Trip report

[learning to count]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHhhhhhhhhhhhhh Las Vegas. This was a real learning trip for me. Not only did I improve on my skills and win real money but I was able to meet the Las Vegas Bear and his towering son. To anyone who is interested The bear is an excellent promoter and supporter of card counting and is a formidible advangtage player himself. My hats off to you Bear for your helpfulness and friendliness to a perfect stranger. I started reading the book you suggested and I am enjoying it. Oh by the way the bear is not russian as his name led me to believe. One day when I return I want to play at the tables with the bear if he will oblige me.

I also met a person of incredible stature and celebrity in thecounter world as well as other venues. Thank you xxxxx for lunch and forthree hours of an education no Blackjack book could ever offer. I was inawe. xxxxx is one of the legends who like great spies of the cold warwillnever be known for thier accomplishments and the positive affect to ourworld. Some are born to be average some above, but xxxxx was made to belooked up to. He is the real thing. You should write that book some dayxxxxx! What a life!

I also have to say that the Mayor is a TEACHER; in spanish we say a "Maestro". A master a mentor. Thank you mayor. Your advise turned out to be gold for me. Your right you have to ramp up fast and heavy. I did finally after biting my lip and betting the full potential. Wow twin hearts incredible. And I hit 9-1 and 4-1 several times after. Mind boggling. The Mayor is a MAESTRO!

Day one: Flew in late. Bumpy ride. Went to sleep early and rose early. Headed out to play. Came with 1200 units. First day went well I made close to 100 units. Played mainly shoes. Hi-LO, Ill-18, fab 4, surr 16-9,10,a. bet spread one unit at nuetral, five units at plus 1 tc, 10 units plus 2 tc, 15 units plus 3 tc, max bet 20 units plus 4 tc, two hands of 15 units if plus 5 tc. this after my bet spread was correctly adjusted by the mayor's advise on this site.
I played for several hours no HEAT! Important Learned item: You have to spread to max bet when the time is right or no money!!!!

That night we partied. We ate at Yolies. A Brazilian grill. This is a seven course meal. First bread and salad and assorted veggies, then grill brazillian sausage, then broiled chicken, then pork loin, then turkey, then sirloin, then tri tip, then lamb. All the while downing bottles and bottles of merlot. We had flan for desert and expresso. This all for around $30 dollars a person. Its in the book. Later we went to the Mirage to hang out at a bar there. Whew lots of action there. Very interesting women who leer at you sexually and ask you if you are lonely or need someone to talk to. The only problem I had with them is that they wanted $300.00 to stay. Hey thats a lot of work at the tables. We declined but not after a few laughs and drinks. I told you it would be clean Mayor. More Manana!

 

[The Mayor]

More!

Fun! I want more

 

[learning to count]

Re: Trip report part two black sunday

Long day on saturday and a long night of partying!. I went to bed at 2am. The other guys crashed later. I dont know if it is my age or I am just not a night owl. Got up at six am Vegas time. Dragged the others out of thier rooms and we went to eat breakfast. The Rio champaign brunch was great but pricey. At 18.50 a piece they better give me a back rub too! The champaign was soso. The food here ranges from american, italian, mexican, japanese (sushi), Barbicue, grilled meats and veggies, amongst others. Oh and the desert bar which I admit is my favorite with the soft icecream machine: hot fudge, nuts , strawberries..... Well we ate like kings.

We were on the tables by 9am. We played for several hours the first shift on boring nuetral decks. Barely moving to plus 4 or down to 0 or minus 3.Then it happned the counts went sky high. These were high counts at the end of the shoe with less than two decks left. The cut card was deep very deep. I bet my max on two hands with a large side bet. Each bet on each hand totalled $125. Then the worst happend I get 19 and 18 totals the dealer has 20.

