tips to next level

[dpmonk2003]

Ok I just started counting cards about a month ago. Before this time I had known nothing about blackjack. However now it is most of my life I practice at least 3 hours every day. I work almost full time but I was also going to school, not liking it at all. I decided to drop out realizing it probably isn't for me. But I do feel like blackjack is like my true calling or whatever. I'm doing everything I can think of to get as good as I can, I have casino verite, I practice counting down cards all the time. I have gotten really good at counting down a deck of cards and can now do it in 17 seconds (high low count) however I have been to the casino about 7 times now, and can't quite sit down and play and keep the count while playing perfect basic strategy. I am still able to play a winning level of blackjack because I simply back count the tables until the count gets really good then I just sit down and play 4-5 hands then table hop. But my question comes in as to what I need to do to be able to get to the point where I can count at the table while playing (i can easily do it in casino verite in a 6 deck shoe with 0-1 mistakes) I just bought a shoe myself and a black jack felt with chips should I just practice at home, or what is it that is making this harder for me? is it just that im nervous at the casino or what?

 

[Automatic Monkey]

Ok I just started counting cards about a month ago. Before this time I had known nothing about blackjack. However now it is most of my life I practice at least 3 hours every day. I work almost full time but I was also going to school, not liking it at all. I decided to drop out realizing it probably isn't for me. But I do feel like blackjack is like my true calling or whatever. I'm doing everything I can think of to get as good as I can, I have casino verite, I practice counting down cards all the time. I have gotten really good at counting down a deck of cards and can now do it in 17 seconds (high low count) however I have been to the casino about 7 times now, and can't quite sit down and play and keep the count while playing perfect basic strategy. I am still able to play a winning level of blackjack because I simply back count the tables until the count gets really good then I just sit down and play 4-5 hands then table hop. But my question comes in as to what I need to do to be able to get to the point where I can count at the table while playing (i can easily do it in casino verite in a 6 deck shoe with 0-1 mistakes) I just bought a shoe myself and a black jack felt with chips should I just practice at home, or what is it that is making this harder for me? is it just that im nervous at the casino or what?

Don't quit school. Trust me on this, and you will not find a serious player here who will advise you to quit school and play blackjack. In fact, it is difficult to find even a player who has made his living playing blackjack who would tell you to become a full-time pro. You don't even know if you are able to play at a professional level yet, why would you consider making plans for it?

I'd recommend practicing at the casino instead of at home. Play at the lowest stakes possible and keep up that backcounting plan, it's a good one.

 

[sagefr0g]

Ok I just started counting cards about a month ago. Before this time I had known nothing about blackjack. However now it is most of my life I practice at least 3 hours every day. I work almost full time but I was also going to school, not liking it at all. I decided to drop out realizing it probably isn't for me. But I do feel like blackjack is like my true calling or whatever. I'm doing everything I can think of to get as good as I can, I have casino verite, I practice counting down cards all the time. I have gotten really good at counting down a deck of cards and can now do it in 17 seconds (high low count) however I have been to the casino about 7 times now, and can't quite sit down and play and keep the count while playing perfect basic strategy. I am still able to play a winning level of blackjack because I simply back count the tables until the count gets really good then I just sit down and play 4-5 hands then table hop. But my question comes in as to what I need to do to be able to get to the point where I can count at the table while playing (i can easily do it in casino verite in a 6 deck shoe with 0-1 mistakes) I just bought a shoe myself and a black jack felt with chips should I just practice at home, or what is it that is making this harder for me? is it just that im nervous at the casino or what?

dpmonk hey dude you seem as if your in a big rush. slow down fella smell the roses. ain't nothing significant gonna happen in blackjack overnight. let's hope blackjack isn't your 'calling' cause at the rate the casino's are raping it you might not have much to call later on in life. what was wrong with school, let me guess... it was to slow for you? a lot of people get passed by in life because it is to fast for them.... you sound like one of those genius's who pass by life cause it's to slow for them. if you really like advantage play then keep in mind what that one thing school can do is turn you on to a lot of advantages in life.
you probably are nervous when you sit at the table. probably distracted by the envirement and your own thoughts and emotions. i don't know. if you keep at it long enough and keep practicing you'll get it. i like automonk's advice play more in the casino. i'd keep away from the shoe at home unless you have someone that is dealing (& dealing just like a professional) to you. the felt is nice for spreading the cards on. like automonk says backcounting is good if you can get away with it.
best regards,
mr fr0g
that's my take on it your mileage may vary...

 

[dpmonk2003]

follow up

well dropping out of school is something I have contemplated for awhile. And its not just like something I decided to do because I want to play blackjack instead. I simply just hate it so much and feel it is not for me. However when you said the casinos are raping blackjack, are you implying that it is extremely hard/impossible to play blackjack proffesionaly these days? I live in San Diego were there are a good amount of casinos. Although all but 1 don't have good rules according to Arnold Snyders formula these tables are still worthy of table hopping. It is also very easy to table hop and there are always open seats and many blackjack tables. Then Barona casino is really close which if I am not wrong has one of the best black jack games in the country.

