I am excited to post this report from my trip to the River's Casino in Philadelphia. I have just started learning how to count over the past couple months and this was my first time doing it live at a real casino. I taught myself using Blackjack: Play Like the Pros by John Bukofsky. I use the Uston APC system, which from what I understand from some forums on this site is not worth the complexity. Anyways, it is the system taught in the book I read, so I went with it. I was in Philly for three days during the week. River’s is 8D, ASM, S17, 3:2, DD on any two cards, LS. For the most part, I had noticed solid pen throughout the time I was at River’s. Dealers usually dealt 6.5 decks and sometimes a few hands more.

I went to River’s first at night. There were about 10 BJ tables across two pits. Mostly $25 mins, two $50s, and one $15 min. I sat down at the $15 min table. Being my first time counting in a casino, I got a bit overwhelmed and quickly lost the count after about 1.5 decks were dealt. Betting the table min, I lost a couple hundred quickly before swallowing my pride and leaving.

I came back the next morning with a much calmer mindset. Between the two pits, there were about 7 tables, most at $15 min. I told myself to relax and focus on the count, even if it meant being obvious and revealing myself as an AP. I back counted one table until the count became favorable. I took a seat and started playing. The dealer had just finished training so he was nervous, dealing out the cards nice and slow as a result. I ended up playing at the table for a couple shoes. Whenever the running count went way negative, I stopped betting entirely until the count surged back up. In hindsight, this was a dead give away that I was counting, but I never seemed to receive any heat.

I came back the next day and had a similar process. All in all, after about 5-6 hours of playing, I made a couple hundred dollars. Most importantly, by the end of the trip I was able to keep the running count throughout a shoe and determine the true count as I went along.
I had two main takeaways from the trip. First is that there were only a handful of times when the true count for betting purposes went above +2, which meant for the most part, I was just betting the table minimum. Second, I realized it would be quite helpful and less time consuming to play with a team who can alert you of hot tables, instead of waiting for tables to deal a new shoe and back counting.

With my current bankroll and betting size, it doesn't make much sense for me to take expensive trips to areas where the casinos offer favorable rules and good pen. For the time being, I will continue practicing in my free time in case I happen to be in an area where I can find a good game.

All comments and advice for a first time counter are welcome.