It seems like a long shot, but....

[Ouchez]

Hey Moo,

Don't recall that information as it was over a year ago. The good news is that i'm pretty sure this dealer was more on the players side. The original conversation began when he said something during the middle of a game in a very low count such as "Wow! a lot of 10's so far .. 22 10's have already been dealt." (This was in a DD game) Another player asked the dealer "How do you know how many 10's have been played." He responded that while working at the Belligio him and some other dealers were trained to count cards using the Hi-lo system in order to spot counters. I didn't say anything but I thought .. how could he know the exact number of 10's using hi-lo unless he was side counting them.

He said now.. keeping count and dealing has just become a habit wherever he goes. He also stated" When counting you have such a small edge. I don't see why casinios make such a big deal about it. If a player is able to do it.. I say more power to em'. Good for them."

I wanted to get more of a feel, and see how much truth there was to what he was saying... Some point later, the count rapidly jumped and I synchronized the count with my bet. I had previously been betting 1 or 2 units as there was nothing that called for a larger bet before this. The dealer looked a little surprised.. and said "Oh, you decided to jump up your bet on this one"... I got the feeling that he might have some suspicion about me but yet maybe he doesn't really care and I wasn't convinced yet of his skills.

Now sometime later, I had a large bet.. the count was very high and I had 16 vs 7. I stopped to think for a bit as it was a close call. I said out loud.. "I hate 16's.. I know i'm going to bust" and proceeded to take a hit and I did bust. Then the dealer replied "You know I think I might have stayed on that one"

Also, as he dealt to me the next day I made a comment stating that I was down trying to get back even. He replied "Don't worry.. just keep practicing.. you'll make it back in the long run"..

Somtum,

Was that the short, nice white guy that looked somewhat like the dealer in "Vegas Vacation",,,,,,bet it was. 50 or so years old?

Ouchez

[jaygruden]

I believe that on one occasion the casino placed a shill at my table. Similar to what you have stated.......He was way too interested what I was doing and how I was playing my cards. I believed him to be, for lack of a better term an "undercover security officer" for the casino who was trying to determine if I was counting and how much of a threat I was to the house. BTW....I was backed-off a few weeks later. It may have been a coincidence and maybe me just connecting dots that didn't exist but if I were you, I would consider it a real threat. I am now on the look out for such shills.

[blackjackomaha]

I believe that on one occasion the casino placed a shill at my table. Similar to what you have stated.......He was way too interested what I was doing and how I was playing my cards. I believed him to be, for lack of a better term an "undercover security officer" for the casino who was trying to determine if I was counting and how much of a threat I was to the house. BTW....I was backed-off a few weeks later. It may have been a coincidence and maybe me just connecting dots that didn't exist but if I were you, I would consider it a real threat. I am now on the look out for such shills.

If this doesn't inspire confidence, I don't know what will!

Appreciate the info.

[Baberuth]

There are some excellent surveillance guys around. Fortunately they have many duties, mostly catching cheaters and scam artists at all gaming. Most need the "call" to go into action for a counter or check big games when they have time. They are underpaid so that's why there aren't many around. There are not really as many CC as you would think for them to lock on either so they get used to doing their "other" duties. The same goes for most pits. they have their time filled with checking buy ins, color ups, comps, checking average bets, checking payouts etc. etc.
If you can show them early that you are no threat, they will relax and do those other duties without checking you out constantly. As far as a dealer counting while dealing, it would be rare. I make it a point to find out how much the pit and dealer know about BS and BJ in general. I have not met one who has perfect BS (I'm sure there has to be), but they know some AP index moves. They don't know the count they are used for, but know it is a move where they may announce it. I might ask why and hear their explanation. Mostly a ploppy doing an AP move in the wrong count. The pit comes over and the ploppy doesn't even know he is getting heat. I would think a shill would be at a high stakes table, but many of those guys don't want anyone else there.

[Severity8]

Sounds like he had a mental issue in any case I'd make sure you have one in the pipe on the way to your car IMHO.