Wendover Report: Newbie thankful for advice last month

[cardinalrunner]

I was lucky on my first trip to vegas a few weeks ago. I went for the Pac12 bball tournament, but after my team lost in the second round I spent a lot time at BJ tables. I had not heard of basic strategy and I am sure good players cursed my plays.
I would do things like hit a 15 versus dealer 3 etc...I had been under the impression that the goal of the game was to get 21, not beat the dealer lol...rookie mistake. Either way, I got lucky paid for my trip, including gas, hotels, and bball tickets.

I started thinking about BJ a lot after I returned and began playing for free online daily. I then learned basic strategy and general hi lo counting technique. In doing research, I stumbled across this community. I received some valuable advice from you guys and was able to learn a lot from this forum in a short period of time. In trying to optimize my strategy, I posted a question- If you don't remember, I asked about the advantage of hi versus low counts. I had the impression that knowing the count always gave the player an advantage, even if it was negative. I felt that a negative count could be used to the advantage as a high count, by hitting 12s, 13s, 14s, etc...expecting low cards to be dealt. I accepted the rule of thumb that high counts were better than low, but I didn't really understand why. The advice you all gave made sense... Although knowing the count (even if negative) provides an advantage to the card counter, the significant advantage is the high count because of the potential blackjack payout and opportunities to split and double hands. Although you can win with low cards, the dealer is less likely to bust and you win less in the long run.

Not being one to take a lot of risks with money, I never liked the idea of splitting or doubling. Before I understood real advantage of the hi count, I never doubled or split hands. Thanks to you all, it made sense and decided to optimize my strategy. I made a run to Wendover this weekend to my new strategy to the test.

After practicing basic strategy and counting down multiple decks, I was really disappointed to discover Wendover dealt cards from a single deck, face down. I tried to keep count as cards were slowly revealed and varied my bet 1-3 based on the count. My disappoint was quickly relieved by turning 50 dollars into 200. haha I feel like I need to practice a counting method that is optimized for dealing face down, because there were times that I lost track or wasn't quick enough...however, in the long run it paid out. My basic strategy definitely felt second nature and my advantage (although I won more in vegas) was significantly better than the last time I played. Thanks for all the tips again!

[cardinalrunner]

One thing that I didn't like about Wendover which is worth mentioning...

The tables were all packed, so the dealer shuffled after two hands. Is this a disadvantage or not? I feel like I would be better off playing one on one with the dealer, but maybe this is just more of my ignorance shining through. I was able to count an average of 20 cards or so in the first hand, so I had a better idea of the next hand...but maybe one on one is no different???

[seriousplayer]

One thing that I didn't like about Wendover which is worth mentioning...

The tables were all packed, so the dealer shuffled after two hands. Is this a disadvantage or not? I feel like I would be better off playing one on one with the dealer, but maybe this is just more of my ignorance shining through. I was able to count an average of 20 cards or so in the first hand, so I had a better idea of the next hand...but maybe one on one is no different???

Answer to your question: "Is this a disadvantage or not?" First you need to see how many players are at the table. It is not profitable to play a single deck games with more than three people that is including yourself. It is not profitable for the following reasons:

1. With the dealer shuffling after two hands high counts will not occur that often.
2. Your number of hands per hours will decrease.

When selecting a single deck game use the rule of 7. However, I look for penetration when I select what single deck games to play with no more than three players.

What time of day are you there? Usually in North Nevada area table are pack in the weekend and sometime Friday but for small casinos with two table open the tables will end up being packed. What I suggest is scout the casino to see when they have the least amount of people.

Hope that helps.

[mrw464]

Cardinal, I'm glad to see you've gone from complete noob to a budding AP player.

What you are describing, "face down" dealing is known as a pitch game. These are trickier to count than shoe games, where the cards are dealt faceup. Your struggle to keep up basically means you just need a lot more practice. It needs to be second nature to you.

You should stop comparing all future results to your lucky Vegas streak. That was pure luck, you really should have gotten destroyed making moves like you described. A big positive variance swing does even more wonders when you are playing with an advantage.

The amount of cards that are dealt before shuffling is referred to as "penetration." The more cards that are dealt/deeper the penetration, the better. This is because most counting systems become strongest at deeper penetrations, when it becomes easier to predict what cards are left, because there aren't that many left. Deeper penetration also allows for good shoes to continue longer before being redealt. Serious described the gist of SD penetration.

[Buddy_Cat]

You mentioned that you feel you need to change your counting practice method. How do you currently practice counting?

[cardinalrunner]

You mentioned that you feel you need to change your counting practice method. How do you currently practice counting?

I don't really have a system for "practice," as I am really inexperienced... so I guess instead of wandering blind in a forest, maybe you could give me some practice drills?

I have been doing the obvious, flipping cards over one at a time...using either one or two decks. I also have practiced flipping over 1-3 cards at a time while trying to keep count...also playing multiple hands of BJ against myself.

[mrw464]

play the multiple hands but get chips and incorporate betting strategies. easiest way to learn is cvbj

[hitthat16]

Careful when trying to add hands at the end of the deck. Sometimes they will shuffle up and there goes the good count when they normally would have given you another round at just one hand.

[Buddy_Cat]

...easiest way to learn is cvbj

x2

[cjh156]

CardinalRunner, I find my self in your exact same situation. I would love to get some help and advice from you as im planning some trips to Wendover and Vegas soon.