i started a new thread because i am late to the party and need lots of attention

i know our host agrees with those who hold that his cover betting is far too costly. in fact the score of his game is not within the parameters of the great and powerful don.

in fact, most counters would NEVER have considered giving so much away, before burning the tables.

this is the EXACT reason it was a great gambit. the personality composition of counters has not changed much since turning the tables was written. we tend to be precise, mathematical, analytical, (dare i say anal), (and for want of a better word) geeks.

now here comes ian a. outgoing, wild, action junkie.

profiling is not restricted to the police. pit critters are just the cops of the casinos. they pidgeon hole every person they see instantly and have a hard time changing that opinion. they see thousands of faces and know most of them fall into a few categories. in general they are correct, so they persist in this behavior.

i adopted ian's ultimate gambit as soon as i read burning the tables. in fact with the help of the author i was able to add a few wrinkles.

it worked remarkably well, for about 2 years. by that time the ultimate gambit was well known by the pit critters and it became harder to play. it became known because other high stakes players were using it and the critters can read.

imagine you were the only counter in the world playing this way. could the critters spot you? it would take a critter with a remarkable ability to think as an individual, to think,(please forgive my use of this worn out phrase), outside the box, if you will, to catch this counter.

one more analogy. in poker, if you fold every hand unless you have the mortal nuts, then bet aggressively, you will not lose but you won't get a lot of action. if you are splashing around every pot, you get the action.

you have to give action to get action. this is the key to his style and it would work well today if he had not shared it with all of us.

in the immortal words of our host

good luck and good cards

the real anon