This is my trip report to LV in early 2015 and my BJ story. Read it if you want to have a laugh at my encouters on and off the tables...
(I changed a few details to protect the innocent - or not so innocent).
I live in Europe and heard about counting ~ 15 years ago. A few years later I bought 3 books on counting and ate them up to learn the basics. In my country there were no decent games. All 6D with shitty rules (nowadays even all with CSMs). Since I was doing part time studies besides work I promised myself as an incentive that I would properly learn counting and treat myself a trip to Las Vegas, the promised land where milk and honey are flowing, after finishing my Masters degree. Some other things came in between but last year I was finally free to go for it. I re-read the books, bought CVBJ, and started training. I decided to learn the AO2 with an Ace side count. That's alot to learn for a beginner, but since it is far to casino land and I hate losing my hard earned money I opted for a system with a high theoretical EV. I memorized all indices, did the flash card exercises, and counted down decks. I never came < 30 seconds for a DD (2 cards at a time), many gurus advise being better, so that worried me a bit. Then I logged in 70 h of practice play in CVBJ where I still had a negative total balance at the end even with only few mistakes. It felt awkward but it helped preparing myself for the evil variance in a real casino. After a total of 8 months I felt ready and went to a local casino and back-counted to see if I could keep the count in real life. Some dealers were really hard to follow because they were dealing lightningly fast. I calmed myself - I still had a few weeks to practice until my flight departed. There I also saw ploppies blowing away their money over and over again on stupid side bets and it made me cringe...
As a total beginner I decided for a bankroll of 20 k with a max bet ot 100 $. A 100 $ max bet is excluding the good 6 D games because I wouldn't have enough spread. So for me it meant only 2D tables. 1 trip to LV is not "guaranteeing" to come out as a winner and 20 k I can lose without hurting myself finacially (not that I'd want that but you have to be prepared for the worst case). I had got the latest CBJN and already marked all casinos in question that were said to offer a good pen. I planned never to play more than 60 minutes in a casino to fly under the radar...
Fast forward to LV: I landed with 5 hours delay due to snow in Detroit and arrived at my friends place at midnight so no more play that first day.
Day 2: Casino 1: I am super excited. I have never played a single hand of BJ in a real casino in my whole life. And now it is: Me vs. Them. (Before learning to count I have watched but never wagered because I hate games with a negative EV, i.e. all casino games, where the casinos would steal my beloved money.) For a start I choose the casino with the best rules in LV according to CBJN where I play 1 h SD with a 10-30 $ spread and lose 260 $. Not good but what is more important: I am able to keep the count! I don't have the slightest clue of table manners (the dealer is reminding me several times that it's not allowed to touch the cards with both hands). A woman suggest me to tip the dealer after I have a BJ, I say "thanks, but let's wait how I look at the end".
I head to another casino where I make 70 $ (DD with 10-40 $ spread). And then: Enter...
Casino 3: 70 % pen, 25 $ min, I therefore spread 25-100. I can do what I want I keep losing. An Asian guy claims he has figured out BJ "through 30 years of experience at the table". A counter? I decide no, because he doesn't vary his bets accordingly. But he's fun. I pretend enjoying the action with the other patrons but I am miserable inside. Another older Asian guy next to me swears barely audibly at the dealer when she busts him: "You bi*ch", "c**t", etc. He can't even play BS, he loses more and I thank god because the is some justice.
After 1.5 h I am down 700 $. I feel like someone has punched me into the stomach. Losing 900 $ in 3.5 hours is nothing to worry due to variance but I assure you I feel rotten. I call it a day to get my head free again. I know logically it is just bad flux (and not even the worst possible) but I think: "What if it goes on like this every day? What will people think of me when they hear me blowing 20 k in LV for nothing?" Even though we haven't even reached spring the air in the sleeping room is sticky and the aircon loud. I can sleep only a few restless hours.
Day 3: After the previous ordeal I decide to stick to very low table minimum games where I won't reach the 100 $ max that often to calm my nerves. I tell myself that I am playing a random walk with an upside drift. That helps. The off-strip casino next has 60 % pen where I spread 5-25 on a 2D and I drop 30 $. Losing is ok, but losing with bad pen is an uphill battle. I leave after 30 min.
Day 4: One of my most notable days: I go back to the casino with the best rules, this time at the 2D table. Pen is 66 %, I am set. I buy in for 200 and the PB asks for my players card.
Me: I don't have a players card.
Him: You can get one here for the comps.
Me (in a hushed voice): No - I promised my girlfriend not to play any more. She thinks I am gambling too much...
Him: Don't worry, I won't tell her.
Me: If she finds the players card I'm done. I don't want to lose her because - you know - she is a real sweetheart.
He laughs and leaves me alone. I lose and buy in the next 200. PB asks again if I really don't want a card and I decline. We all have fun at the table and I happily lose another 200 under his eyes.At my third buy in of 200 $ the PB tells me "Let me see maybe I can do something for you" and disappears. When I was down a total of 500 $ another guy comes over, probably the shift manager and shakes my hand: "Hi, I am Tony, how's it going". I make a sad face saying that I had better days.
"When you finish, come over to me and I'll see what I can do for you." he said pointing to another pit. Now I was sure they had embraced me as a big time sucker. We are all joking while rubbing shoulders and high-fiving everyone at the table including the dealer and the PB. I am spreading 5-100 when he's away and the dealer shouts out "Checks play" so often that the PB doesn't even react any more. Miraculously now things change and I start winning. After 2.5 hours I decided it was enough. Cashing out it turnes out that I'm only down 13 $ in the end! I went over to Tony and he asked: "So how did it go?". Again I make the saddest face, shake my head, and said with a low, beaten voice: "Oh, better not ask". He fickeled with his computer and gave me a 40 $ restaurant comp. Unbelievable - in the end only 13 $ lost and I get a 40 $ comp even without a players card. Haha!
Day 5: Playing in a strip casino with 25 $ min, so 25-100 spread, 66-70 % pen. I play vs. an Asian dealer, who plays Poker in his spare time. PB explains me that the dealer earns 10 $ / hour + tips as a junior but he absolutely refuses to give me any comps without a players card. Not so bad, I walk out with 580 $ profit after 75 minutes. On the bus stop I get into conversation with a Phillipino woman. She wants to fix me up with her grand-daughter in the Phillipines and shows me a photo of her on her mobile. Very pretty but the Phillipines is too far...
This is part one of my trip report. Let me know if you want more...
Fred
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks