Losing streak thread PART SIX: time to quit?

[Three]

Without giving away too many details, I know MM, I know where he plays and I know the specific game he plays. It's a variant of the game that they feel is unbeatable, the ironic thing is, it's better than their house BJ which they watch like a hawk. I know this because I was thrown out within 30 minutes of play, quite aggressively, may I add. I've read about potential cheating, short decks etc. I can assure you that's not the case. You can literally sit at this table 24 hours a day and they won't care.

I guess you are screwed if you play the variant the same as BJ. That is why variants tend to be so profitable. People play it just like BJ which raises the HE tremendously. Is this why MM is having so much trouble? I am guessing you want to protect the game by not naming what it is.

[Sharky]

Sometimes things just don't work out, or work as they should. We all know this, we have all felt and experienced it, just as we've all felt and experienced things working as they should, or perhaps the counter to your situation, better than they should.

IBLAH

BLAH
BLAH....

act, for when I missed an opportunity or made an insignificant mistake that would have otherwise added to my bottom line.

Looking back on that now, its almost all completely gone. I've always been a confident individual, always been quick to build my spirits back up and keep a "positive vibe", but now I've settled into a very emotionless "robotic" mode. Not like how I imagine T3 all the time, but in the sense that I am exceptionally quick to "get over" something and back to what I'm doing. In all honesty, this isn't jusBLAH

BLAH

BLAH....

The reason I bring up this long personal reflection or narrative is because I think you might need to address your psyche and take a step back. If your game is sound, as it appears it is, then you need to address yourself first. How is your confidence? How is your self esteem? Do you need to congratulate yourself for an achievement? Are you running yourself into the ground emotionally because you aren't meeting your own expectations?

In all honesty, I find it important, very important to be able to self diagnose any psychological affects you might have that affect you from your game, or affect your game through you, and find a way to cope with or handle them, and then turn them into an energetic force that moves you forward.

BLAH
BLAH
BLAH....


while, have decided to teach him the "true art" of casino hustling. We're talking APBJ, Comp Hustling, Machine Hustling, VUXing, Craps strategies, I mean the full repertoire of what I might do in a day. I've been "educating him" for the last 3 months now on various situations in the repertoire to the point where I now dedicate about 10-15 hours a week towards his education. Its been absolutely worth my time, and I've taken "care" to make sure that I've got the right "apprentice" for this, so that I don't inadvertently create more competition for myself in some aspects. The first month or so of his education, we covered a lot of the basics of the repertoire, like teaching him Hi-Lo, dice control, video poker basic strategies, what to look for on various machines that make them susceptible to AP plays, etc. There was a lot of knowledge that he had to digest, and more importantly to drill into his head and slightly change the way he might look at a machine or casino particularly. In the last 3-4 weeks or so, we've been taking nightly trips when I get "off" from my casino schedules, to run him through a couple local places that I frequent much less often than the BHAH

BLAH

BLAH...


we tend to become irrational and unfocused (quite possibly the worst combinations for any table player), or that when we get sad/let down/upset that we lost money when we expected to otherwise make it, we become almost "depressed" and when that happens we tend to look "backwards" and dwell on everything, and lose sight of what's important. In the case of VUXing that quite literally is getting to the NEXT play, and I hammered him on that explained that when he gets depressed about losing $10-20 in his first 15-20 plays it will affect you going forward. You will physically move slower (which is the ultimate killer in machine hustling), lose focus (very bad when you have to memorize ten different VP strategies), and that you'll lose your confidence (thus losing your drive and desire to improve).

Last week it finally hit him, and I have to say that I felt the sense of pride akin to a father watching his son grow up before him. We went out on our nightly run to clear out all the leftover VUXing machines, and about halfway through the night, while he was $5 down and I was about $75 up, he just runs circles around me all night long and stops to make a comment. He says "you know what, BLAH

BLAH

BLAH....

I ended up beating him thanks to my rugged good looks and natural charm (or maybe because I got extremely lucky on a VUX play) but he did exceptionally well, even after we started down on the first night thanks to some awful luck on some +EV machines.

The reason I wanted to share such novels with you isn't necessarily because of my own self reflection and narrative, but because we've all been there, and many of us for some reason couldn't figure out WHY we were encountering this streak or that streak or why they were happening in the first place. For most, myself included, it was because we became so immersed with "the game" or "the hustle" that we didn't find the time to take a step back and reflect and self-diagnose, and I think a few forum members have touched on that in the past but it isn't something we discuss as BLAH

BLAH

BLAH...

