At my local store (where longevity is extremely important to me), I usually follow Don's advice and raise my bet only after a win and decrease my bet only after a loss. So if you're playing two hands, how do you manage this? Let's say one hand wins and the other loses but the count goes up calling for a higher bet. Do you increase both bets or just the spot that won? Similarly if the count goes down, do you lower both bets even if one hand won and one lost?
First, while Don's advice is good, you cannot just follow it blindly. It depends upon your stakes and bet size, the casino you are playing at, what you can observe about conditions on the particular time when you are playing (a packed casino on a weekend night with lots of tables and players betting Greens, no one cares when you increase your bet from $10 to $20 or vice versa).Originally Posted by Cardguy
Second, if you play the same amount on each hand, the variance is more predictable. You can, of course, have one hand higher than the other. You can bet two hands of $50 each or he hand of $25 and the other $75, the total bet is the same.
When I first started, I was too paranoid and assuming someone was watching me all the time and every move was being observed and dropping a bet from $20 to $10 after a win would cause me trouble. It never did. Until you are playing Greens or your bet amounts are over $50 and more importantly, you are spreadding greater than 1-8, I would not worry.
Thanks for the reply. I will deviate from the cover strategy on occasion when I feel I can get away with it. For instance, if I've lost a few hands in a row but the count is going up, I might double my bet hoping that I look like I'm chasing my losses. Similarly, if I win several in a row, I might pause to count my chips (implying that I've met my "win quota") and then start betting less. Sometimes, I'll separate a set of chips from others to make it look like they are untouchable and I'm just playing with my winnings.
I may be too paranoid also, but I'm playing $25 tables and spreading from 2x25 to 2x300 at a casino I play twice per week and I really want to stay welcome there.
I play similar stakes in DD games and I play with players card so, I do all sorts of stuff with act. For instance, I play one spot through an entire deck, next time, I start playing 2 spots with $25 each, sometimes, if count is positive, I will hesitate, show confusion, place a $100 bet on just one spot, other times, I will place it on one spot say oops! and split them at $50 each on both spots, sometimes uneven on two spots and variations.
Lots of factors go into how you will camouflage your play. Some is personal (your age, looks, etc), some about your career (if They know I am a physician, a $300 bet would not arouse suspicion, if I look like a college kid, it might), some about your relationship with the folks and the pit and with dealers in that casino, some depending on where their focus is ((if someone is playing blacks or winnng big at another table), some from the size of the stack in front of you and other stuff.
If the casino is close to your home, keep the wins under $1-$2k, the sessions short, ensure that you ask for a comped meal if you had a losing session so they remember you as a loser, etc.
If you got $100 each (green) on hand 1 and hand 2. Hand 1 loses but hand 2 wins. Take the winning payout from hand 2 and put it with your other chips. Then grab 2 greens from hand 2 and put them onto hand 1.
"Everyone wants to be rich, but nobody wants to work for it." -Ryan Howard [The Office]
On shoes I like to start with one hand and stay with one hand, it's easier to parlay up and down on one hand without drawing too much attention when transitioning between neutral to mildly plus counts. If playing double deck you should just stay at one hand all the time or two hands all of the time.
I start with 2 hands and drop to 1 hand as needed.
I do NOT return to 2 hands until after the shuffle.
Since c. 1999 pit bosses, surveillance, etc. all learned
to be hyper-vigilant when players change the number
of hands played. My lifetime most damaging trespass
was triggered by black 1 to 2 X 2 in a good DD game.
It took about 20 mins. and I was flyered from one end
of the strip to the other.
This is especially good advice on pitch games. Shoe games is more of an "it depends", but I'd avoid or at least wait until the rare +6 TC to do so In Vegas, spreading to two hands in vegas is a comparable heat trigger to splitting 10's is.
I got heat for spreading to two hands by one of the more tolerant pit bosses I know. I had been playing heads up and the count was really good. The shoe was almost over. This guy comes over and wants to play. I almost never do this, but I asked if he could wait until shuffle. He was impatient and rude, so I told him he could join because I didn't want to ruffle any feathers. I spread to two hands. The pit boss came over and asked, "Fenix, why? Why two hands?" I pointed over and said, "he joined and messed with the card order." The pit boss gives me a look like "This means I have to watch you now. I like you. Don't make me have to not like you." Gah. Had I known that would have caused heat I would have either kept my bet the same or just parlayed it.
If you start with one, stick with one. Start with two, stick with two. Going from more hands to less might be ok.
As for how I deal with ramping when I play two hands, I have my hands act mostly independently. When one wins, I might parlay it. If it loses, I might decrease it. I try not to take winnings from one and put it on the other, but sometimes I have.
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