Autoground: ... Lessons

[Autoground]

Is there a reputable company that gives lessons?

I'm a bit of a romantic, I think, and the idea of apprenticing myself to a guru is utterly charming... but I doubt that's ever going to happen.

Still, I wonder if a skilled player to help my individual case, step-by-step, and to make decisions about optimal betting and RoR that i don't feel comfortable doing for myself -- i wonder if such aid is available at all. I would suspect any advertisements for such as a con-job. Do you know otherwise?

I ask this as a preliminary to feel out just how bluntly demanding I can be on this Don's Domain forum. I would feel awfully rude if it were taboo to come out requesting answers: "Here's what i got, Here's what i can do so far, now Tell me how to bet and what game to specialize in!" (of course I wouldn't phrase it this way)

But in a more polite way, that is the sort of question I'd have. And then if I got the answer, I'd reply with, "Okay, now what's the exact Ill18 charts for that game specialization?" And so on.

I'd start to feel like I owed something for a lot of personal attention. So is this the place to do that, or is there a reputable group I can apprentice myself to who will give me lots of personal attention?

Thanks so much,
[email protected]

[Don Schlesinger]

Once upon a time, there used to be several reputable organizations giving lessons and running BJ classes. I actually ran the NY area franchise of Jerry Patterson's BJ Clinic, and we had a wonderful program.

Nowadays, people tend to get most of their information from the Internet, and there is truly a wealth of material out there. Still, as a teacher all of my life, I think a little personal contact every now and then is both beneficial and enjoyable for all parties concerned.

In the meantime, ask your questions here, and we'll answer as much as we can.

Don

[Autoground]

Right! So!

For someone
with a $3,000 - $4,000 bankroll,
willing to play red and average only $9 an hour if necessary (this would be initiation and training)
using Hi-Lo
who is young and caucasian needing to avoid attention

Which blackjack game should this person focus in on?

Lastly, assuming the answer is something other than 4-deck: are the Illustrious 18 indices the same for this hypothetical game?

Thank You.
-A

[Don Schlesinger]

> Right! So!

> For someone
> with a $3,000 - $4,000 bankroll,
> willing to play red and average only $9 an
> hour if necessary (this would be initiation
> and training)
> using Hi-Lo
> who is young and caucasian needing to avoid
> attention

> Which blackjack game should this person
> focus in on?

You don't say where you live and which games you have access to.

> Lastly, assuming the answer is something
> other than 4-deck: are the Illustrious 18
> indices the same for this hypothetical game?

More or less, yes. Add the four extra from the Catch-22 if you wish. Easy enough to do.

Don

[Sun Runner]

Don was polite and correct .. Don's Domain is the place to learn. No question to ignorant; no concept to goofy .. except 'progressions' I suppose. Don't go there.

Having said that, if you are willing to spend money for lessons you should be willing to spend money for books.

If you are playing HiLo, you owe it to yourself, and to those in here, to at a minimum purchase and begin absorbing Wong's Professional Blackjack and Don's Blackjack Attack 3.

If you are willing to do that, I look forward to your questions and learning along with you.

PS, the Ill 18 question you asked is answered vividly, simply, and plainly in BJA3 for SD, DD, 4D, and 6D.

PSS, you're right. You will get to where you feel like you owe somebody something for all you are going to learn; it's unavoidable. (The fact you realize this makes me feel good about you already.) You already started the payback by busting out a few bones and joining here. You can continue the payback by supporting the RGE catalog when you buy those books. Then finally, the payoff continues when I learn stuff from you!

Good luck.

[Sun Runner]

> For someone with a $3,000 - $4,000 bankroll,
> willing to play red and average only $9 an
> hour if necessary (this would be initiation
> and training) using Hi-Lo who is young and
> caucasian needing to avoid attention.

First, don't be pretentious nor act like you know more than you do. It's counter productive and wastes time. Phrases you used like 'willing to play red' (nothing wrong with playing red), 'only $9 an hour' (nothing wrong with $9 an hour), 'initiation and training' (look, I'm in training everytime I log on here or go there to play) make me think you feel ill at ease about being new. Don't be. If I'm wrong here, forgive me and let it go.

Can you count? No kidding, can you count down a deck in 30 seconds ten times in a row? Good, move on. If not, you are kidding yourself, you need to be able to do it.

