When you're feeling down

[Automatic Monkey]

Spend a few days at the grind recently, and oh what a horror it was! Was getting enormous counts all the time, spreading to 3 hands with huge bets, and when the dealer wasn't getting a BJ he was pulling a 21 out of you-know-where. All my splits and doubles seemed to get me were big losses, and not a single insurance bet in several days converted. I got a rotten olive in my martini and got hit on by a transvestite- not sure which made me feel sicker. The only good part was that I was successfully applying cutoff and first-deck tracking and managed to get penetration down to less than one deck in an 8 deck shoe.

Dejected, depressed, I quit for the weekend and counted up my losses. Couldn't find them- I was actually up about half my EV! Turned out I was paying attention to my game and not my playing stake just like I'm supposed to and lost track of what I was buying and cashing out for, and cheques I was ratholing and selling to other players at the table. Good things happen when you just stick to the game plan and keep playing even though things seem to be not going your way. We're all habitual winners and reality never matches our expectations.

 

[EasyRhino]

The only good part was that I was successfully applying cutoff and first-deck tracking and managed to get penetration down to less than one deck in an 8 deck shoe.

What's the pop-up picture book description of what you just said?

We're all habitual winners and reality never matches our expectations

Ratholing, combined with the fact that you're going to lose more hands than win, has thrown me off on that several times as well. Usually, if I feel I'm "doing even" at a table, I'm actually up by more than the EV.

 

[Automatic Monkey]

What's the pop-up picture book description of what you just said?

Cutoff tracking- a very simple form of shuffle tracking where you know what the count was at the end of the shoe (the cutoff is the part of the shoe the dealer doesn't deal out), you know where those cards tend to end up after the shuffle, you are watching the dealer to make sure he is shuffling the way you expect him to and not doing anything crazy, and when you get the cut card you are positioning it to maximize the number of good cards you get to play. First-deck is the same thing, except you are predicting where the first deck dealt out will end up. You can do the same thing with any part of the shoe, but in most multi-pass shuffles the first and last parts of the spent shoe are the ones that get messed with the least.

Penetration to less than one deck- that means you do not give up your seat at that table until that dealer is relieved! Wong out for negative counts of course, but you've got to take a lammer and come back. Pen like that in a shoe game is a gold mine.

 

[Mimosine]

Cutoff tracking- a very simple form of shuffle tracking where you know what the count was at the end of the shoe (the cutoff is the part of the shoe the dealer doesn't deal out), you know where those cards tend to end up after the shuffle, you are watching the dealer to make sure he is shuffling the way you expect him to and not doing anything crazy, and when you get the cut card you are positioning it to maximize the number of good cards you get to play.

i'd love to see this done in person someday - it's still too mind boggling to me.

 

[iwantblackjack]

Spend a few days at the grind recently, and oh what a horror it was! Was getting enormous counts all the time, spreading to 3 hands with huge bets, and when the dealer wasn't getting a BJ he was pulling a 21 out of you-know-where. All my splits and doubles seemed to get me were big losses,...

Sounds familiar. What's worse is when your hand(s) seem to be the one never winning at those times. But, good for you in being up on ev.

Cutoff tracking- a very simple form of shuffle tracking where you know what the count was at the end of the shoe (the cutoff is the part of the shoe the dealer doesn't deal out), you know where those cards tend to end up after the shuffle, you are watching the dealer to make sure he is shuffling the way you expect him to and not doing anything crazy, and when you get the cut card you are positioning it to maximize the number of good cards you get to play. First-deck is the same thing, except you are predicting where the first deck dealt out will end up. You can do the same thing with any part of the shoe, but in most multi-pass shuffles the first and last parts of the spent shoe are the ones that get messed with the least.

That must mean the undealt cards will end up to be mixed near the top (assuming undealt cards are placed ontop of the discard pile during shuffle), and the first-deck or 2 dealt will fall near the bottom. (assuming all cards are split in half, shuffled, split again, shuffled, and then you cut.)

 

[ChefJJ]

I got a rotten olive in my martini and got hit on by a transvestite- not sure which made me feel sicker.

Good thing you ended up winning during that stint...those are tough conditions to overcome. I've had a rotten olive before and my cravings for olives have since gone bye-bye. The transvestite thing, sorry to hear, but I can't even commiserate with that one.

good luck