Tragical Mirth
Member
Hello all!
I've been reading the forums for a long time, probably about a year and a half, and have finally decided to post some of my questions. To tell the truth, I have been sort of afraid due to some of the responses that I have seen to new posters.
First off, I will give you a little about my experience and why I started reading the forums and learning. I've been a poker player for may years, but about two years ago (and please actually read this, I know that it sounds terrible and there has been quite a few discussions on this fact) my friend and I watched 21. He was a common ploppy for about two years and I had never played BJ, but after seeing the movie we decided to do some research into counting. We started with Blackjack Attack and Million Dollar Blackjack along with perusing the forums (mainly this one). After a couple weeks of trying to find a place to start we decided to learn KO. We practiced for a few months and absorbed all the information we could (i.e. index plays, playing conditions, heat consideration etc).
During our research and learning period we realized that we will probably never make a living off counting cards due to preferring the other ("safer and more lucrative") investment opportunities available, but that was fine. Our goal was to learn enough to be able to play at an advantage instead of a disadvantage. He enjoys playing the game and not expecting to lose money (long term, we already know variance sucks), and I enjoy the feeling of knowing I am beating someone at their own game (also one of the reasons why I love poker... I am a highly competitive person).
Now, to my question. I typically only play casually. It used to be a couple times a month, lately it is about once a month, all for low stakes. The last couple times I have been to the local stores I have traveled up there with a couple friends of mine. The places around here are small, and more than once our group of 5 or so is the majority of the players at the tables. One of them bets erratically, occasionally bumping up against the table max, the others are all for lower stakes. The dealers and pit always love us because we are that happy group of people who just like to have fun and aren't all serious. My group all know I count, but don't follow by bets but will increase their bets maybe 1-2 or 3 if I have a max out, but never anything obvious. In smaller stores, will this just draw unneeded attention to us? Will the pit be less likely to back us/me off since they will lose, in some cases, 100% of the players at the tables? I have not seen anything so far that suggests they have any sort of problem with our play, but I am still very new to this and would like to avoid any problems.
I was also wondering about back counting and wonging. Since I play at these sparsely crowded places, I usually feel awkward back counting since I am just standing there doing nothing (I will "text" or something on my phone or talk to a friend if there is someone with me) and you get a lot of "Would you like to sit down and play?" "You should come help change the flow of cards" (stupid ploppies). Any suggestion on this? I'm ok with wonging now, beer makes me "need to pee" a lot and even tho I quit smoking I bring a pack so I can go to the balcony and stand there with a lit cigarette when needed.
I would like to thank everyone (well, almost everyone) for all the posts on this site that have already taught me so much and I look forward to someday being able to contribute!
Trag
I've been reading the forums for a long time, probably about a year and a half, and have finally decided to post some of my questions. To tell the truth, I have been sort of afraid due to some of the responses that I have seen to new posters.
First off, I will give you a little about my experience and why I started reading the forums and learning. I've been a poker player for may years, but about two years ago (and please actually read this, I know that it sounds terrible and there has been quite a few discussions on this fact) my friend and I watched 21.
He was a common ploppy for about two years and I had never played BJ, but after seeing the movie we decided to do some research into counting. We started with Blackjack Attack and Million Dollar Blackjack along with perusing the forums (mainly this one). After a couple weeks of trying to find a place to start we decided to learn KO. We practiced for a few months and absorbed all the information we could (i.e. index plays, playing conditions, heat consideration etc).During our research and learning period we realized that we will probably never make a living off counting cards due to preferring the other ("safer and more lucrative") investment opportunities available, but that was fine. Our goal was to learn enough to be able to play at an advantage instead of a disadvantage. He enjoys playing the game and not expecting to lose money (long term, we already know variance sucks), and I enjoy the feeling of knowing I am beating someone at their own game (also one of the reasons why I love poker... I am a highly competitive person).
Now, to my question. I typically only play casually. It used to be a couple times a month, lately it is about once a month, all for low stakes. The last couple times I have been to the local stores I have traveled up there with a couple friends of mine. The places around here are small, and more than once our group of 5 or so is the majority of the players at the tables. One of them bets erratically, occasionally bumping up against the table max, the others are all for lower stakes. The dealers and pit always love us because we are that happy group of people who just like to have fun and aren't all serious. My group all know I count, but don't follow by bets but will increase their bets maybe 1-2 or 3 if I have a max out, but never anything obvious. In smaller stores, will this just draw unneeded attention to us? Will the pit be less likely to back us/me off since they will lose, in some cases, 100% of the players at the tables? I have not seen anything so far that suggests they have any sort of problem with our play, but I am still very new to this and would like to avoid any problems.
I was also wondering about back counting and wonging. Since I play at these sparsely crowded places, I usually feel awkward back counting since I am just standing there doing nothing (I will "text" or something on my phone or talk to a friend if there is someone with me) and you get a lot of "Would you like to sit down and play?" "You should come help change the flow of cards" (stupid ploppies). Any suggestion on this? I'm ok with wonging now, beer makes me "need to pee" a lot and even tho I quit smoking I bring a pack so I can go to the balcony and stand there with a lit cigarette when needed.
I would like to thank everyone (well, almost everyone
) for all the posts on this site that have already taught me so much and I look forward to someday being able to contribute!Trag