The count is still high and I bet big again with the same bet. Boom. I get 17 and 19 the dealer gets black jack...SHIT! The count is still high I bet one hand at 100 with a $25 side bet. I get a five and a six! Its time to double. The dealer is showing a six. Now I stearnly believe that luck is only for those who are dumb enough to consider the big wheel as a lot of fun in a casino. BOOM! I get and ace. The dealer has a five underneath the six and a queen comes out to top that.

$625 clams down the drain. It was like a nightmare. It went so fast. It was sheer nausia and shock that overcame me. I still had a decent count plus fifteen and close to the cut card. I push out three chips on two spaces and lay down a red chip on the side bet. Twenty. Two kings one red one white. The dealer pays me 20 bucks. Well may be I will win some money back. The dealer has twenty too. PUSH! The black cut card come out and the dealer lays it in front of me. I am in disbelief. 700 dollars and a headache. The slot machines are laughing.

The dealer pulls another shuffled deck out of the auto shuffler and plops it down in front of me. I cut and shove a $5.00 chip in front of me and start scanning. The next shoe is uneventful low counts and I lose 9 hands in a row. at least another 200 clams down. Even the centerfold waitress whose smells like a million dollars has little effect when she says "Would you like a another coffee sir". I say "no thanks I probably cant afford the tip". She smiles and walks off.

I am devastated after betting four rounds of max bets two hands each on a super high running count and a fast dealer. The count screamed at plus 31 with less than two decks left. What happened........? Im down over $1000.dollars. That is 200 units gone. I've had it. Emotionally I am waisted. I feel tired and angry. I gather the troops and tell them what happened. Hey this is a small loss for most counters but this the first time that it has been so bad for me. We leave and go to dinner....burger king! I guess I was punishing my self for losing. The other guys go to play double deck I go to bed.

What did I learn: That swings are normal and mine was mild. Bet Big and you risk losing big and finally reevaluate your game at the end of each day. Part three I came back on monday and played for twelve hours. What a come back. Hasta Manana!

 

[learning to count]

revenge

Got up early and met up with my uncle Rick and aunt Diane. We had breakfast at the Bellagio buffet. This and the Rio buffets are the only buffets I like. Ceasars and the Mirage have above average buffet food also. The Bellagio buffet is interesting because they have many European delicasies such as smoked sturgion, three or four kinds of smoked salmon, Squid, and Octopus. They Italion and French pastries, and of course good ole american steak and eggs, sausage, bacon, and other egg dishes any way you like them. The price is stiff though. Hey my uncle and aunt love me. After breakfast we went to the Bellagio exhibition hall to look at Russian eggs. My aunt loves Faberge. To be honest it was interesting because they added a short history of the Russian Tsars and thier way of life.

After this I bid adieu (french for adios) to my uncle and aunt and met up with my freinds. We quickly hit the tables and had mixed results. I battled it out for several hours and I was able to win back enough units to put me within 60 units of my original 1200 unit bank roll. The games were boring to say the least. I played hours of nuetral decks flat betting them most of the time. I would put a five or six unit bets up just to keep the dealer used to bet swings. The decks went high enough 15% of the time and I was lucky enough to win enough to get me back to sanity in my bank roll.

After wards we took a break and went to eat at the Little Buddha restuarant at the Palms. The theme here is Asian with peace and harmony thrown in. Pricey yet appetizing. I tried spiny tuna rolls, spring rolls, a little buddha roll with a Bud light. For the main course I tried a Tempura Ahi Tuna roll which had an incredible taste. It was Sushi type roll with a fried Tempura crust.The Tuna was raw with a Wasabi spice mixture on top. The roll was very good except there are cheaper places to get this type of food in Las Vegas. We hit the tables for a couple of more hours and made 10 units extra.

After wards we played Video poker on jacks or better machines that had a 10/7 payout with perfect strategy play of course. After an hour of this I was up 12 units. One of my buddies hit a straight flush and made a couple of hundred dollars on it. He was betting only three or four coins. Remember to play max bet! After this we went back to our hotel and I dropped a hundred in a five dollar wheel of fortune and half way through I hit a spin and won $500!!! This was the end of my voodoo play for the trip.

