A Certain Pit Boss: Take A Permanent Break or Go Back & Show Intentional Cover?

[Mickey]

Imagine you visit a local casino of yours for some Blackjack. You sit down and begin by betting table min. All of a sudden your MAX BETS come out very shortly after sitting down in a new 6D shoe. You begin losing your big bets but the count is still high so you keep your big bets out there only to find you lose all the other big bets too. You've already got the PB's attention by now and you notice him on the phone looking at you from across the room.

Do you:

a.) Leave after the shoe is over and take a "permanent break" from that PB's shifts in future visits to that casino.

-OR-

b.) The next time you visit that casino make sure you're in that same PB's pit while he's watching you again so you can show him your "stupid cover plays" in an effort for him to write you off as a threat.

[ZenKinG]

A.

[muckz]

He called surveillance to check your play, its an unavoidable situation most of the time. If you had a short session then the eye won't have any information to work off.

[Mickey]

Was a 20 minute session (@ an off-strip casino).

[Jabberwocky]

Was a 20 minute session (@ an off-strip casino).

Do not bet consistently. Play two holes off the top; sometimes one and sometimes three. Keep them guessing as long as possible. Acting the part of the counter is to be avoided. Once you are on the radar screen, it's a little too late to reverse that condition. Sometimes bribery has been known to work too.

[mcallister3200]

C. None of the above. Leave after shoe without cashout but not in a haste. Avoid that pb for maybe a month, certainly not permanently. If the situation does not escalate there is nothing particularly memorable about it. You can be wary of him/her but a permanent break is not warranted IMO. A "stupid" cover play is often just that, stupid/uunnecessary. If they see through it they may even be offended.

[Mickey]

Interesting replies so far...

I did indeed leave without cashing my chips but I always leave on a polite note and am as cordial as possible at all times to the staff while also ensuring the players around me are enjoying themselves playing with me.

[Exoter175]

Imagine you visit a local casino of yours for some Blackjack. You sit down and begin by betting table min. All of a sudden your MAX BETS come out very shortly after sitting down in a new 6D shoe. You begin losing your big bets but the count is still high so you keep your big bets out there only to find you lose all the other big bets too. You've already got the PB's attention by now and you notice him on the phone looking at you from across the room.

Do you:

a.) Leave after the shoe is over and take a "permanent break" from that PB's shifts in future visits to that casino.

-OR-

b.) The next time you visit that casino make sure you're in that same PB's pit while he's watching you again so you can show him your "stupid cover plays" in an effort for him to write you off as a threat.

Y.) Do not take a "permanent break" from anything, and certainly do not make any "stupid" cover plays. You did what the situation dictated, and if you've put in solid time doing it before, you may consider staying away from his "shift" for a couple weeks, but I wouldn't otherwise be scared off. These guys see so many faces per day that it takes something repetitious to remember you by. Also, I wouldn't be concerned with him on the phone looking at you from across the room unless he's been to the table itself and over the shoulder of the dealer watching your action. For all you know, you could have a "friendly" here, finding out who you are so he can comp you a room for your losses. Trust me, I've had that happen more times than I've thought I would.

I've seen enough in the last 9 months or so to remove most "paranoia" from PB's when I play. Most of those guys have such a "terrible" job due to protocols they must follow that the frowns on their faces you might see while you catch a glance at them, are in large part because they absolutely hate the repetitious motions of said protocols. Take that with a grain of salt though, I'm just a lowly red chipper.

He called surveillance to check your play, its an unavoidable situation most of the time. If you had a short session then the eye won't have any information to work off.

On top of that, they might not have been looking to catch a card counter, in many cases they are doing it to check buy-ins as I suspect the OP bought in several times through his course of play and the PB was trying to account for the large influx of chips in both directions, as well as possibly rating/adjust comps on the guys' card, as I suspect since it was a "local" place he probably played rated or had a card in the first place.

Was a 20 minute session (@ an off-strip casino).

I wouldn't worry too much about a session of that length.

C. None of the above. Leave after shoe without cashout but not in a haste. Avoid that pb for maybe a month, certainly not permanently. If the situation does not escalate there is nothing particularly memorable about it. You can be wary of him/her but a permanent break is not warranted IMO. A "stupid" cover play is often just that, stupid/uunnecessary. If they see through it they may even be offended.

This, if you're absolutely certain you were "perceiving heat".

[Mickey]

You did what the situation dictated, and if you've put in solid time doing it before, you may consider staying away from his "shift" for a couple weeks, but I wouldn't otherwise be scared off. These guys see so many faces per day that it takes something repetitious to remember you by.

Thanks for the feedback. It was my 17th visit there over the past two years & I am always very talkative, open and friendly with the PBs. I do remember one instance in particular that I had a 178 unit win on his shift within that hour of play which was a year ago and he certainly took notice to that and said "That's a nice win you've got there." (at the time I was being my "gambly self" persona, slapping the table, having fun and talking with players and PBs, being outgoing, etc...)

Also, I wouldn't be concerned with him on the phone looking at you from across the room unless he's been to the table itself and over the shoulder of the dealer watching your action.

Come to think of it, he DID come over to the table for a few seconds to "fix the Shuffle Master" before getting on the horn...but who knows...maybe he really WAS fixing it!

On top of that, they might not have been looking to catch a card counter, in many cases they are doing it to check buy-ins as I suspect the OP bought in several times through his course of play...

True, I did...

I suspect since it was a "local" place he probably played rated or had a card in the first place.

No card.

[Exoter175]

Sounds like there is some semblance of possibility here that he wasn't on the phone in regards to your AP play.