> Which blackjack game should this person focus in on?

You'll get a million answers to many questions; a lot of it is personal preference. I'd say look for the games with the best rules and pen. Go look where you play the most and report back the possibilities.

> Lastly, assuming the answer is something
> other than 4-deck: are the Illustrious 18
> indices the same for this hypothetical game?

Assuming the answer is a 6D game, yes, very very close to the same. [BJA3 will tell you exactly!]
SD? not so much.

And what is this hypothetical game? S17 or H17? DAS? Surrender? 75% pen or 80% pen?

> Thank You.

No, thank you.

[Norm Wattenberger]

In the BJ Ball, the four top scorers in the Calcutta must quickly count down a deck as one of the tests to determine the top BJ player. One card is removed and they must name that card as high, low or neutral. If I remember correctly, all four of these 'bj greats' called it incorrectly.

[Sun Runner]

> In the BJ Ball, the four top scorers in the
> Calcutta must quickly count down a deck as
> one of the tests to determine the top BJ
> player. One card is removed and they must
> name that card as high, low or neutral. If I
> remember correctly, all four of these 'bj
> greats' called it incorrectly.

Which tells me much about the mis-perception new players have reading posts (at least I had it) here and abroad.

The 'exactness' needed to win out there is not as 'exact' as it may seem.

Obviously, these four guys can play -but yet under the gun, they came up a little short.

Missing a card in the count here or there is not a killer. Sweating the fact 'is there 3.33 decks in the tray or 3.66' will hurt you more than help you. Pick 3, convert the count, and play on.

But I bet in the privacy of their own home, when practicing, these guys can do 30 seconds and 10 times!!

I've heard Don say so many times I've lost count, that in theory, while studying the game, we carry decimal places out a jillion spots "because we can." But in straight counting BJ, 3.33 or 3.66 still equals 3.00.

Exactness is great, until it freezes you up from making a decision.

--------

Geez; was all that outloud?

I'm flapping my jaws yet again!

[Hollywood]

> Is there a reputable company that gives
> lessons?

> I'm a bit of a romantic, I think, and the
> idea of apprenticing myself to a guru is
> utterly charming... but I doubt that's ever
> going to happen.

> Still, I wonder if a skilled player to help
> my individual case, step-by-step, and to
> make decisions about optimal betting and RoR
> that i don't feel comfortable doing for
> myself -- i wonder if such aid is available
> at all. I would suspect any advertisements
> for such as a con-job. Do you know
> otherwise?

> I ask this as a preliminary to feel out just
> how bluntly demanding I can be on this Don's
> Domain forum. I would feel awfully rude if
> it were taboo to come out requesting
> answers: "Here's what i got, Here's
> what i can do so far, now Tell me how to bet
> and what game to specialize in!" (of
> course I wouldn't phrase it this way)

> But in a more polite way, that is the sort
> of question I'd have. And then if I got the
> answer, I'd reply with, "Okay, now
> what's the exact Ill18 charts for that game
> specialization?" And so on.

> I'd start to feel like I owed something for
> a lot of personal attention. So is this the
> place to do that, or is there a reputable
> group I can apprentice myself to who will
> give me lots of personal attention?

> Thanks so much,
> [email protected]

Hi Auto:

Basically, pick one of the top 3 counting systems and purchase that book.

Get a copy of BJA3 and you have all the workings of a good winning system.

KEEP A COPY OF BJA3 BY YOUR BED. KIND OF LIKE THE BIBLE.

And lastly a copy of Norms program.

As you get confused, and trust me it will happen. Then you simply come in here and ask your questions. Kind of like raising your hand in class.

There is literally nothing you can ask in here that the other players and masters can't help you with.

So don't worry about anything and the easiest thing for you to remember is this.

If I can do it, then anyone can.

Good luck with everything

Hollywood

[bfbagain]

Accuracy is the priority, as you know.

Speed, provides the capability to focus less on the cards, and more on surroundings, and this you also know.

Speed and accuracy increases confidence, which is why you need both, again, as you know.

What many people don't know, is why they lose accuracy when increasing speed. This is due to the mind, as it's taking a picture of the cards, is lagging behind attempting to do the math. It is actually a coordination of the brain with the visual recognition of the cards as they are seen that effects the accuracy.

