Purchased the CVBJ earlier this year in January and practiced a significant amount of time over the past 11 months. Just returned from LV for our annual Xmas break and wanted to share a bit of my success; well I consider it success though some on this board will be sneering down their nose at me when I share my numbers.
The second evening after we arrived, I decided I wanted to get down to the casino and have a look around. It's an MLife associated casino so I wasn't surprised to find not a single 3-2 or $5 min table in areas I had access to or within my bankroll's meager limits. I decided that I was going to make the best of it and try not to lose all of the BR I brought with me for a 5 day trip ( $2500 ).
When I first got a look at the table I decided to hang back and try counting a shoe or two. I had SERIOUS problems getting into the swing of things as I couldn't see all the cards being dealt from my shitty vantage point. This was very disappointing to me and caused me to retreat and reevaluate my decision. I spent the rest of the night watching a movie with the wife and re-reading a couple of items here and around the 'net.
The next day after the wife and I returned from our daytime excursion, I decided it was time to at least get down the casino and play a bit to get a feel. Grabbed a portion of my BR and found a table with a $10 minimum. I actually told the Dealer it was my first time sitting at a BJ table and he was very accommodating, explaining things he thought I needed to know as we played. It was only me and one other player for the first hour. I played a bunch of hands, playing mostly BS but keeping track of the count (using the unbalanced CoB) which was easier now that I had a chance to scan the table from the better vantage point and built up a little bit of buffer since variance seemed to be on my side.
My first larger bet was about 20 minutes in when my count suggested a bet increase to 3X my unit. I was really nervous pushing that bet out but I guess the math and luck was on my side, and I won the hand. From that point forward, whenever the count dictated an increase in bet, I increased my bet. The biggest ordeal was the second time I got the indication to push out my max bet ($100) as the first time I lost the hand. After that, pushing out a max bet didn't matter to me anymore. It was just math and I was following the rules.
I played three other sessions afterwards but never really made decent money. All told, I came out about $200 up for the four sessions (6 hours total) and had an absolutely incredible time. I had a few drinks on the house, I enjoyed a massage at the table one night for shits and giggles and just generally enjoyed my time at the table, once the initial stage fright was overcome.
The reason I wanted to leave this note was to thank you, Norm, for a great piece of software that's allowed me to do alot of prep before sitting down in front of a dealer. I appreciate it and thank you for the support and the community here where you allow us to pick the brains of the greybeards in the group that are willing to share their tricks, tips and intuitions.
Good Cards to all!
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