I have heard storys that heat comes from pit boss 'first' and that surveillance is not smart. I hear most surveillance people are retired security guards with no knowledge blackjack! Is this true??! Should my main priority be to worry about pit boss and not worry about camera surveillance?!
Each place is different. Typically surveillance has a lot to watch. The job may even be farmed out to another location that handles multiple casinos. That said you never know when they may be watching. If you ever had a phone call come in correcting a dealer error you know they were watching or reviewed the tape in a timely fashion for your table. Once surveillance gets the call they pretty much ignore you in the pit until they don't. then it is too late. The key is to be aware of your surroundings and normal pit procedures.
Last edited by Three; 05-12-2015 at 02:22 PM.
Suggest that you pick up a copy of "The Card Counter's Guide to Casino Surveillance". It's a short read - very helpful. The author (a former surveillance person) insists that the floor people are not a concern- it's the eye in the sky that you have to be worried about. I agree with this conclusion. The other night I had the pit boss brining me beers while I killed his table. Best to be concerned with what your act looks like from above and relax around the floor people.
There are triggers when you buy-in for a certain amount at one time, bet more than a certain amount (varies by casino), or get ahead by more than some amount that require a phone call from the pit to surveillance to let them know they have a player worth watching on BJ table X. The first sign of heat is a phone call to the eye when you begin to bet it up. The next sign is a few suits you haven't seen begin filtering in and out of the pit. Real heat is when there is a suit standing both in front of you and behind you (or on the side of you). Whether you decide to play on or try to fool them is up to you. Best to have a plan though before you set foot into the casino. (This applies to higher stakes players)
To expand on bigplayers comments, what he described are the triggers (big buy in, no card, winning amount, bet amount, ?) to call surveillance and have them evaluate your play to confirm you are an advantage player. If you sit and the pit boss goes to the phone and makes a call that you think is about you, then beware, shorten your session and move on.Originally Posted by RoadWarrior
There may be other instances where surveillance is reviewing your play that are part of a normal rotation of review,having nothing to do with the pit boss, in those case you will not know until it is too late. Another reason to keep your sessions short and thwart their ability to make a judgement. There are also times when everyone is so busy they do not have time to worry about counters. Do not mistake these as not caring, I got backed off at a newly renovated
Developing techniques to overcome the countermeasures is THE most important aspect if you intend to play long term.
Luck is nothing more than probability taken personally!
From my experience, the pit initiates the heat almost every time, but it can go unnoticed. For example, the pit can silently go to the phone and ask surveillance to review your play and you wouldn't even know it. That's why its important to always be monitoring how the pit looks at you and if they make any action later toward the phone with maybe a glimpse back looking towards you while on the phone. I believe only in Vegas, such as the Palazzo and Aria that they have special surveillance personnel that were literally hired to review the tape each day for any big blackjack wins and that could potentially screw you over if you were obvious with your minimum to maximum bet based on the count. Other than that, surveillance only gets involved if the pit tells them to.
For now, best advice is to just worry about the pit personnel and try to fool them early on for them to not even give you a second look after your initial confrontation. I have several ways of accomplishing this, but I wouldn't spill it on a public forum, use your imagination and try to manipulate their mind early on to make them think you're just another degenerate. If you can fool the pit early on, you will most likely be heat free for your session as surveillance wont even know to check you out as they will not have received a call from the pit. Of course always mix up your shifts and play short sessions on top of it as well as wong in and out aggressively to not showcase your spread. If possible you also want to always play unrated, unless you're desperate for comps, but be aware and I cant stress this enough, do NOT refuse a player card by just stating 'no not interested' if they ask you if you want one, you better think of a good excuse why, as that can throw up a red flag -- If you're a red chipper don't worry about it, just say no thanks, but if you're betting black or higher, you better give them a good excuse. Use your imagination.
Last edited by ZenKinG; 05-15-2015 at 02:24 PM.
The pitboss going to the phone isn't heat. At modern casinos you never see any heat and often you never see the pitboss make the phone call. He will often stroll way down to the end of the pit and tell another pitboss to make the call for him. The first heat you get is when you've being told to get out of the casino. Sometimes though there is real heat and sometimes it's really obvious. Obvious heat always comes from the floor people and new big bosses suddenly starting to swarm. You never get heat from surveillance.
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