The way you solve this, incidentally, is the same way you solve computer errors, and that is understanding the concept that slow, is actually fast.

When I run through the cards, whether it's 1 deck, 2 decks, or 6 decks, and I make an error, the next time, I deliberatly slow myself to the point that I recover the accuracy (as it's the most important), then quite naturally, the speed increases.

Most people, once they can count down a single deck of cards to a speed they're comfortable with, should then move to practicing, almost exclusively, with two decks. Of course, when preparing for the SD game, clearly you practice with 1 deck. But for 6 deck game preparations, practicing with double decks is a good compromise.

cheers
bfb
BTW, if those guys got it wrong at the ball, then it only means they were likely to be a little tipsy.

This brings me to another practice drill. If a person has an occasional beer, or cocktail at the tables, then they should practice these drills under the same conditions, i.e., while drinking beer, or cocktails. It's a good indicator to see how your skills may or may not be diminished by alcohol.

[Sun Runner]

I don't want this to turn into Bill Clinton before the grand jury, but ..

> Accuracy is the priority, as you know.

Yes, but I said 'exactness.'

Freezing up in being so 'exact' is staring at the discards and feeling the need to determine is it 3.33 or 3.66.

If you can see either, and know it is 3.00, that to me is 'accurate' enough.

No doubt piss poor practice makes for piss poor performance. I do not want to diminish the idea that when I'm studying the game in the solitude of home, I need to study with exactness and accuracy, all the while working to gather speed.

I just think people (new people) get the idea that it takes reading a discard tray to half or quarter deck increments, or being able to TC to two decimal places before they can get good at this thing.

I don't think it does; that's all.

Certainly the more you practice and the more you play the more you will become sharp and quick in making those decisions; you ptobably can't help it.

BTW, you are probably right about the BJB. No doubt mass quantities of adult beverages may have been a factor!!

[Sun Runner]

> Basically, pick one of the top 3 counting systems and purchase that book.

Hmmm, where is that list again!?



> If I can do it, then anyone can.

That's what I keep telling myself; I just want to play as large as Hollywood. (You think I'm kidding?)

[Autoground]

> First, don't be pretentious nor act like you
> know more than you do. It's counter
> productive and wastes time. Phrases you used
> like 'willing to play red' (nothing wrong
> with playing red), 'only $9 an hour'
> (nothing wrong with $9 an hour), 'initiation
> and training' (look, I'm in training
> everytime I log on here or go there to play)
> make me think you feel ill at ease about
> being new. Don't be. If I'm wrong here,
> forgive me and let it go.

To think pretentiousness was what i most wanted to avoid! In retrospect, it looks like I was a bit ill at ease with my first posts in Don's Domain, and it looks like i even made the silly assumption that everyone here was my superior in every way, and thus all high-rollers. I thought $9 would seem paltry to everyone.
I do sincerely apologize.

> Can you count? No kidding, can you count
> down a deck in 30 seconds ten times in a
> row? Good, move on. If not, you are kidding
> yourself, you need to be able to do it.

Yes, i can consistently count down a deck in under 25 seconds. But then i hear a bunch of people talking about under 20, even 15! My hand can't even flip the cards that fast.

All in all, I should have hovered in the background a little more. In fact, i feel silly asking questions having not finished BJA3 yet. But we're all busy and getting answers on this forum makes it feel so much more effective and, yeah, maybe it's that it's easy.

Incidentally, i read the earlier thread all about what the free forum will become, and then what Don's Domain will become. I can't help but speculate on how the 3-month trial that comes with BJA3 will affect the aforementioned-in-that-thread community -- indeed, how my having pursued a quick easy answer will affect the perspective on this 'problem.'
Suffice it to say in the future i hope to avoid being any kind of example of bad effects on the community. I have nothing but the greatest respect for all the gurus - both the romantic ideal and the literal truth - that i find myself among.

With that I'd like to say hello and greetings to everyone. I am, yes, quite inexperienced and naive, and thank you very much for having me.
Also, in answer to Don's question about my locale, the fact is this: i can be anywhere in America, and eventually Mexico. I've been travelling the country for a year now, and don't know when i'll stop. For the moment I have very good access to las Vegas.

again, i thank you
[email protected]