Inspired by my Vegas trip a couple weeks ago, in which I took the Stardust and Flamingo for several thousand, here?s my observations based on my personal experience?.any of this sound familiar to you guys?

You know you?re a card counter when?..

1. You sleep in early so that you can wake up at 4 AM just to have the opportunity to play head-to-head with the dealer from dawn to 10 AM, and not be worried about players jumping in on your table.

2. You recognize the pit boss who barred you 4 years ago, yet you play a few hands just to see if he even remotely remembers you?..(which he obviously doesn?t).

3. On a super rich count, you have a $300 bet out and you?re thinking about the bigger bet for the next hand just as much as you are on the outcome of the current hand!

4. When the count is super negative, you color up and leave the head-to-head table just to take a 10-minute break and come back to a fresh neutral deck.

5. You take insurance on a dealer?s ace while you hold a 3-4, knowing full well that the dealer?s got paint in the hole.

6. Instead of constantly counting your roll in your wallet to see if you?re up or down, you carry a pocket notepad and pen to log in your gain/loss per each session of play.

7. You hit your hard 14 against the dealer?s 6, knowing damn well short stuff is coming your way.

8. You suspect the pit boss is taking countermeasures by replacing dealers frequently with extremely quicker ones, yet that?s exactly what you want since you?re getting more hands per hour, thus accelerating the unbearable ?grind? time every counter endures.

9. While the oblivious pit boss is B.S.ing with the waitress, your ?very cool? dealer whispers to you what a skilled player you are.

10. I have no #10. Any suggestions?

P.S. I thought the rules at the Stardust were superb. Are there other casinos in Vegas that have the same rules (DD, Face Down, DOA, DAS, S17, at least 60% pen) and can handle big action and 1X-10X bet spreads without flinching?