ricardoest
08-24-2004, 03:01 PM
I went with three friends to Casino Brantford on Sunday morning, planning to try Hi-Lo under real conditions for the first time. There were only 2 $5 tables, which is what we were hoping to play. The others planned to play with about $100 bankrolls; I had $200, so generally played at the $10 tables instead of waiting for a spot at the packed $5 ones. The games were all 8D/DAS/S17, with about 70% penetration.
In my first session, I bought in for $100 and got scared off after losing $40 (I know I should've stayed in, but I was still getting used to counting). I played $5 with my friends for a couple of shoes, joining after the shuffle and counting through both shoes. Unfortunately, it wasn't much use, since the count got up to +2 only for about 3 hands, at which point I doubled my bets to $10. The rest of the time, it was negative. I probably should've wonged out, right? I didn't because I figured I'd have to wait ages for a seat at that table again, and it was fun to play with all my friends at once. I lost another $35 at this table, then we broke for lunch.
After lunch, I scouted the tables for one nearing the shuffle, sitting down at a different $10 one. It felt like I raised a red flag a couple of times:
-at the $5 table, I was looking at (i.e. counting) the cards of the players ahead of me while it was my turn. Having looked at my cards already, I waved my hand to stand while still looking at the other players' cards;
-at the second $10 table, third base had a marker, and I asked to play on it. The dealer said I could, but also offered me the open spot two seats over, which I declined without a good reason (because I couldn't think of one other than that I was counting!);
-at a count of something like -5 I hit a hard 10 against the dealer's 6, instead of doubling, drawing a 4 and standing. I mistakenly thought this was a warranted variation from BS given the negative count. It worked in my favor, however, when I lost the hand, but it looked mighty suspicious to hit on a hand that was a clean double.
I counted through three shoes at this $10 table, gradually gaining confidence in my ability to count accurately and put up some cover at the same time. Once, the guy beside me told me I should have insured my 20 (which I didn't because the count was highly negative), and I said I refused it because "I never take insurance--it's too complicated!" Mostly I managed to talk with the dealer and joke with other players a little without losing the count, even when a slightly faster dealer came in on the third shoe.
One problem I experienced at third base that I didn't experience at other positions was that when the player at first base hit his hand, the dealer's right arm sometimes obscured the drawn card. If the card busted the hand, the dealer scooped up the cards immediately, and I had to guess (from any partial view I could get) whether it was a -1, 0, or +1 for the count.
The count never got to +2, so I never bet above the table minimum. I lost another $15 in the first two shoes, then hit a good run despite the negative count, winnning back $160 by the end of the shoe. Since this put me up $70--a lot more than counting was statistically supposed to get me--I quit.
Overall, counting didn't really help me win money, since the count was negative virtually every hand, but I guess it helped me NOT LOSE money, since it enabled me to know not to increase my bets.
ricardoest
In my first session, I bought in for $100 and got scared off after losing $40 (I know I should've stayed in, but I was still getting used to counting). I played $5 with my friends for a couple of shoes, joining after the shuffle and counting through both shoes. Unfortunately, it wasn't much use, since the count got up to +2 only for about 3 hands, at which point I doubled my bets to $10. The rest of the time, it was negative. I probably should've wonged out, right? I didn't because I figured I'd have to wait ages for a seat at that table again, and it was fun to play with all my friends at once. I lost another $35 at this table, then we broke for lunch.
After lunch, I scouted the tables for one nearing the shuffle, sitting down at a different $10 one. It felt like I raised a red flag a couple of times:
-at the $5 table, I was looking at (i.e. counting) the cards of the players ahead of me while it was my turn. Having looked at my cards already, I waved my hand to stand while still looking at the other players' cards;
-at the second $10 table, third base had a marker, and I asked to play on it. The dealer said I could, but also offered me the open spot two seats over, which I declined without a good reason (because I couldn't think of one other than that I was counting!);
-at a count of something like -5 I hit a hard 10 against the dealer's 6, instead of doubling, drawing a 4 and standing. I mistakenly thought this was a warranted variation from BS given the negative count. It worked in my favor, however, when I lost the hand, but it looked mighty suspicious to hit on a hand that was a clean double.
I counted through three shoes at this $10 table, gradually gaining confidence in my ability to count accurately and put up some cover at the same time. Once, the guy beside me told me I should have insured my 20 (which I didn't because the count was highly negative), and I said I refused it because "I never take insurance--it's too complicated!" Mostly I managed to talk with the dealer and joke with other players a little without losing the count, even when a slightly faster dealer came in on the third shoe.
One problem I experienced at third base that I didn't experience at other positions was that when the player at first base hit his hand, the dealer's right arm sometimes obscured the drawn card. If the card busted the hand, the dealer scooped up the cards immediately, and I had to guess (from any partial view I could get) whether it was a -1, 0, or +1 for the count.
The count never got to +2, so I never bet above the table minimum. I lost another $15 in the first two shoes, then hit a good run despite the negative count, winnning back $160 by the end of the shoe. Since this put me up $70--a lot more than counting was statistically supposed to get me--I quit.
Overall, counting didn't really help me win money, since the count was negative virtually every hand, but I guess it helped me NOT LOSE money, since it enabled me to know not to increase my bets.
ricardoest