan]

Out of curiosity, did you play at the Siena? I'm trying to get an idea of how many people from this message board get backed off from there

Were you doing the true "rookie" betting method of just jumping between small and large bets? If so, beginning to bet semi-proportionally is a big improvement. Tends to reduce the fluctuation somewhat. I'd recommend working on that yet.

And yes, having a big bet out with the shuffle, then dropping to a min bet, really is a stereotypical counter move. One camouflage move (that isn't really that expensive), is to leave your big bet out after the shuffle on the first hand of the new deck. only reduce it once you lose. Even today I had problems doing this. I had a big ol' stack of green chips on the last hand of a shoe game. After the shuffle, I just replaced it with black chip (which was still a substantial decrease).

However, if you get tossed for a $50 bet, then the place may not be worth the camo anyway.

I played at the Nugget. I did disguise my betting by gradually increasing or decreasing it as the count went up or down, although I didn't know if I was getting the best bang for the buck by doing this. When I repeatedly lost with a good count I took the heat and bet 10x the basic bet rather than 5x as the rookie system advises. I figured if I was going to fall victim to chasing my money, at least I was going to do it when the edge was in my favor. Fortunately, lady luck was on my side, but next time I will have a larger bankroll to avoid the panic. And yes, I did jump around a lot on my bets to provide extra camo, and sometimes I did start a new shoe with other than the minimum bet. Mostly, I tried to make it look like my increased betting was a result of chasing my money, which in truth was sometimes the case, but not always. Even when I was in control, I tried to make it look like I was a fumbling, inept, and illogical gambler at a big loss for the evening. No one seemed to question it.

 

[aslan]

Out of curiosity, did you play at the Siena? I'm trying to get an idea of how many people from this message board get backed off from there

Were you doing the true "rookie" betting method of just jumping between small and large bets? If so, beginning to bet semi-proportionally is a big improvement. Tends to reduce the fluctuation somewhat. I'd recommend working on that yet.

And yes, having a big bet out with the shuffle, then dropping to a min bet, really is a stereotypical counter move. One camouflage move (that isn't really that expensive), is to leave your big bet out after the shuffle on the first hand of the new deck. only reduce it once you lose. Even today I had problems doing this. I had a big ol' stack of green chips on the last hand of a shoe game. After the shuffle, I just replaced it with black chip (which was still a substantial decrease).

However, if you get tossed for a $50 bet, then the place may not be worth the camo anyway.

This my second attempt to post; the first didn't seem to take.

I played at the Nugget. I did try to disguise my bet by gradually increasing or decreasing it as the count went up or down. And yes, I did sometimes bet more than the minimum when I started a new shoe. I didn't think 10x was out of line except that Rookie advises to keep it 5x to avoid being conspicuous (I believe I read that somewhere). Anyway, I was just taking the heat because I had lost so many hands at 5x and I was chasing my money. I figured I would at least have the edge even if I was betting foolishly with a short bankroll. Fortunately ladyluck was with me and I recouped my losses, both from losing with counting and losing with BS previously. I will never again try counting without a sufficient bankroll to cover losing streaks.

It was useful to learn by experience that just because you have the edge, doesn't mean you will always win. It's one thing to know it, another to experience it firsthand.

 

[nc-tom]

Why i am wondering are you playing shoe games in Reno?The are much better and easier to count 1deck games in town. Christ the silver club across the street from the nugget has a great 1deck game. Look for those next time.

 

[aslan]

Why i am wondering are you playing shoe games in Reno?The are much better and easier to count 1deck games in town. Christ the silver club across the street from the nugget has a great 1deck game. Look for those next time.

I am new to this. I assume you are saying that single deck games are better. Could you explain the difference? I did play single deck games a little, but I couldn't remember the IRC. This was my first outing and I wasn't even going to count (because I didn't think I was ready) until I got stuck using BS. Then I began counting as a means to get even, which I am happy to say, I succeeded at.

A couple of times they put a really fast dealer in and I found it impossible to keep up with him. But for the most part, dealers are pretty easy to count, especially if the table is less than half full.