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Thread: Bad run of cards

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    Bad run of cards

    Good morning everyone. Just wanted to check back report on some recent card play. I have played 3 times since the 4th and have had losses in each session. I am new to attempting to count and have just tried to play solid BS blackjack. It seems in each of these sessions I can point to a certain hand or two which would have turned things to the positive quite a bit, but no matter, it was a losing hand. Wanted to reach out to some of the more experienced ones out there as this seems like a normal occurance in this game from time to time. I felt like I played BS really well, but unfortunately the hands didn't go in my favor. I know in poker the terms "bad beat" or "bad run of cards" gets used a lot. Not sure if the same language is used in blackjack, but feel like that happened to me on occasion during these sessions. Thanks.

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    Why aren't you at the British Open, John Daly?

    Basic Strategy is not a winning strategy. Time to go to the next level.

  3. #3
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    [QUOTE=paymypush;104244]Why aren't you at the British Open, John Daly?

    He was banned because of gambling!

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    Quote Originally Posted by johndaly47 View Post
    I have played 3 times since the 4th and have had losses in each session. .
    Three losing sessions in a row? You haven't lived. This game will break your heart. You need to go a couple of steps further if you want to play a winning game. You have accomplished the first.

    1 - Basic Strategy
    2 - Learn to count
    3 - Learn some index plays

    After that, your education begins.

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    Quote Originally Posted by paymypush View Post
    Why aren't you at the British Open, John Daly?

    Basic Strategy is not a winning strategy. Time to go to the next level.
    Elbow surgery put me out. I'll be back out there next year. Waiting to turn 50 so I can join the Champions Tour!

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tthree View Post
    He needs to start using index plays to up his game. I think everyone here does. If they don't they should. For shoes they account for 1/3rd of your possible gain and in pitch games they account for 2/3rds of your possible gain.

    Anyway it is typical for your session to be defined by one hand split to 4 hands with doubles at max bet. The swing between winning all hands and losing all hands is in the double digit (10+) max bets. You probably weren't talking about this extreme but you will learn that a great session can be made a loser or a bad session a winner on one such round. Ideally it is the round that is the crowning jewel to an already quite profitable session. You get a bad run for these rounds and winning over that course in general becomes very difficult.
    I have read briefly about index plays. That is where you essentially throw the TC and BS out the window once the TC is at a certain point, correct? Is there a brief explanation you can give on the index plays? I know I have seen several charts on it. Thanks.

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    Pick up some books and study them. There are many good suggestions on this forum.

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    Quote Originally Posted by johndaly47 View Post
    Elbow surgery put me out. I'll be back out there next year. Waiting to turn 50 so I can join the Champions Tour!
    If in fact, you are THAT John Daly, stick with golf. You'll make money even when you don't win.

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    If you aren't already spreading your bets based on your True Count, you will have to start. The True Count will provide you an estimate of your Advantage and then you vary your bet based on your Bank, the advantage, and your tolerable Risk level. You will also have to be more selective of games based not only on rules, but penetration and uncrowded conditions.

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    Tthree are you really advising someone to use index plays when he is just learning to count and still not even playing perfect BS?? Settle down...you can tell him how great your system is if that's what floats your boat but let's not try to tell him to run before he can walk.

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    If he's still learning to walk then he shouldn't be counting in a casino.

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    Well then tell him that, don't tell him to learn more indices. Contrary to popular opinion, new players don't need to know full indices before they ever enter a casino. You don't need any indices at all to beat the game. New players should have bs down cold and learn to count accurately before worrying about any indices. It's good to know insurance and 16vT but otherwise new players should forget about indices until they've got enough seat time to be comfortable counting. Playing this way gets something like 80-85% of the power available from their counting system with less potential to make mistakes when learning. They will know when they are comfortable enough to start adding more indices (I recommend adding a few at a time but I know others disagree) to get the rest of the power available to them.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Nyne View Post
    Well then tell him that, don't tell him to learn more indices. Contrary to popular opinion, new players don't need to know full indices before they ever enter a casino. You don't need any indices at all to beat the game. New players should have bs down cold and learn to count accurately before worrying about any indices. It's good to know insurance and 16vT but otherwise new players should forget about indices until they've got enough seat time to be comfortable counting. Playing this way gets something like 80-85% of the power available from their counting system with less potential to make mistakes when learning. They will know when they are comfortable enough to start adding more indices (I recommend adding a few at a time but I know others disagree) to get the rest of the power available to them.
    Thanks for the words as I tend to agree with the approach. I have played a total of 5 times in the last two months so I feel I am getting close to have the BS down. Some of these dealers, as slow as they deal, a new counter shouldn't have much problem keeping up. Back when I played a lot, roughly 15 years ago, all I knew then was the Basic Strategy and didn't even have it memorized. I think this game, much like poker, you have to be hitting cards a little bit if you are going to make some descent money. Percentages always help to be in your favor, but hitting cards is a must. The last couple of times I have played I didn't feel comfortable with 18 or 19 against the dealer because they continued to draw out a lot of the times or there would be a push. That was pretty frustrating.

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