Norm, PLEASE "Twitterfy" this site....240 CHAR MAX

[Zach Black]

The user ignore function works well to filter out the nonsense. Except when the nonsense is reposted.

[Jabberwocky]

Don't they let you cut the cards? the top of the shoe should be random from the clumps. I am not buying it. You just showed this is either all BS or selective memory to explain your failures.


So every part of that area between 1.2 decks from top and bottom starts with a clump of the same cards? Not buying what you are selling. i already fertilized my garden.

Just bet the match the dealer bet.

HA! I play hand-shuffled DD sans MTD bet. It offers late surrender, DA2, DAS, NRSA and dealt face up. You will not find a similar game in Las Vegas anywhere. Did I mention deep pen?

[Koz84]

I guess you are screwed if you play the variant the same as BJ. That is why variants tend to be so profitable. People play it just like BJ which raises the HE tremendously. Is this why MM is having so much trouble? I am guessing you want to protect the game by not naming what it is.

Tthree, MM is playing the variant correctly. You are correct in that the BS is completely different, however, MM has visited me and shown me the particular literature he has studied with respect to this game. I think this game does need protecting as it is the only game where MM plays, and I think possibly one of the only remaining games in the country.

[Three]

That's what I thought Koz. I will add one thing. Most people don't feel my approaches and extra effort are wort it in BJ. They are very much worth it in BJ variants. Most if not all would agree. I hope he isn't trying some lame simple approach when much more effective attacks are available to those willing to use more advanced counts.

[KJ]

Thoughts on this ASM cheating discussion:

I wanted to PM BJGenius to find a location of where he suspected this activity, but was unable to and don't have contact info for him from any other site. But as the thread went on, he sort of revealed that this was not in Vegas, which was my biggest concern.

The common wisdom in this day and age of corporate run casino, is that cheating, at least casino sponsored cheating is all but a thing of the past, at least in the US. Just too much to lose. The exception would be Indian run casinos, who operate under there own set of rules, including little real or meaningful oversight.

Generally when someone brings up cheating, I am skeptical. It's human nature to want to see things that aren't there and jump to conclusions that aren't there.

But, I will tell you that it is very problematic that the ability and technology is there, in this case of ASM's. It is even more 'problematic' that this capability can be turned on or off by floor level casino personnel. This is something that gaming commissions really should be taking a look at. I mean, they have to at least appear to be interested in the integrity of the game. It's hard to imagine that such oversight commissions and agencies aren't aware of this possibility. Maybe it will take legal action and publicity for them to do their job and take some action.

[BJGenius007]

Thoughts on this ASM cheating discussion:

I wanted to PM BJGenius to find a location of where he suspected this activity, but was unable to and don't have contact info for him from any other site. But as the thread went on, he sort of revealed that this was not in Vegas, which was my biggest concern.

The common wisdom in this day and age of corporate run casino, is that cheating, at least casino sponsored cheating is all but a thing of the past, at least in the US. Just too much to lose. The exception would be Indian run casinos, who operate under there own set of rules, including little real or meaningful oversight.

Generally when someone brings up cheating, I am skeptical. It's human nature to want to see things that aren't there and jump to conclusions that aren't there.

But, I will tell you that it is very problematic that the ability and technology is there, in this case of ASM's. It is even more 'problematic' that this capability can be turned on or off by floor level casino personnel. This is something that gaming commissions really should be taking a look at. I mean, they have to at least appear to be interested in the integrity of the game. It's hard to imagine that such oversight commissions and agencies aren't aware of this possibility. Maybe it will take legal action and publicity for them to do their job and take some action.

First, it is not in Las Vegas. But I strongly believe all ASM machine has such setting built-in to produce counter killer shoe. The computer technology is there. But I also believe that the manufacture DO advise casinos only use this as the last resort against a strong AP. By nature, the game has already good house edge against ploppies.

I had the theory after observing the effects after some personnel came to ASM and did something, like entering some codes. The theory got more confirmation because a casino use it 100% against manufacture's advice, it creates an anomaly that can be observed and repeated . The casino is quite small. In graveyard hours, it has only two tables open and it is the time AP come to attack. So they have the clumping mode turning on 100% of the time. The end result is that almost every shoe has big TC swing and the cards have the pattern that clumps of [A 5] [6] [7] [8] [2 3 4] [face cards] appear very frequently. I would say almost all casinos use this to fight AP on demand, but probably under 10% of the time. Of course, there are still casinos that only kick AP out the old fashion way and are very proud of it.

