My most satisfying losing session ever...

[ZeeBabar]

I am at a DD game, $25 min in HL room on a slow Monday night playing with one ploppy flat betting a Black chip and am down $900+, an Asian lady sits down in the middle. She is accompanied by an entourage ( probably spouse and another two couples.

I decide its its going to be my last shoe because the game with 3 players is marginal at best. We get to the last round f the DD, count is TC+5. My normal max bet is $150 but I pluck down my entire 8 Green Chips in front of me, get up, telling the dealer not to give me a double down or split, I don't want to lose any more.

thanks to you guys and guys on the other forum who had ridiculed me for doubling for less or not splitting when max bet was out, i had learned some stuff.

Dealer has a 9 up, First guy gets a 10,3, hits, gets an Ace, hits again, gets a 5. The lady in the middle stays with a 20, I get a pair of 9's. I think of what all you pros would say if I stood on my pair of 9's, groan and start digging out a couple of $100 bills. The dealer says I should not spli a good hand, the lady and the entourage make stupid negative comments and about not splitting unless dealer has a bust card. I split, $200 on each nine. First 9, I get an 8 for 17, second 9, I get an Ace for a 20. Dealer has a 4 under his 9 and everyone is very happy I split because the dealer would have gotten an 8 and made 21. Dealer hits his 9,4 with a 10 and I win my split. Folks congratulate me and I now have made up most of my losses.

As, I gather my chips and still sitting there when dealer takes out decks from ASM, someone cuts the cards and dealer carefully cuts the decks in half (He had been cutting about 70%), then looks at me to place my bet but I smile, say I told you I was going home, and leave grinning even if I lost about $300 in the session.

Thanks to many of you for scolding me when there were times I made mistakes, stood rather than double against a 9,10 or Ace or doubled for less, refuse to split or hit because they f max bet out. Getting better.

[BJGenius007]

Thanks to many of you for scolding me when there were times I stood rather than double against a 9,10 or Ace or doubled for less, refuse to split or hit because they f max bet out.

You could do or not do any of these but it should be because the indexes demand you of it, not because you have max out.

You are a borderline AP if you are an AP at all.

[BoSox]

Getting better.

Congratulating yourself for making an obvious basic strategy play, and you think you are getting better because you won the hand, wonderful. I think you just have a need to bring attention to yourself, by trolling.

[RS]

Idk what's going on with all this stuff -- but at least you made the right play. Gj. Keep making the right play. And if you lose when making the right play, who cares? It's just money.

[ZeeBabar]

You could do or not do any of these but it should be because the indexes demand you of it, not because you have max out.

You are a borderline AP if you are an AP at all.

I agree. I am a slow learning borderline AP that has had a hard time learning. It's been 3 years of barely being even. The hard part has been a result of overcoming life long habits of being frugal and cheap, of being financially conservative and more. It's also been a fight against addiction.

To escape addiction, in the late 80's, I had left San Bernadine, Ca to move to Dayton, OH and then St. Louis. I had moved to cities where there was no gambling and casinos nearby (At that time, casinos were only in LV and AC), had managed to avoid casinos for almost 20 years before casinos seem to follow me, opened in Missouri. Again, I ran off and selected Nashville to live in because there were no casinos available to me daily, nearest ones being 3 hours drive.

Still, unable to run away from casinos, I have learned to manage my addiction. Folks here and in another forum taught me to fight off the temptation to play bad BJ games, be more selective, walk away when rules were bad, tables were full and finally to bet optimally and manage my bank roll (now around $38k)..

this posting was to share with the good players here (T3, Ryemo, Moses, Freightman, Flash, Don S and Norm and a few others) that I overcame a big hurdle in risking large amounts ( for me) on one play. Facing the same play a few months ago, having already lost $900+ in an hour, I would have stayed on a pair of 9's and cut my losses, left home for the day.

For a guy who had once lived in poverty, got his GF to distract a convenience store clerk to shop lift a loaf of bread to take back and eat with some left over jelly for the last two days before pay day, to live on 15 cent White Castle sandwiches (yes, you could get 6 burgers for one dollar in 1970 at WC) and as a result had become cheap and frugal, this is progress.

[Freightman]

Zee
Definitely one of your better posts. You faced your demon and conquered, on 2 fronts. You put your max bet down when it counted, and split - the proper play- against the protestations of your table mates.

