I dont know about you guys, but Im seriously going to try this in the future when Im betting much bigger. I used to work at a dealership and so I have the uniforms as well and which is why im asking this question. Of course I also have the tools in my garage, as Im sure many of you do as well.
What Im thinking about doing is going to the casino with oil on my nissan work shirt, a couple of pliers and a wrench in my shirt pocket and back-counting the hell out of the games. This is such a good psychological first impression on the pit bosses, they will never think im counting or even think I know how to play blackjack; they will think im some type of dumb degenerate mechanic who just got of work and wants to gamble. Lets face it, our society is full of stereotypes, and they wont look at a mechanic as someone who is generally 'smart' or 'smart' enough to be able to count profitably. I dont agree with the stereotypes, but it is what it is, and I think it would completely throw off casino personnel right from the start. We all know first impressions are everything, and once they see a dirty mechanic with pliers and a wrench in his pocket with oil stains on his shirt, they wont bother me again for that whole trip and probably future trips as long as they remember my face.
Of course there are other ways you can accomplish this, but what Im getting at is the 'first impressions' psychological aspect of cover, which doesnt get talked about enough in my opinion. Most of my cover is going to be psychological, I dont believe in cover plays, because if you're at the point where you need to use cover plays to trick somebody, you already messed up. My whole idea of cover is using the psychological aspect of manipulating people at the very 'FIRST' interaction with them. If you can make a strong first impression that you dont know what you're doing, it can really help you play long term with that very same pit boss. When I say 'first impression' im not just talking about the first time you interact with that boss, but the whole 'first' trip you are there. Also the thing about this psychological strategy, is we as humans all have biases, we all think we are smarter than we think we are, we are the king of 'assumptions', and once we label somebody as something, it's hard for us to change our minds about that person, that's what the whole thing about the power of 'first impressions.'
I have even tested this on myself. When I look back at times when I played with an idiot blackjack player, I remember they would 'look' and 'talk' like a novice, ask the dealer and pit boss for advice, slow the game down, make odd plays at times, and I immediately labeled him a novice, even though im completely aware of what an advantage player is and what they could do, but I still labeled him a novice, due to ego at the time, being completely oblivious that he might actually be an advantage player. I look back now, and what right did I have of labeling him a novice, he easily couldve been an advantage player now that I think about it, and that is the importance of 'first impressions'. If somebody like me who has knowledge about the game of AP blackjack could possibly mistake an advantage player for a novice, than ANYONE can be thrown off especially if you really hit them hard with the 'first impression' of being a mechanic LOL.
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