km703 said:

I'm going to las vegas soon and want to play black jack .
I don't want to embarass everyone so I have been using blackjack info strategy trainer online to help me.

Because you can tailor this online game to suit your preferences, how is it different from the real game at the table? (aside from no distractions, no real money)

Thanks,
Ken

The key is the distractions, the free alcohol, the noise, the incessant slot bonging, the loud cheers from the craps tables, the obnoxious players at the table, the dealers that are sometimes entertaining, sometimes just plain a**holes. Etc...

Nothing can really prepare you for the environment in a casino. No windows. No clocks. Lots of people.

Depending on where you play, the rules can vary dramatically. Late Surrender is one significant difference that you will find on the strip but is missing at other venues (like Tunica for the most part, etc.) The rules are the main difference. How they limit what happens on splits (can you double or not) can you double any 2 cards or just 10/11, can you resplit aces, etc.

km703 said:

Thanks stainless,

Are the players and tables with higher limits more serious then?

Not that I have noticed. They just generally have more money. :) With rare exceptions, the size of a player's bankroll is hardly proportional to their level of skill. In fact, sometimes there is an inverse relationship. :)

Once you develop a level of "detachment" from all that stuff, it really doesn't matter to you. But at first, you will keep thinking "did he/she really say that?" or "did he/she really double that 12 vs a 10??" Etc.

I agree completely with everything Stainless Steel Rat said; however, I'll add one more item to the difference list – emotions. There's no way you can approximate the same emotions (mostly fear and greed) with pretend money that you'll encounter when it's for real, and the difference is tremendous! Likewise, it's easy to dismiss losses when practicing at home or place huge bets that you'll almost certainly never do in the casino.

It's great that you're practicing before you get there. Of course, I don't know your situation, but I'd recommend starting at as low a table limit as you can find. Unfortunately, that eliminates most of the casinos on the Strip. The better low limit ($5) tables are found downtown and off-Strip. And PLEASE, stay away from those abominable 6:5 games! I'll give you 5 minutes before you feel right at home! T-19

Stainless Steel Rat: I once again have to agree with you; I also detach myself from the value of the chips and try not to let emotions get in the way. It's interesting to note, however, that one of the "advantages" for using chips (from the casinos' standpoint) is to break that connection between chips and money. They'd like nothing better than for players to treat chips as "Monopoly money" instead of the real money they represent. IMHO, being detached helps some players (like us), but probably hurts most.

Thank you fo all the input.
It was only yesterday I was thinking about the degree of physcological control over the game.
For example: If I were losing at the table I may, out of desperation, double on something where otherwise I would not.
So, I'm inclined to believe if the game gets stressful or if the immediate surroundings are chaotic I should stop playing or lighten the amount of betting.


Thank you again.