 

[sagefr0g]

well dropping out of school is something I have contemplated for awhile. And its not just like something I decided to do because I want to play blackjack instead. I simply just hate it so much and feel it is not for me. However when you said the casinos are raping blackjack, are you implying that it is extremely hard/impossible to play blackjack proffesionaly these days? I live in San Diego were there are a good amount of casinos. Although all but 1 don't have good rules according to Arnold Snyders formula these tables are still worthy of table hopping. It is also very easy to table hop and there are always open seats and many blackjack tables. Then Barona casino is really close which if I am not wrong has one of the best black jack games in the country.

hey dpmonk what i was getting at with the 'casino's raping the game' statement is as follows:
i'm guessing you are fairly young. you express that blackjack is a 'calling' for you. it's a sad thought to me and i hope that i am wrong but the possibility certainly exists that in the not too distant future the game of real blackjack as it was know pre-Thorpe days and as it is known today may become a cherished relic of the past. i don't say this to dissuade you from attempting to glean as much pleasure and profit out of blackjack as you can. but the point is you want to have some other means of accruing wealth as a back up in case the worst happens with regards to blackjack.

 

[dpmonk2003]

yah

yah well hopefully if the rules get worse or most casinos change to continuous shufflers people will just refuse to play the game, like they did right after the casinos made the rules worse after Edward Thorpes book. I personally don't see this happening granted my experience is much more limited than yours. But what I have seen at my local casinos is at least 65 % of people playing don't even know basic strategy, so I feel the threat to the casinos cannot be that great. (I haven't even seen another counter)

 

[sagefr0g]

yah well hopefully if the rules get worse or most casinos change to continuous shufflers people will just refuse to play the game, like they did right after the casinos made the rules worse after Edward Thorpes book. I personally don't see this happening granted my experience is much more limited than yours. But what I have seen at my local casinos is at least 65 % of people playing don't even know basic strategy, so I feel the threat to the casinos cannot be that great. (I haven't even seen another counter)

i sincerely hope you are right. it's the greed factor of these big corporations that are taking control of casinos that give me pause and the fact that so many slot parlor only joints are cropping up that are just loaded with people throwing their money away. the bright side is there is money to be made at the real game of blackjack and one would assume that as long is there is a market someone is going to keep it alive.

 

[dpmonk2003]

woot i found a 5 dollar table and played through 3 shoes while playing with the count. I even won 2 insurances on a true count of 6. However I have a question regarding player cards. Up to this point at this casino all I have ever done was table hop on good counts. Because of this I never had a player card because it would be so weird handing a dealer your card then leaving the table after like 3 hands. (practically pointless) However with this 5 dollar table they have on tuesdays I would really like to have a player card out because I wouldn't mind playing for several hours. My question basically is 1) should I get a players card 2) When asked if I have a players card while table hopping should I just say I don't have one (or would this draw suspicion if they happened to know that I do have a players card.)

 

[supercoolmancool]

Sounds like you should learn shuffle tracking since you sound dedicated and have professional aspirations. Also you could play through the shoe to get more comps.

 

[sagefr0g]

woot i found a 5 dollar table and played through 3 shoes while playing with the count. I even won 2 insurances on a true count of 6. However I have a question regarding player cards. Up to this point at this casino all I have ever done was table hop on good counts. Because of this I never had a player card because it would be so weird handing a dealer your card then leaving the table after like 3 hands. (practically pointless) However with this 5 dollar table they have on tuesdays I would really like to have a player card out because I wouldn't mind playing for several hours. My question basically is 1) should I get a players card 2) When asked if I have a players card while table hopping should I just say I don't have one (or would this draw suspicion if they happened to know that I do have a players card.)

most joints i've been in once they take your card at your first sitting they don't really want you to give it to them again. that is they track your play as of your first sitting. if your hoping to get comps out of your subsequent play then your going to want to make sure they are continuing to track your play as you move around.

 

[dpmonk2003]

Sounds like you should learn shuffle tracking since you sound dedicated and have professional aspirations. Also you could play through the shoe to get more comps.

has anyone here had much experience with shuffle tracking? I have read about it a little bit in some black jack books, but they don't really cover much on it. Is there any books out there specifically designed to teach shuffle tracking?

 

[mdlbj]

I have found that the rules are still pretty at the high limit tables. Yet on the 5-15 dollar tables they lean twards the raping..

 

[EasyRhino]

dpmonk, I also gotta agree that working on either school or a "real" job is probably a better way to go. Check that, it's definitely a better way to go.

As you've noticed, basically all of the $5/$10 tables in San Diego or 6/8 deck shoe games, H17. Not that hot. The better casinos offer surrender, or better penetration, and that's about it.

 

[supercoolmancool]

dpmonk, I also gotta agree that working on either school or a "real" job is probably a better way to go.

I disagree. Work and school are negative EV plays unless you love them and it sounds like he doesn't love them.

 

[Preston]

Don't quit school, dude. Seriously.