What I learned this day was that Black jack is a grind and you have to be able to play through and try and earn as much as possible. I play long hours and when I find a casino I like I camp out. This is dangerous because if you play like a counter you get watched like a counter. If you bet red with a good spread you will get heat. If you have some big wins you get to have long pleasant chats with the Pit Critters. I have been lucky so far because I have a great personality and I can mix well with people. I watch other mousy counters who sit there and look collegiate. They stare at the game like it is going to run away. They bet with the count that I can predict there next bet. They wong in and out so much that it is obvious to other counters. They hover over thier chips like an inmate at dinner. When I hear the dealer whisper to the critters "I think we have a counter" I get nervous. In the end it is always the obvious that gets picked out. This trip I had the dealer explain to me why she thought the guy was a counter. The pit boss added a few of his own ideas what a counter was. I even went as far as to ask him how I could learn how to count. He said it is very hard and only nerds with high IQ'S can do it. HMMMMMMMMMMM.
Well on Tuesday I returned for one last go at it. I figured this would be the day of reckoning or bust. Sorry so long. Tomorrow!

 

[The Mayor]

Fun, can't wait for that last day!

 

[learning to count]

The phoinex rises

AHHHHHHHHH I love Las Vegas. Okay J man my gambling degenerate friend comes in at 6am after tearing up double deck and a game that I would not dare get near. Eight decks dble 9 10 or 11. Why J man why? "Because they were dealing up to half a deck at three in the morning thats why!" Hmmmmmm good point. J man won over 40 units playing the early morning shift. Jman is an old time BJ player freind of mine who remembers the rat pack and saw them. He Plays KO now and plays for up to 15-18 hours a day. What stamina! One day we started at 5:30 am and we played three five hours shifts with one hour breaks for pottie and food runs. I was done by 2:00 am. Jman gets his second wind and vooom up til six am. He says he has a few whiskies and boom he dives right back in.

Well today is D-day and I have until 6am the next day to make my mark. Jman is sleeping soundly snoring and mumbling something about "300 is to much how about 50 for a half hour". ???????

SO I decide I need to buy some souvineers and go see the BJ21 offices and finally meet some honest to goodness legends. Nice place and LVBear is very accomodating. I bought Beyond Counting by james Grosjean and have found it to be very entertaining and educational. In this book Grosjean covers every angle in getting the advantage on a number of casino games beside Blakjack including casino war, video poker, craps, and even the big wheel...etc.. Great book so far. More on that later.

Well after a lengthy time with LV Bear and trading war stories ole Jman calls me on the cell phone and says lets do it. We hit the tables by 12:30 pm. He sits down at a table and starts playing. Today my strategy is this. I have 200 units in my wallet and I am ready for bear. I start by back counting each shoe from the first card and jump in at plus one. I did this at several tables with mediocre success.

I am 20 units ahead. So now I sit down at a shoe game across from J man and we start counting. The dealer was cutting out approximately one deck. This shoe is nuetral to positive plus one to plus two. Suddenly the shoe hits a Plus 9 within a sevral cards from the cut card. I put side bets out and and fifty on each hand. The dealer has 10 showing and I have twenty on both hands. The dealer flips over a six and busts with a another ten. For the sake of cover all I can say is that I am over 80 units ahead. Well we play until midnight and I have basically end the days play with winning every hand but three on the last shoe and walking away with a huge win. 245 units ahead.

We celebrate this by going to another favorite casino and hit thier double deck game and play unitl we break even or are twenty units ahead. Two a m and I cant see the cards anymore. We order a couple of cuba libre's and thank god for LIBERTAD in this country. I'm home now and leaving Vegas was like breaking up with a good woman. There is light at the end of the table though I have my next trip booked and payed for. Hey like fish in the sea there are always geen fields to play in and other women to love. SO a little seperation is good for the soul. AHHHHHHH I love Las Vegas.

 

[ACE]

Re: The phoinex rises

Thanks for taking the time to write that, it was very enjoyable to read.