See the top rated post in this thread. Click here

Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12
Results 14 to 19 of 19

Thread: Day 3, Las Vegas

  1. #14
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    In orbit around Saturn
    Posts
    897


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    And dealers don't play Blackjack.

  2. #15


    1 out of 1 members found this post helpful. Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Quote Originally Posted by ZeeBabar View Post
    Don is correct in that I am not cut out for this game. I knew it as well, within the first couple of years. I was retiring, hated the job I used to do and no longer wanted anything to do with it. So after retirement, had no interest working as a consultant or having anything to do with my profession. What could I do? Parking cars for a car rental company or auto dealer did not appeal to me. Volunteering does not bring any money.

    So, I became a part time BJ card counter, did okay, making supplemental income playing red chips in local casinos but eventually burned those out. Traveling to play means playing at a bit higher stakes and I struggle with it. Moving to Green Chips is tough for a personality like mine.

    Slowly, but surely, I am getting better. It’s a personal challenge. I started out with $15k in a shoebox 6-7 years ago. It’s now $80k plus. I thought it was time to increase my bets from $10 to $100 max bet to now $25 to $200. With it comes larger losses in a single session and I have to not let those get me down.
    Don't be so hard on yourself. You've already proved you're cut out for BJ and there's nothing at all wrong with getting pissed off at losing. It's a normal human reaction and those that don't understand that are being naive. The trick is finding a way to deal with your emotions. Understanding the issue is the first big step and it seems you've already cracked that. Now all you need to do is to move on a bit further and from the way you write there's no doubt you're quite capable of that. And you certainly don't need to give up BJ. Have fun....

  3. #16


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Quote Originally Posted by ummagumma View Post
    Don't be so hard on yourself. You've already proved you're cut out for BJ and there's nothing at all wrong with getting pissed off at losing. It's a normal human reaction and those that don't understand that are being naive. The trick is finding a way to deal with your emotions. Understanding the issue is the first big step and it seems you've already cracked that. Now all you need to do is to move on a bit further and from the way you write there's no doubt you're quite capable of that. And you certainly don't need to give up BJ. Have fun....
    Thanks, I needed that. I have an $80k bankroll but unless I go into a 20k hole, I won’t drop out. Problem is that when my BR drops by $3-$5k, I start getting stressed out. This year, I started with a $76k BR, was down to $73k, but am now ar $80k. Slowly, I am learning that even if I was down for months, eventually I will claw my way back.

  4. #17


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Quote Originally Posted by ZeeBabar View Post
    ...
    Slowly, but surely, I am getting better. It’s a personal challenge. I started out with $15k in a shoebox 6-7 years ago. It’s now $80k plus. I thought it was time to increase my bets from $10 to $100 max bet to now $25 to $200. With it comes larger losses in a single session and I have to not let those get me down.
    Why not keeping the 1:10 spread and raising from 25 to 250 rather than only 200 dollars? (I wished I could at least spread 10 to 100 and have time for all this, but I will not yet be able to retire for many years, nor likely to have an 80k bankroll).

  5. #18


    4 out of 4 members found this post helpful. Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    This game is all about ignoring your natural instincts and using math and logic in their place; personally, I enjoy that challenge.

    Many of your disadvantageous actions are the result of your human instincts overwhelming your logic and reasoning. When you decide, for example, to quit for the day because you've already lost too much, you know logically that you should keep playing but emotionally your brain wants to stop the pain of losing, so you don't risk losing more. Ploppies are worse: taking even money is a good example - human brains are happier getting paid for sure than risking getting nothing.

    I have two suggestions for you:

    1) Invest .125% of your BR in CVCX. Use it to optimize your ramping. Then use it to reduce your stakes to the point where losing sessions that will upset you will be rare (perhaps losing more than $500 in 2 hours becomes a 2SD event, so 95% of the time, your sessions will not "hurt".) As your emotional tolerance for negative variance improves, raise your stakes accordingly. I find tolerance for losses increases quickly. The first time I lost more than $1000 in a session hurt less than the first time I lost more than $500 - because my pain tolerance was much higher.

    2) Change your thinking. You can only control how well you play; you can't control what happens to your BR. Focus on playing your best game and generating EV. Instead of getting emotionally wrapped up in what's happening to your bankroll, mentally step back from the money and be curious about what's happening to it, but as an observer, not as someone who's invested in it. When you lose, instead of thinking "oh shit", it should be more like "huh! negative variance - how about that?"

    You should be getting more upset over any sub-optimal play than over your session results; if you're not, you're focusing on the wrong things and in the long term, that's what will hurt your bankroll.

  6. #19


    Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Quote Originally Posted by Optimus Prime View Post
    This game is all about ignoring your natural instincts and using math and logic in their place; personally, I enjoy that challenge.

    Many of your disadvantageous actions are the result of your human instincts overwhelming your logic and reasoning. When you decide, for example, to quit for the day because you've already lost too much, you know logically that you should keep playing but emotionally your brain wants to stop the pain of losing, so you don't risk losing more. Ploppies are worse: taking even money is a good example - human brains are happier getting paid for sure than risking getting nothing.

    I have two suggestions for you:

    1) Invest .125% of your BR in CVCX. Use it to optimize your ramping. Then use it to reduce your stakes to the point where losing sessions that will upset you will be rare (perhaps losing more than $500 in 2 hours becomes a 2SD event, so 95% of the time, your sessions will not "hurt".) As your emotional tolerance for negative variance improves, raise your stakes accordingly. I find tolerance for losses increases quickly. The first time I lost more than $1000 in a session hurt less than the first time I lost more than $500 - because my pain tolerance was much higher.

    2) Change your thinking. You can only control how well you play; you can't control what happens to your BR. Focus on playing your best game and generating EV. Instead of getting emotionally wrapped up in what's happening to your bankroll, mentally step back from the money and be curious about what's happening to it, but as an observer, not as someone who's invested in it. When you lose, instead of thinking "oh shit", it should be more like "huh! negative variance - how about that?"

    You should be getting more upset over any sub-optimal play than over your session results; if you're not, you're focusing on the wrong things and in the long term, that's what will hurt your bankroll.
    Good stuff...and good reminders in the thread.

Page 2 of 2 FirstFirst 12

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

About Blackjack: The Forum

BJTF is an advantage player site based on the principles of comity. That is, civil and considerate behavior for the mutual benefit of all involved. The goal of advantage play is the legal extraction of funds from gaming establishments by gaining a mathematic advantage and developing the skills required to use that advantage. To maximize our success, it is important to understand that we are all on the same side. Personal conflicts simply get in the way of our goals.