Right now, my routine is to scout the table condition first to make sure the sequence of the cards coming out in the first shoe is normal, then doing my AP things until someone suspicious coming to mess with ASM. If ASM works normally, why does it need people's attention? If after it is messed up, the card sequence becomes clumped, then I leave.

[BJGenius007]

Thoughts on this ASM cheating discussion:

It is not cheating. It is a feature of the machine that still generates random card sequence, but it just is not favorable to people who use traditional counting systems.

[KJ]

It is not cheating. It is a feature of the machine that still generates random card sequence, but it just is not favorable to people who use traditional counting systems.

Incorrect, sir. It is not random, it is predetermined and I don't think there is any question that it would and should be found to be cheating in a court of law, well at least a court of law that took an honest look at the issue.

[BJGenius007]

Incorrect, sir. It is not random, it is predetermined and I don't think there is any question that it would and should be found to be cheating in a court of law, well at least a court of law that took an honest look at the issue.

This is how I would design an ASM that set traps for AP.

The normal ASM randomly raises the pushing arm then push a card from left chamber into right chamber until the left chamber is empty. In my design, the pushing arm can choose not to push through the card if the card is not desired. For example, the machine first pushes 7 random cards (but not face card) into the bottom of the right chamber, then for the next 20 cards it would not push the card through if it is not ace or small. Then pushes 7 more random cards (but not face card). Then for the next 21 cards, one small card, one face card then the next card has to be 8. In principle, the machine only pushes a card through if it matches the pattern it desires. I would still call this is a random machine. And it will produce the killer shoe I detailed in the earlier post.

[Three]

This is how I would design an ASM that set traps for AP.

The normal ASM randomly raises the pushing arm then push a card from left chamber into right chamber until the left chamber is empty. In my design, the pushing arm can choose not to push through the card if the card is not desired. For example, the machine first pushes 7 random cards (but not face card) into the bottom of the right chamber, then for the next 20 cards it would not push the card through if it is not ace or small. Then pushes 7 more random cards (but not face card). Then for the next 21 cards, one small card, one face card then the next card has to be 8. In principle, the machine only pushes a card through if it matches the pattern it desires. I would still call this is a random machine. And it will produce the killer shoe I detailed in the earlier post.

What you describe is illegal. It is the use of a devise to change the odds of a game. In every jurisdiction that is illegal for either the player or the casino. The casino could be fined millions of dollars and the company tat designed a machine to cheat would be in at least as much trouble. Designers could serve jail time. I doubt with all the states hurting for funds that they would hesitate the at least 6 figure fine for the casino. It can be a fine per event which would mean each time the cards where shuffled by the ASM a 6 figure fine would be levied. If it could be proved the commission looked the other way the agents would go to jail. I would report your suspicion to the gaming enforcement and continue to follow up on it. If failure to get satisfaction there is the media or the federal government. These are MAJOR crimes with jail time and HUGE fines. If there is a conspiracy of corruption between the manufacturer and the casino employees and gaming enforcement the entire lot will likely serve jail time. The casino could see 7 figure fines and lose its license and the state or local authority could lose its ability to have a casino or casinos in their jurisdiction.

[BJGenius007]

What you describe is illegal. It is the use of a devise to change the odds of a game. In every jurisdiction that is illegal for either the player or the casino. The casino could be fined millions of dollars and the company tat designed a machine to cheat would be in at least as much trouble. Designers could serve jail time. I doubt with all the states hurting for funds that they would hesitate the at least 6 figure fine for the casino. It can be a fine per event which would mean each time the cards where shuffled by the ASM a 6 figure fine would be levied. If it could be proved the commission looked the other way the agents would go to jail. I would report your suspicion to the gaming enforcement and continue to follow up on it. If failure to get satisfaction there is the media or the federal government. These are MAJOR crimes with jail time and HUGE fines. If there is a conspiracy of corruption between the manufacturer and the casino employees and gaming enforcement the entire lot will likely serve jail time. The casino could see 7 figure fines and lose its license and the state or local authority could lose its ability to have a casino or casinos in their jurisdiction.

It did not change the odds of the game. It still use the same 312 cards. Same cards are used. The sequence of the cards could be generated by any random machine in theory. The players can choose to hit, stay or other actions to alter the outcome of every hand. I don't see how it is illegal. For ploppies who made the decision based on the instinct, the odds of the game is the same. Only to counters who play in certain way, the odds of the game is changed, which is exactly the casinos wants, no effects on ploppies while make advantage players lose.