Hello all,
Id like to take a moment to introduce myself to the forum I have been obsessivly reading for the last month.
I became interested in counting about a month ago. My Vegas trip was coming up and I was really excited. I kept checking college football betting lines until I basically had them memorized. I grew bored of that, and found myself wandering into the massive amount of information on counting cards found here and on several different sites. I decided to give it a try.
I learned Hi-Lo and practiced for about 4 hours. I felt pretty confident, able to accurately count down a deck in about 35 seconds. I practiced a little more on the plane ride in, and decided I was ready to go. The first night I gambled with my friends. We played craps and a lot of poker. I had a great first night, +$1000 pretty much entirely taken from drunk poker players at $1-$2 no limit.
Fast forward to the 2nd night of our trip. I had bet my friend Jack $100 he couldn't drink 26 Guiness in 10 hours. We ended up at a Casino with good drink service that had a Doubledeck Superfun 21 table and sat down, planning to stay as long as they would serve us booze. I decided to try my counting skills. I was spreading $5-$25 and was about even 3 hours later. The drinks gave me the courage to up my bets. Over the next couple hours my big bet went from $25 to $50 to $75, and my chip stack grew slowly.
About 5 hours in my spread is now $5-$120 and I have nearly $1000 in front of me. I heard the pit boss say "plus 5 right? Thats what Ive got." I thought to myself 'thats odd... The running count is +5' as I put out a $50 bet. I told my friends I thought they were on to me, and that we should go. Jack said I was crazy. He really wanted to stay because he was on beer 16 and was still getting service every 20-30 minutes. I was having fun and was easily convinced to stay.
My friends started following my bets. They loudly proclaimed that I was a savant, and that everyone should follow my bets. It was about another hour before I was delt my last hand. TC was about +12. I had $125 out and got dealt 77 vs dealer 4. Split, and the dealer busted. My biggest win of the night (the rest of the table had big money out too)!
As the winnings were paid I got tapped on the shoulder by the Pit Boss. He asked me to step away from the table and show my ID, which I did. He politely told me I was too good for this game and that they would no longer deal any type of blackjack game to me. I was of course welcome to stay and play craps or slots!
My heart was racing. My friends went nuts! I cashed out +$1100 and left. We never thought in a million years we would get kicked out for being too good at gambling. In our minds, we had just beat Vegas! It was the greatest gambling experience any of us had ever had.
I now know that Superfun21 isn't even a good game to count, and that I experienced some good short term variance. Still, I am hooked. It is amazing to me that instead of being an underdog, I am now going to be a slight favorite to win every session of blackjack I play. What could be better?
Id like to take a moment to introduce myself to the forum I have been obsessivly reading for the last month.
I became interested in counting about a month ago. My Vegas trip was coming up and I was really excited. I kept checking college football betting lines until I basically had them memorized. I grew bored of that, and found myself wandering into the massive amount of information on counting cards found here and on several different sites. I decided to give it a try.
I learned Hi-Lo and practiced for about 4 hours. I felt pretty confident, able to accurately count down a deck in about 35 seconds. I practiced a little more on the plane ride in, and decided I was ready to go. The first night I gambled with my friends. We played craps and a lot of poker. I had a great first night, +$1000 pretty much entirely taken from drunk poker players at $1-$2 no limit.
Fast forward to the 2nd night of our trip. I had bet my friend Jack $100 he couldn't drink 26 Guiness in 10 hours. We ended up at a Casino with good drink service that had a Doubledeck Superfun 21 table and sat down, planning to stay as long as they would serve us booze. I decided to try my counting skills. I was spreading $5-$25 and was about even 3 hours later. The drinks gave me the courage to up my bets. Over the next couple hours my big bet went from $25 to $50 to $75, and my chip stack grew slowly.
About 5 hours in my spread is now $5-$120 and I have nearly $1000 in front of me. I heard the pit boss say "plus 5 right? Thats what Ive got." I thought to myself 'thats odd... The running count is +5' as I put out a $50 bet. I told my friends I thought they were on to me, and that we should go. Jack said I was crazy. He really wanted to stay because he was on beer 16 and was still getting service every 20-30 minutes. I was having fun and was easily convinced to stay.
My friends started following my bets. They loudly proclaimed that I was a savant, and that everyone should follow my bets. It was about another hour before I was delt my last hand. TC was about +12. I had $125 out and got dealt 77 vs dealer 4. Split, and the dealer busted. My biggest win of the night (the rest of the table had big money out too)!
As the winnings were paid I got tapped on the shoulder by the Pit Boss. He asked me to step away from the table and show my ID, which I did. He politely told me I was too good for this game and that they would no longer deal any type of blackjack game to me. I was of course welcome to stay and play craps or slots!
My heart was racing. My friends went nuts! I cashed out +$1100 and left. We never thought in a million years we would get kicked out for being too good at gambling. In our minds, we had just beat Vegas! It was the greatest gambling experience any of us had ever had.
I now know that Superfun21 isn't even a good game to count, and that I experienced some good short term variance. Still, I am hooked. It is amazing to me that instead of being an underdog, I am now going to be a slight favorite to win every session of blackjack I play. What could be better?
Some of the posters here can be nasty, but most have good intentions even though they may come across as harsh at times. There is a lot to learn from many of the folks here. It is a valuable resource. I have learned volumes from the members on this site and continue to do so even after playing blackjack full time for 7 years and being a member here for 3 and a half years, and I know that I have only scratched the surface. Knowledge is a lifetime quest and there continue to be new developments, methods and opportunities available, so don't close the door because some of the members here aren't super polite, and by no means take it personally. There actually has been quite a rash of new posters/players recently, which may have lowered some member's tolerance a bit. I know I have not been as tolerant and eger to help out, new players as I once was. So be patient and take advantage of this valuable resource as best you can.
