how to spread my time between casinos in my area

[bridgeboy52]

Hi all,

Question from a low-level player.

I'm a relative newbie but have put in 42 hours at the table after practicing Hi-Lo with BS and the illustrious 18 on my computer for several weeks until I was solid. I'm bankrolled enough to play at $3/5/10 6-deck H17 DAS tables but not higher (so no double-deck games unfortunately, in my area). My session records indicate I'm not inept so it looks good so far.

Perhaps the limits I play mean heat might never be an issue for me, but I look really young even though I'm not so I have to worry about it. Still, I'm very good at looking natural. I spotted my first counter yesterday and I was dumbfounded nobody was on him for hours even at a $3 table, he was so obvious.

I have all the time in the world right now, and I was wondering a good schedule for going to the following casinos, even if it means every day:

Casino 1: 30 minutes away, near Casino 2, usually 2-3 shoe tables to choose from, least heat of any, even saw an obvious counter at a $3 table staring at the discard tray at third base mentally going through calculations for several hours with no worries; I have used no camouflage and it's like nobody cares; staff seem inept; 85-90% penetration, area is boring and bad food.
Casino 2: 30 minutes away, near Casino 1, 2-3 shoes, but they seem to watch your flow of money (once people were looking at how much I won even though it was just $100 at a $5 table), 85-90% penetration; area boring, but food comps are loose for me and the food is not bad
Casino 3: 90 minutes away, on the way to Casino 4, mid-size casino, 75%-85% penetration, lots of tables for mild wonging available (I tend to just leave on negatives, not backcount, when it's convenient), most professional of all 4 casinos, but I have varied my bets below $100/hand at the $5/$10 tables with no heat; very stingy with the comps; area is a wasteland, nothing interesting
Casino 4: 120 minutes away (but goes by Casino 3), smallish casino, have only been a few times when I was starting so I didn't note much, but the area is fun to visit and the attached hotel is about $80/night during the week.

For any advice regarding times/shifts/days and length of sessions to go throughout the month that would arouse the least suspicion but get me a steady income, that would be great. Or just general thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks
BB

[Three]

When starting out new players usually can't tell between normal procedures and heat. The dealers concern is to deal the cards and keep the Floor informed of your buyins and remember them to report to the Floor if he is busy. He calls out unusual plays that may be made by a shot taker. A shot taker is someone that makes a dumb play and then argues he didn't make it if it doesn't work out. The Floor usually gives the benefit of doubt to a player in this situation if they only do it once which gets him his bet returned. The dealer also calls out when high denomination chips come into play because it is the Floor's responsibility to track where every one of those chips go. If you leave without coloring up the dealer must tell the Floor how much you left with. If he doesn't know they will count down the chip tray and all unaccounted for high denomination chips will be assigned to you.

The Floorman or Floor has the responsibility of tracking all chips a certain denomination or higher. In most places that level is black chips ($100 chips) but in some places it is $25 chips or higher. If you start playing these chips you will get an audience unless the casino is too busy. If so when you leave the dealer will report how many of these chips you won or they will count down the tray and assign all unaccounted for high denomination chips to you. The Floor also tracks all buy-ins and how much everyone left the table with. He must enter something so helping him to enter what you want is better than leaving and making him guess. Usually if they have to guess you just get assigned what will balance the tray. They track the chips as best they can in order to make it easier to catch dealer or other employee theft. A dealer should find it hard to pocket any chips of tracked denominations. The Floor determines how procedural problems are resolved. They are supposed to follow the regulations that the commission passed so knowing the regs is a good idea. Some Floormen think they can make it up as they go along. They can't and must follow the regs.

The Pit Boss may oversee more than one pit. His job is to settle disputes that the Floor can't resolve to the players satisfaction. He also is the only one that can see a detailed history of your play. He may be the only one to approve discretionary comps. He may need to be consulted for requested table limit changes.

The Table Games Manager is the top rung of who you might meet. He oversees the Pit Bosses and determines what tables open as new dealers arrive and how table limits will change. Most of the time you won't notice him.

All the non-dealers wear suits and will be hard to distinguish who carries what title except for by what they can do. Any suit can do the duties of his underlings but underlings generally can't do the duties of their superiors. Like a union shop duties must be performed by those designated to have those duties or their superiors.

So if you put a black chip out it is normal and expected for a black action call to be made from the dealer. It is likely to get at least a casual look by the Floor to see exactly what your bet is. The Floor may have nothing else better to do and stand there tracking the ebb and flow of the black chips. This is not heat but can result in heat. You can usually tell heat by the attitude of the suits.

If a call comes from the eye to correct a mistake at your table that indicates the EITS is actively watching your table. You have no way to assess if this is normal oversight of the dealer or if they are watching you but you know they are watching your table. Usually each surveillance guy has about a half dozen or so monitors to watch. It all depends on the actual person doing the surveillance as to how much of a problem that is. Again you have no way of knowing. It may be smart to exit as soon as your advantage disappears just to be on the safe side. If all of the sudden the suits aren't paying the same attention they had been paying to what you are doing that may mean they know surveillance is watching you. That is probably the only possible indicator of heat from surveillance you will get.

I hope you find this helpful. It is really difficult for others that didn't see the pit activity to assess heat for you.

[Three]

Anyway, too answer the question you asked you should view it as a trans-shipment problem to minimize expenses first. That has you making visits to casino 1 & 2 once a week and casino 3 & 4 once a week. You should choose the day and time that optimizes playing conditions for each casino pair. If you want to go twice a week play on different shifts and days. Conditions, heat and tolerance vary by casino and by shift. It is your task to figure out what best fits these 4 casinos.

42 hours is insignificant and the results mean nothing.

[mrw464]

Tthree with more top notch advice per usual. This is a no brainer but the biggest heat-check you will find is your spread amount. It's really up to your judgment how much a casino will tolerate, and it can shift naturally

[bridgeboy52]

Thanks for the great explanation!

[bridgeboy52]

Also,
a) how many hours would be significant?
b) is the 45-minute session length in Andersen's books just for high-heat games or is it just a good idea for all games?

[Three]

I didn't know the casinos you are playing but I would think you would need to play at least 2 hours at each store to make the trip worth it unless monster shoe came early. It is all pretty fluid and not a set formula. 45 minutes of monster shoes is worth more in EV than 4 hours of waiting bets and small advantage bets. The heat factor from both is different as well. All things are not equal and you need to assess your exposure level in each place on a session basis. If you basically bet the same you can stay for much longer but once you have exposed your spread after that you leave. Commenting that you have to leave soon so let's try to win some money or something to that affect at the appropriate moment looks ploppy like. Remember anything you do to make your play look normal is for an audience of suits. Make sure the audience is there or it may be wasted.