Dirigible: restricted playing conditions

[Dirigible]

Howdy, everyone. Thanks for answering my theory question in the beginners forum. This one seems like it belongs here, though.

I live in Colorado where the powers that be have limited all bets in the state to 5$. So the BJ tables have a sign on them that says MIN $5 MAX $5. Other than that the rules vary a tidbit between different establishments but they're basically LV strip.

Basically I want to practice my mad skillz but I don't want to donate money to the casinos. Is there anyway some of you with sim programs can help me out? Should I spread to multiple hands since I can't stack my chips? Should I double and split more often? Or should I just focus on my BS and indices? Also, what sort of bank should I have to keep the RoR down around 10%? I assume the variance would be lower since I'm restricted to flat betting.

[Autoground]

are there single deck games?
your max spread would be $5 - $15 with betting multiple hands, which would let you break even on a single decker, i think.
other than that it sounds like you're screwed? yeah, that's what colorado sounds like.

[Barfarkel]

Since you can't spread vertically, your only option is to spread horizontally to more spots in plus counts. If there are 6 or 7 spots at a table, your spread would only be $5-$30 (or $5-$35). You'd have to get the table to yourself which is not always easy.

Is this a 6-deck shoe? If so, a 1-6 or 1-7 spread would be ok if you start playing with a freshly shuffled shoe and wong out at TC -1. Or back-count and join at a TC of +1, and wong out at -1. If it is a 6 decker, there's no way you could play-all anyway - you'd have to use a strict wonging strategy while playing your usual count game using all your index numbers, converting to a true count, etc. Are there enough tables in these casinos to make a wonging strategy worthwhile?

Doesn't sound like it would be worth too much in hourly EV though. Sounds like it would be a good way to kill some time and get in some practice under real casino conditions.

Cheers,

Barfarkel

[BJ Majish]

I just checked Trackjack. Conditions don't seem to be well reported (no reports for Central City, for example).

However, Cripple Creek and Black Hawk list a variety of games with anywhere from 1 to 6 decks, even including a couple of single-deckers with a player advantage.

It's hard to tell how current these are, however, since Trackjack doesn't even show any report dates! (No reporter names, either.)

[Bettie]

> I just checked Trackjack. Conditions don't
> seem to be well reported (no reports for
> Central City, for example).

While not complete by any means, Trackjack lists 5 games in Central City ? 2 at Famous Bonanza and 3 at Harvey's. There are a total of 41 casinos and 58 games listed for the state of Colorado.

> However, Cripple Creek and Black Hawk list a
> variety of games with anywhere from 1 to 6
> decks, even including a couple of
> single-deckers with a player advantage.

> It's hard to tell how current these are,
> however, since Trackjack doesn't even show
> any report dates! (No reporter names,
> either.)

You didn't go to the detail page, which has all of this information listed. If you look at a page for a city, then it only lists the games. But, if you click on a casino within a city, then it lists the report date for each individual game found in a casino, as well as notes and updates, and who made the report.

Unfortunately, we don't have a Colorado reporter, and many of the games are out of date. We sometimes need to rely on our users for updates, though most don't take the time. The last updates I can see for Colorado occurred last summer and most are notes that the casinos no longer offer blackjack at all.

Bettie

[BJ Majish]

> You didn't go to the detail page, which has
> all of this information listed. If you look
> at a page for a city, then it only lists the
> games. But, if you click on a casino within
> a city, then it lists the report date for
> each individual game found in a casino, as
> well as notes and updates, and who made the
> report.

Whoops...my mistake. Thanks for the correction, Bettie.

[Duane]

The last updates I can see for
> Colorado occurred last summer and most are
> notes that the casinos no longer offer
> blackjack at all.

> Bettie

The larger casinos in Blackhawk offer 6-deck games and a couple of them do have SD also. The rules for SD are the same as the 6D games but you are only allowed to play two spots on the SD games. The SD games give you an excellent chance to practice your counting skills, but I fear they will never be profitable for the player since only flat betting is allowed.

Duane

[Dirigible]

Thanks.
Unfortunately that's the same conclusion I reached. With the restriction on betting I'd have to be so aggressive even the most kind-hearted pit boss would have to stop me. However, I was playing with a friend and the pitboss gave us free hats once! My first comp!

BTW, I just finished your book. Very good reading. How's your bankroll doing now?

[Barfarkel]

BTW, I just finished your book. Very good
reading. How's your bankroll doing now?

Glad you enjoyed You've Got Heat, and thanks for the positive comment.

My bankroll has been treading water for over a year now. From the next to last chapter in the book, in which I finally reached my $10k goal, I've had some trips with small wins and large losses, and some trips with small losses and bigger wins, but generally, I've managed to bump it back up to $12k on my last trip, in which I won $2,600.

If you subscribe to Henry Tamburin's Blackjack Insider Newsletter, you can read my February 2005 trip report, which will be posted in the next issue, probably next week. Since Henry started charging a $19.95 yearly subscription fee, you can still read half of the articles for free, without a subscription. However, Henry always puts my trip reports in the paid half of each newsletter - guess he feels it's one of the more popular features and he likes to use it to gain more subscribers.

That upcoming trip report is one of the better ones I've written lately. We team up on a few flashers, I do a radio interview with Fezzik, I have an encounter with a lady of the evening, and I win $2,600. So if you plan to subscribe to BJI, now might be a good time to do it.

Cheers,

Barfarkel

You've Got Heat