98%: Error Rate

Don Schlesinger · 07-25-2002, 07:40 PM

> So I doubled a
> hard-18 against a ten and won.

Hard 16.

> Funny thing is that I was somewhat annoyed
> at winning these badly played hands. I've
> always thought that one of the biggest tells
> that a player is a counter is that counters
> can get quite upset when losing. Yes
> gamblers in general don't like to lose. But,
> a counter (particularly a new counter) gets
> more upset because he knows when the deck is
> good, did everything correctly and still
> lost. You really like to think that you will
> get what you deserve.

You're absolutely right. That's a shrewd observation. You need to guard against acting as if you KNEW you were supposed to win and didn't.

Don

The Machine · 08-01-2002, 07:34 PM

> Funny thing is that I was somewhat annoyed
> at winning these badly played hands. I've
> always thought that one of the biggest tells
> that a player is a counter is that counters
> can get quite upset when losing. Yes
> gamblers in general don't like to lose. But,
> a counter (particularly a new counter) gets
> more upset because he knows when the deck is
> good, did everything correctly and still
> lost. You really like to think that you will
> get what you deserve.

I disagree with that. I think that on average, gamblers are MORE likely to get emotional (including cursing, cursing at the dealer, tossing cards in a handheld, etc.) than counters. If I see a guy who plays like machine, doing nothing but shoving more money out when he loses a hand, I'm suspicious. Gamblers whine way more than counters. Also: gamblers may get demanding on comps after they've lost.

You're right that counters expect to win, but gamblers expect to win even more so! Gamblers expect to win every time. Counters understand that there's variance. A counter brings $10K in his pocket, knowing that he could dump $2K in the first hour. Gamblers show up with a thousand or two and think they'll walk with $20K. Gamblers all think they're smart. They all think they have an edge.