You don't want to deal with being a full time gambler/blackjack player. There is no guarantee you will win and it would really suck if you lost your bankroll and had no job or any way of getting it back.

I do this part time and I find my swings to be nerve-racking. If I decided to depend solely on my blackjack winnings.. I would probably be wearing a straight jacket by now.

 

[supercoolmancool]

No! Don't waste your bankroll on tuition.

College will only help you get a job which is to be avoided at most costs. Why would you want to be a paid slave. If you in college for fun then that is +EV, but for the money, not a good move since working at a job is one of the worst ways to make money.

 

[Bojack1]

Ok I just started counting cards about a month ago. Before this time I had known nothing about blackjack. However now it is most of my life I practice at least 3 hours every day. I work almost full time but I was also going to school, not liking it at all. I decided to drop out realizing it probably isn't for me. But I do feel like blackjack is like my true calling or whatever. I'm doing everything I can think of to get as good as I can, I have casino verite, I practice counting down cards all the time. I have gotten really good at counting down a deck of cards and can now do it in 17 seconds (high low count) however I have been to the casino about 7 times now, and can't quite sit down and play and keep the count while playing perfect basic strategy. I am still able to play a winning level of blackjack because I simply back count the tables until the count gets really good then I just sit down and play 4-5 hands then table hop. But my question comes in as to what I need to do to be able to get to the point where I can count at the table while playing (i can easily do it in casino verite in a 6 deck shoe with 0-1 mistakes) I just bought a shoe myself and a black jack felt with chips should I just practice at home, or what is it that is making this harder for me? is it just that im nervous at the casino or what?

Alright I'm not going to give any lecture on staying in school, although I think its a good idea to do just that, some people are made for different things. That being said there is no choice about getting a job outside of blackjack. With your limited experience, and the fact that you haven't developed your talent passed rank novice yet means you need a source of income, and at this stage blackjack ain't it. Thats not to say you won't get better at it, but theres an equal chance you'll get bored or frustrated with it before than and forget about it. If it truly is your calling, it will always be there. Take your time, learn things right and keep your head screwed on straight, and your true opportunities will present themselves.

As far as training yourself not to lose count, it just takes practice. I suggest now that you have the blackjack equipment so to speak, to practice counting while you're dealing out 5 hands. Be sure to call out hand totals, play perfect basic strategy, put out properly sized bets and perform all payouts, all while keeping the count in your head. This is a great training exercise for those that can count perfectly, but lose it when called upon to do it along with other casino activities. I promise you it will be extremely hard to lose count in a casino if you can perform all those actions at once. Even still when you get past that phase of training you need to go to the casino and do it for real. You might find yourself nervous at first, but if you train well you will find your nervousness replaced by confidence in a short period of time. As far as shuffletracking, I suggest holding off on that until you've got the basics down. Good Luck.

 

[ScottH]

No! Don't waste your bankroll on tuition.

College will only help you get a job which is to be avoided at most costs. Why would you want to be a paid slave. If you in college for fun then that is +EV, but for the money, not a good move since working at a job is one of the worst ways to make money.

Yeah, it's only +EV to stay in school if you actually WANT to do a certain job. If you don't have a passion for any job it will just be wasted money. You will be paying off school loans with the low-end job you could have gotten without school. Just say no to 9 to 5!

 

[Automatic Monkey]

I can't agree with quite a bit of this.

Let me tell you, I despised school, every day of it from the day they dragged me into kindergarten to the day I got my sheepskin, and I was a C+ student all the way. Bad sessions at the BJ table elicit the same feelings in me that my elementary school days did. In both cases I would walk out the door thinking I should never come back.

But none of the skills I have that make me a winning player I would have if I hadn't been able to handle school. The work ethic, the discipline to do things I find difficult (like getting my spread out there, even though I am getting killed), my mathematical understanding and my income that allows me to play at a profitable level. Life would really suck if the only alternatives I had to playing BJ were a minimum-wage job, welfare, or crime.

The other thing I detect from the original poster is the possible belief that life as an advantage player is easier than being a college-educated or a blue-collar worker. It is not. It is very difficult, to the point where it isn't worth it for most people.

 

[supercoolmancool]

You are wrong thinking that work ethic and disipline are learned or even exist. People just give in to thier urges. Some have extra strong urges to play playstation and others have extra strong urges to do math but they are both helpless to the urge.

Also I really think that professional gambling is way easier than you guys make it out to be, and getting through college and getting a high paying job is way harder than you make it out to be. I think pain and suffering should be avoid and those that disagree and think that it builds character, well it is just not true.

Also if you do go to college than you will need to dedicate a lot of time and effort and money all of which you will never get back. Same with a job. Time is the most important thing. When working if you want to make more money you must work more hours or work harder. When gambling you just wager more money. Jobs destroy lives man. Seriously.

One of the largest misconceptions today is the belief that one should go to school, study hard and get good grades and go to college and get a good job. No one ever got rich working at a job. The only way to get rich is some form of advantage play.