The only possible criticism is waiting for the centre cut, and then leaving. That move probably confirms the dealers suspicions as to wheather you're counting.

[Meistro123]

Great work. Recognizing that you must make the right plays, even when this puts more money at risk, is an important part of being an AP. One note, you will be better off determining your betting spread well in advance - and then sticking to it come hell or high water - than you will be adjusting it on the fly. It is also illogical to bet more because you are losing, as a decrease in the size of your bankroll urges you to bet less, not more, at a given advantage. I recommend that you employ scientific betting, which is advantage * bankroll * .7 (full kelly) and if you wish to be more cautious than using advantage * bankroll * .35 (half kelly) or even advantage * bankroll * .17 (quarter kelly) but your bets should be based upon your advantage and your bankroll, not the table minimum. Full kelly is the upper bound of how much you should bet; betting less can be an absolutely rational decision, if you feel the wild swings associated with full kelly are too much but betting more is irrational and counter productive for the purpose of bankroll growth.

Quitting down $300 is good practice. Walking away from a crowded table is a good decision (as is limiting the duration of your sessions, whether up or down).

[mcallister3200]

to live on 15 cent White Castle sandwiches (yes, you could get 6 burgers for one dollar in 1970 at WC) .

Even in 2017 that would be a complete ripoff. The only thing worse than eating White Castle is admitting it. Disgusting!

[Meistro123]

99 v 9 is definitely more rare in single deck than in double or multiple deck. There are four nines in a single deck game, so after you get the 9,9 there are only 2 nines the dealer can get (50% as likely). In a six deck game there are 24 nines, so after you get 9,9 the chance of the dealer getting a nine is virtually the same. (22/24 vs 2/4) can be simplified to (3.6/4 vs 2/4). In six deck the two depleted nines mean it is 90% as likely dealer gets a 9 (vs off the top of the deck) whereas in single deck it is only 50% as likely as normal. Of course the normal probability of dealer 9 is 1 in 13 or 7.69%. So you are looking at 6.9% vs 3.84%, once you have the two nines. Even the first nine (in your hand) will have an appreciable EOR on the appearance of the second nine in single deck.

[BoSox]

Nice to hear from Cheers again. Are you done signing free agents? Lol. Hmmm. What is the right play on 93 wins?

Hj Moses, hope things are going well for you. I hope the red sox are done dealing as they have already traded away plenty of good minor league talent. Flip a coin on 93 wins, when they have so much uncertainty with both Ramirez at Dh for now and Sandoval at third. By the way before the NFL playoffs started I told you not to bet against the Pats.

[Freightman]

99 v 9 is definitely more rare in single deck than in double or multiple deck. There are four nines in a single deck game, so after you get the 9,9 there are only 2 nines the dealer can get (50% as likely). In a six deck game there are 24 nines, so after you get 9,9 the chance of the dealer getting a nine is virtually the same. (22/24 vs 2/4) can be simplified to (3.6/4 vs 2/4). In six deck the two depleted nines mean it is 90% as likely dealer gets a 9 (vs off the top of the deck) whereas in single deck it is only 50% as likely as normal. Of course the normal probability of dealer 9 is 1 in 13 or 7.69%. So you are looking at 6.9% vs 3.84%, once you have the two nines. Even the first nine (in your hand) will have an appreciable EOR on the appearance of the second nine in single deck.

I recall 1 round playing 2 hands, each with 99 v dealer 8 or 9 (don't recall). Both hands max split. It wasn't DD

[Ryemo]

Maybe there's still hope for you, Zee. Maybe...

But remember... that was the correct play, regardless if you ended up winning the hand or not. You could have just as easily lost the hand as well. If that were the case, I would hope that would not deter you from executing the correct play, moving forward. As we all know (or should know), short term results are meaningless.

[ZeeBabar]

Maybe there's still hope for you, Zee. Maybe...

But remember... that was the correct play, regardless if you ended up winning the hand or not. You could have just as easily lost the hand as well. If that were the case, I would hope that would not deter you from executing the correct play, moving forward. As we all know (or should know), short term results are meaningless.

Ryemo, you know my haunts and I have always played rated there. Since they know me, I can't now say I don't have a players card. In time, the casinos in Tunica may back me off or worse flyer me and I don't want to lose those chains. In Mo, besides half shoeing do they also flyer you or they just flat bet you but don't screw you up everywhere.

any advice?