a_MASTER_pickup_artist
Member
Hey guys, I've been reading up on blackjack for a while now and spent quite a lot of time practicing BS and hi-lo counting on my own and on computer programs. I know BS but with some of the rarer plays (double downs and splits) i have to think for a few seconds and recall the chart in my head. I can do the hi-lo count on paper and at my leisure, but i didn't know how i would hold up in the casinos.
First day I go, I'm kind of nervous and jittery. There's only one $10 table, and I had walked in with $120. I knew with that kind of money I shouldn't play any higher limit tables but the $10 table was totally full, so I played the $15 table. Things were really weird! I noticed that a lot of the time the dealer had a stiff hand, he would pull the 4, 5, or 6 out of his ass to make 20 or 21. It was happening almost EVERY time. I went up a little and promptly went down to $30. The most memorable bullshit hand was:
$15 bet, my 8, 8 vs dealer 6
I split, hit for 8, A (stay) and 8, 3 (double) -> 8, 3, 7 for 18 and 19.
Dealer turns over a jack for J, 6.
$45 on the table, I'm thinking, YEAHHHH.
Dealer gets a 5. 21. WHAT THE ****? 90 dollar swing out the window. I would have attributed this to dumb luck, but it seemed like EVERY stiff hand, the dealer would end on 19, 20, or 21.
I go to the $10 table with my last $30, go up a bit but end up walking away with $20. Down $100.
Next day, I go back.
Once again the $10 table is crowded. I told myself to stay away from the $15 table (especially that particular one) but there were many seats available so I sat down and played anyway. I had $160 on me. Repeat of yesterday happened. There was no catastropic hand like yesterday, but it was just steady losing - and dealer (not the same one), once again kept hitting stiff hands and ending up with 19/20/21 almost EVERY time. My friend noticed this too. I lose $100 here in the span of about 5-10 minutes and decide to leave. I just waited for the $10 to open up, eventaully a spot did and I sat down and started playing.
This table was HEAVEN. The dealer was slow, so I had AMPLE time to count. At one point the count was 0 at the beginning of the hand, I lost count, and I actually had the time to recount from the start because she was that slow. She was really friendly too. I bet a few $15 and $20 hands when the count was good - but when the tens and aces came out it seemed everyone but me was getting them (I still won a few big bets though). Some ups and downs, but I eventually walk away up $45, and a happy player. There was a middle aged lady talking a LOT about every hand she got which slowed the game down more, and there was this old lady next to me who kept yelling in cantonese when I would take a card as according to basic strategy that would have made the dealer bust (lmao). Also, the penetration was excellent. At the $15 table, the dealer would shuffle up at about 50%. Here, it was like 75%.
In total, I was down $155; $200 of losses had occured in about 5 minutes flat on two trips to the "clean up table".
My friend had lost $110 at the same $15 table I was on and he noticed as well, that the dealer was getting very "lucky" and pulling the exact small cards he needed, and that the table was almost always nearly empty - 2 or 3 people at a time, and they would quickly get cleaned out.
Now, am I just being paranoid here, or is this kind of thing expected? I just don't see how there could be two tables in the same casino right next to eachother, one of them being so awesome that I could sit there and count cards at a slow leisurely pace and playing a seemingly fair game, while the other table the dealer is dealing as fast as he could and everyone who played there would get cleaned out in 5 minutes and be replaced?
I think I learned a good lesson.. not to be too eager to play. I shouldn't have sat down at the $15 table (because I knew with a little over $100 there was no point, even before I started having suspicions about it). I kept playing when the count was really negative at one point (just because if I wonged out, there WERE NO OTHER $10 tables to play at... and I probably wouldn't be able to get a seat again) and about extra $40 that I should have walked away with.
This is also the only casino that is close enough for me to get to (it's an hour bus ride from my house; half an hour bus ride from my school or work), so I'm stuck with this only having one $10 table that's always being swarmed thing.
First day I go, I'm kind of nervous and jittery. There's only one $10 table, and I had walked in with $120. I knew with that kind of money I shouldn't play any higher limit tables but the $10 table was totally full, so I played the $15 table. Things were really weird! I noticed that a lot of the time the dealer had a stiff hand, he would pull the 4, 5, or 6 out of his ass to make 20 or 21. It was happening almost EVERY time. I went up a little and promptly went down to $30. The most memorable bullshit hand was:
$15 bet, my 8, 8 vs dealer 6
I split, hit for 8, A (stay) and 8, 3 (double) -> 8, 3, 7 for 18 and 19.
Dealer turns over a jack for J, 6.
$45 on the table, I'm thinking, YEAHHHH.
Dealer gets a 5. 21. WHAT THE ****? 90 dollar swing out the window. I would have attributed this to dumb luck, but it seemed like EVERY stiff hand, the dealer would end on 19, 20, or 21.
I go to the $10 table with my last $30, go up a bit but end up walking away with $20. Down $100.
Next day, I go back.
Once again the $10 table is crowded. I told myself to stay away from the $15 table (especially that particular one) but there were many seats available so I sat down and played anyway. I had $160 on me. Repeat of yesterday happened. There was no catastropic hand like yesterday, but it was just steady losing - and dealer (not the same one), once again kept hitting stiff hands and ending up with 19/20/21 almost EVERY time. My friend noticed this too. I lose $100 here in the span of about 5-10 minutes and decide to leave. I just waited for the $10 to open up, eventaully a spot did and I sat down and started playing.
This table was HEAVEN. The dealer was slow, so I had AMPLE time to count. At one point the count was 0 at the beginning of the hand, I lost count, and I actually had the time to recount from the start because she was that slow. She was really friendly too. I bet a few $15 and $20 hands when the count was good - but when the tens and aces came out it seemed everyone but me was getting them (I still won a few big bets though). Some ups and downs, but I eventually walk away up $45, and a happy player. There was a middle aged lady talking a LOT about every hand she got which slowed the game down more, and there was this old lady next to me who kept yelling in cantonese when I would take a card as according to basic strategy that would have made the dealer bust (lmao). Also, the penetration was excellent. At the $15 table, the dealer would shuffle up at about 50%. Here, it was like 75%.
In total, I was down $155; $200 of losses had occured in about 5 minutes flat on two trips to the "clean up table".
My friend had lost $110 at the same $15 table I was on and he noticed as well, that the dealer was getting very "lucky" and pulling the exact small cards he needed, and that the table was almost always nearly empty - 2 or 3 people at a time, and they would quickly get cleaned out.
Now, am I just being paranoid here, or is this kind of thing expected? I just don't see how there could be two tables in the same casino right next to eachother, one of them being so awesome that I could sit there and count cards at a slow leisurely pace and playing a seemingly fair game, while the other table the dealer is dealing as fast as he could and everyone who played there would get cleaned out in 5 minutes and be replaced?
I think I learned a good lesson.. not to be too eager to play. I shouldn't have sat down at the $15 table (because I knew with a little over $100 there was no point, even before I started having suspicions about it). I kept playing when the count was really negative at one point (just because if I wonged out, there WERE NO OTHER $10 tables to play at... and I probably wouldn't be able to get a seat again) and about extra $40 that I should have walked away with.
This is also the only casino that is close enough for me to get to (it's an hour bus ride from my house; half an hour bus ride from my school or work), so I'm stuck with this only having one $10 table that's always being swarmed thing.
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:grin: 
