First Night:
Played three different sessions at Sam's Town. All three were big losers! Played Double Deck mostly. The cards were definitely not friendly to me. The first session I lost $100 in about an hour. The second session I lost $300 in about 2 hours, then another $300 in the last session of about an hour. I spread $10 to $50 in each session. After the first session I was afraid that the dealer was on to me, but I later found out I was wrong. He was just pouting because I was not tipping him. After I tipped him he got real friendly. He asked if I played Blackjack very often and I said no. He then proceeded to start giving me advice about what I should do and not do. I definitely had him fooled into believing I was a ploppy. It was either the wild betting I appeared to be doing (depending on the count of course) or the fact that I was inconsistent with the plays I would make (deviating from basic strategy based on the count). I think another key factor is to appear to be thinking about what to do on each play. I used to always make quick decisions, but now I like to look like I'm flipping a coin in my head or something to make a decision. It can really piss off the basic strategy ploppies, but who cares.
One thing I noticed about Sam's Town is that the cards appear to be thicker than what I normally see. Maybe I'm crazy but their Double Deck looks like about 3 normal sized decks, but it is only 2.
I didn't see very many dealer errors other than one guy that did more showing off than actual dealing and he made mistakes like flipping over his hole card before allowing third base to hit, but no errors as far as giving away money or miscounting the cards.
I also noticed alot more drunks than I am used to seeing during the week when I prefer to play. The cigarette smoke was also very bad, it can't be good for your health breathing all that second hand smoke. My face and hands would burn each night before I'd go to sleep. The beds are hard and the walls are thin. I guess they don't want you to actually sleep there.
I was also not really impressed with the buffet. It was $17.50 for steak and seafood, which was the only meal I paid for while there and definitely not worth it in my opinion. All other meals were comped.
I did not see any other counters while playing here. Just lots of dumb, drunk, red-neck ploppies. Many of these guys would come in with camouflage hunting outfits, boots, caps, and chewing tobbacco. I thought for sure some of these guys would be counters, but not a chance. How many counters would have max bets out with a true count of -12 and minimum bets at +8?
Next Day:
Played about an hour still at Sam's Town and picked up a quick $200. Then I went to Fitzgeralds and played for less than an hour. I won $100 playing double deck with the best penetration I've seen anywhere. It looked to me like about 65% penetration. I didn't stay very long because I didn't feel comfortable, probably paranoia, who knows.
Next up was the Horseshoe. Played single deck and won $235 in about an hour. They were dealing 2 rounds to a full table. I had a dealer push my 17 against his 18 which I thought was awfully nice of him. I spread 1 to 5 here comfortably with no heat at all, was actually laughing and joking with the PC's a few times.
I then walked over to the Gold Strike and this place was packed! Lots of good looking women too. The double and single deckers were all $25 minimum so I just watched for a while. After about an hour I went back to the Shoe and played more single deck this time losing $110. This time I ran across a guy that may have been counting but he didn't stick around long enough for me to be sure. There was also some college kids that sat down next to me and talked the entire 15 minutes they were there about card counting. The were actually counting the aces and faces as they came out and talking about betting more or less. The dealer was noticably quiet while they were there. I don't know what count they were attempting to use but at one point one guy said to the other "Ok, that Ace is B6 and the next face is B7", I have no idea what they were talking about. I was glad when they left because I sure didn't want any attention in my direction.
I went back to Sam's Town and played for a couple more hours eventually scraping out a $50 win after being down $150 at one point.
Over all I had a great time but it is a pretty long drive from where I live. I definitely saw lots of beautiful women. When I do go back, I will probably stay at Fitzgeralds, maybe Sam's if they send me more free room coupons, but I will not pay to stay there.
Played three different sessions at Sam's Town. All three were big losers! Played Double Deck mostly. The cards were definitely not friendly to me. The first session I lost $100 in about an hour. The second session I lost $300 in about 2 hours, then another $300 in the last session of about an hour. I spread $10 to $50 in each session. After the first session I was afraid that the dealer was on to me, but I later found out I was wrong. He was just pouting because I was not tipping him. After I tipped him he got real friendly. He asked if I played Blackjack very often and I said no. He then proceeded to start giving me advice about what I should do and not do. I definitely had him fooled into believing I was a ploppy. It was either the wild betting I appeared to be doing (depending on the count of course) or the fact that I was inconsistent with the plays I would make (deviating from basic strategy based on the count). I think another key factor is to appear to be thinking about what to do on each play. I used to always make quick decisions, but now I like to look like I'm flipping a coin in my head or something to make a decision. It can really piss off the basic strategy ploppies, but who cares.
One thing I noticed about Sam's Town is that the cards appear to be thicker than what I normally see. Maybe I'm crazy but their Double Deck looks like about 3 normal sized decks, but it is only 2.
I didn't see very many dealer errors other than one guy that did more showing off than actual dealing and he made mistakes like flipping over his hole card before allowing third base to hit, but no errors as far as giving away money or miscounting the cards.
I also noticed alot more drunks than I am used to seeing during the week when I prefer to play. The cigarette smoke was also very bad, it can't be good for your health breathing all that second hand smoke. My face and hands would burn each night before I'd go to sleep. The beds are hard and the walls are thin. I guess they don't want you to actually sleep there.
I was also not really impressed with the buffet. It was $17.50 for steak and seafood, which was the only meal I paid for while there and definitely not worth it in my opinion. All other meals were comped.
I did not see any other counters while playing here. Just lots of dumb, drunk, red-neck ploppies. Many of these guys would come in with camouflage hunting outfits, boots, caps, and chewing tobbacco. I thought for sure some of these guys would be counters, but not a chance. How many counters would have max bets out with a true count of -12 and minimum bets at +8?
Next Day:
Played about an hour still at Sam's Town and picked up a quick $200. Then I went to Fitzgeralds and played for less than an hour. I won $100 playing double deck with the best penetration I've seen anywhere. It looked to me like about 65% penetration. I didn't stay very long because I didn't feel comfortable, probably paranoia, who knows.
Next up was the Horseshoe. Played single deck and won $235 in about an hour. They were dealing 2 rounds to a full table. I had a dealer push my 17 against his 18 which I thought was awfully nice of him. I spread 1 to 5 here comfortably with no heat at all, was actually laughing and joking with the PC's a few times.
I then walked over to the Gold Strike and this place was packed! Lots of good looking women too. The double and single deckers were all $25 minimum so I just watched for a while. After about an hour I went back to the Shoe and played more single deck this time losing $110. This time I ran across a guy that may have been counting but he didn't stick around long enough for me to be sure. There was also some college kids that sat down next to me and talked the entire 15 minutes they were there about card counting. The were actually counting the aces and faces as they came out and talking about betting more or less. The dealer was noticably quiet while they were there. I don't know what count they were attempting to use but at one point one guy said to the other "Ok, that Ace is B6 and the next face is B7", I have no idea what they were talking about. I was glad when they left because I sure didn't want any attention in my direction.
I went back to Sam's Town and played for a couple more hours eventually scraping out a $50 win after being down $150 at one point.
Over all I had a great time but it is a pretty long drive from where I live. I definitely saw lots of beautiful women. When I do go back, I will probably stay at Fitzgeralds, maybe Sam's if they send me more free room coupons, but I will not pay to stay there.