Go Figure

[FerrisB]

I've played 764 hours of blackjack as a counter over the past 4 years. I have a running total loss of $4300. Almost all of that loss came in the first 6 months. My friend played bingo for an hour tonight and came away with $6400.

[RS]

How many rounds does this translate to? About 75,000 rounds? What's the N0 of the game you're playing? One or multiple different games, ramps, unit sizes, etc?

[hitthat16]

While this isn't impossible, it's pretty unlikely. I'm basing this on a standard 20,000 round N0 and/or 200 hours-ish of playing time. You've played more than 3XN0 and are still down.. Have you had your game audited for leaks?

[FerrisB]

Here is a little more information about my game. I play a DD game. If you've been to station casino's in Vegas, my conditions are very similar. No mid shoe entry so you can't wong in. I do wong out at times but not too frequently. I use HI Opt II and just last year I added Illustrious 18 to my tool bag. I play red chips (not a high stakes game). In the beginning I didn't understand ramping but have since improved in that area. I have since incorporated the following betting ramp (within the last 6 months) TC 1 = 1 unit, 2 = 2 units, etc. When I reach TC 6 I up my bet to 8X my minimum bet. So basically a 1:8 spread. Here are my yearly numbers...

2013 (my first year as an infant card counter; I obviously entered the casino environment before I was fully prepared)
- about 200 hours (I didn't keep track of my time so good during the first year
- ($8,370) in losses

2014
- 292 hours
- $854 in winnings

2015
- 274 hours
- $3,476 in winnings

2016
- 58 hours
- $145 in winnings

2017
- 6 hours
- ($440) in losses

It would be great to have a mentor. Someone to help me improve my game so that it is more profitable.

[ZeeBabar]

Here is a little more information about my game. I play a DD game. If you've been to station casino's in Vegas, my conditions are very similar. No mid shoe entry so you can't wong in. I do wong out at times but not too frequently. I use HI Opt II and just last year I added Illustrious 18 to my tool bag. I play red chips (not a high stakes game). In the beginning I didn't understand ramping but have since improved in that area. I have since incorporated the following betting ramp (within the last 6 months) TC 1 = 1 unit, 2 = 2 units, etc. When I reach TC 6 I up my bet to 8X my minimum bet. So basically a 1:8 spread. Here are my yearly numbers...

2013 (my first year as an infant card counter; I obviously entered the casino environment before I was fully prepared)
- about 200 hours (I didn't keep track of my time so good during the first year
- ($8,370) in losses

2014
- 292 hours
- $854 in winnings

2015
- 274 hours
- $3,476 in winnings

2016
- 58 hours
- $145 in winnings

2017
- 6 hours
- ($440) in losses

It would be great to have a mentor. Someone to help me improve my game so that it is more profitable.

For a DD game, your ramp is all screwed up and you are not going to win. I play DD too. I play 1 unit at TC0 and below, 2 units at TC 1, 4 units at TC2, 5 at TC3, 6 at TC4 and 7 for any higher TC. If your unit is $10 (min bet), you can extrapolate.

You can find optimal betting charts. You just don't get that many opportunities to bet at higher counts do you have to get higher bets in earlier.

[RS]

For a DD game, your ramp is all screwed up and you are not going to win. I play DD too. I play 1 unit at TC0 and below, 2 units at TC 1, 4 units at TC2, 5 at TC3, 6 at TC4 and 7 for any higher TC. If your unit is $10 (min bet), you can extrapolate.

You can find optimal betting charts. You just don't get that many opportunities to bet at higher counts do you have to get higher bets in earlier.

He's using HO2, not hilo.

[pilotzone]

Bigger spreads earlier, true 2 and 3, 5 x your min, true 4 and 5, 10x min, true 6 and higher 15x, make your time worth while.


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[ZeeBabar]

He's using HO2, not hilo.

It still seems like he is waiting too long to up his bet significantly. I have never compared optimal betting and TC for various counts but it's not too often that you get a TC of 5 and 6.

[Bubbles]

Zee, a TC of 5 or 6 in HO2 is like a TC of 3 in HiLo.

[Bigdaddy]

Here is a little more information about my game. I play a DD game. If you've been to station casino's in Vegas, my conditions are very similar. No mid shoe entry so you can't wong in. I do wong out at times but not too frequently. I use HI Opt II and just last year I added Illustrious 18 to my tool bag. I play red chips (not a high stakes game). In the beginning I didn't understand ramping but have since improved in that area. I have since incorporated the following betting ramp (within the last 6 months) TC 1 = 1 unit, 2 = 2 units, etc. When I reach TC 6 I up my bet to 8X my minimum bet. So basically a 1:8 spread. Here are my yearly numbers...

You're betting ramp is off. Using HO2 in a DD game and spreading 1 - 8, you should start increasing your bet at around +3 and hit max bet at around +10. I assume you're using an Ace side count? Also, you should try to wong out at anything below -8 (plays about 85% of the rounds). If you play this game with a correct 1-8 ramp and wong-out, the SCORE should be very high, around 90 (assuming typical Station DD pen at 66%) and N0 is about 11,000 rounds.

If you throw out your results for the first year, the rest doesn't look so bad, but it appears that you're still underperforming most likely due to poor bet ramp and not enough index usage. Get CVData, run some sims, correct the bet ramp, learn the top 40 indexes for HO2 DD, and you will see improvement.