I generally spread pretty conservatively at places I play often to avoid heat... 1-6, and occasionally going 1-10 depending on the situation and who is watching. When I go on vacation I generally spread much more aggressively. How do the experts on this board approach spreading. Do you keep it consistent no matter where you play or do you think my approach is ok? Sometimes I feel I am being overly paranoid with heat, but I want to be able to continue to play at my regular stomping grounds!
Spreading on home court vs on the road
- Thread starter Ace007
- Start date
Friendo
Well-Known Member
Big bettor at the table
I would spread conservatively at your home haunts, or any place you think you'll become a familiar face in over the long term.
Bet size is just as important as spread, IMO. I get the feeling that the largest bets in a particular pit are more likely to draw scrutiny than the largest spreads. Sure, $5-$100 will get their attention, but $25-$250 would be scrutinized first - obviously, these examples should be scaled up/down according to how far out in podunk you're playing.
If you're Wonging, a spread of 6:1 is sufficient to be profitable without bad variance.
There's a tiny place I have played twice - it's several hundred miles away, but near one of my vacation spots, so I try not to burn it out - which clearly does not see many bettors above $150. I play two hands there, spreading 6:1, and am nearly invisible because my top bet is in the same red color as my bottom bet. If I were spreading 10:1, I would certainly be on the radar, as I have seen ploppies there get careful inspection for bets past a certain threshold.
I would spread conservatively at your home haunts, or any place you think you'll become a familiar face in over the long term.
Bet size is just as important as spread, IMO. I get the feeling that the largest bets in a particular pit are more likely to draw scrutiny than the largest spreads. Sure, $5-$100 will get their attention, but $25-$250 would be scrutinized first - obviously, these examples should be scaled up/down according to how far out in podunk you're playing.
If you're Wonging, a spread of 6:1 is sufficient to be profitable without bad variance.
There's a tiny place I have played twice - it's several hundred miles away, but near one of my vacation spots, so I try not to burn it out - which clearly does not see many bettors above $150. I play two hands there, spreading 6:1, and am nearly invisible because my top bet is in the same red color as my bottom bet. If I were spreading 10:1, I would certainly be on the radar, as I have seen ploppies there get careful inspection for bets past a certain threshold.
The Chaperone
Well-Known Member
Play for the tie at home and play for the win on the road.
paddywhack
Well-Known Member
That is something I very much agree with, from my experience.Friendo said:
Always best to treat the locals with care.The Chaperone said:
blackjack avenger
Well-Known Member
how to
Perhaps keep your low and med bets the same while not going to top bets at home.
Perhaps keep your low and med bets the same while not going to top bets at home.
Remember Remember
Member
Out of curiosity, do you play games with very good rules/pen while at home or wong out aggressively? Because for a lot of the poorer games like say CT (8D, H17, LS, DAS, 75-80 pen), I'm not sure a 1-6 spread would be enough to even make the game an even game if you don't wong out aggressively.Ace007 said:
the games at home are not the greatest. Most are 8D, H17, DAS, 80% pen on a good day, (but more like 70%). I do wong out pretty aggressively. I can tell you I am not even which is why I'm posting this to see if I am doing something wrong or if i'm in a bout of negative variance. i've read so much on here about camo that i may be over doing it. I however have only around 30hrs of play under my belt so hopefully with time I will improve.
In general a casino with crappy rules like that have a higher tolerance for your play. Personally I wouldn't worry about burning a store with such crappy rules unless the games that are out of the reach of your bankroll are worth preserving. I am guessing you are a lower limit player so as long as you are losing I wouldn't worry about heat at all. A big cash cow for the casinos is underfunded wannabe counters. I think they know this and are more tolerant because of this. If you show over time that you are not one of these cash cows you can expect closer scrutiny. If you are a red/green chipper and it is a big casino this amount of scrutiny still might not be much. Every casino is different so if you know any other Aps that are familiar with your home casino networking about casino tolerance for different bet sizes/spreads is extremely useful information.Ace007 said:
Burning such a crappy game might be the best thing that can happen to you if you play there frequently. You should be avoiding them all together. Maybe for a newbie experience is important but once your game is finely tuned you shouldn't even play such a crappy game. It just invites disaster to your future.
The Chaperone
Well-Known Member
In case people didn't get it at first, I was being sarcastic with this post.The Chaperone said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMk5sMHj58I
"You play to win the game. Hello!?! You play to win the game. You don't play it just to play it. That's the great thing about {blackjack}. You play to win. And I don't care if you don't have any {significant bankroll}. You're gonna play to win. When you start telling me it doesn't matter, then retire. Get out... It matters... This whole conversation bothers me."