Session summary and advice request

[petenelson]

Hey everyone.

So, first of, this is going to be a long post, so thanks to all of those who'll actually take the time to read and respond to this.

Okay, here we go.

So, first of, think that posting the summary of every session I have is the way to go because, apart from being kinda pointless, I don't want to be filling this site with trash or simply empty content and making it difficult to find the actually important stuff, but I need to get this out of my system. Again, thanks for reading.

I just came back from playing a little bit, but I'm just so frustrated that I don't even know how to phrase this without sounding foolish.
The session was overall average in the final results, but a few things happened. When I arrive at the casino the only table available was almost full, so I sat down and watch the play for a while, waiting for the shuffle. Right now I'm wonging at +1, and because of the general environment of the casino I play, I can pretty much get away with it, even with the long pauses in my play in between the good and bad counts.

Anyway, being at an almost full table, although not ideal, at least it allows me to watch the play until my time comes.
And oh boy it did come quickly. The first shoe I sat at started normal, but the count was rising very fast. After just two rounds and about 36 cards into the 6D game, the TC was +2, so I placed my first bet of the night. I was just in the middle of the table, playing the fourth spot. In third base was a young couple, almost teenagers, and generally I have no problem with how people play (not my money, not my problem), but I started to get very frustrated and even angry a this couple, you'll see why now.

Their play was very far from perfect, and with this I mean even stupid (I know I can be somewhat prejudiced because of the experience, but bare with me here). They were not only making the common stupid plays like surrendering 13's or doubling 7´s, (if this can be called common or stupid). No, they acted like they wanted to piss the entire table off on purpose: splitting tens or doubling down 12's vs dealer 10 was a common thing for them. No, I'm not making this up, but I wish i was doing it.

After seeing this for a couple of rounds I decided that I don't have to pay attention to that because I was a trained player (at least a more knowledgeable player than that couple) and I knew better, so I keep on playing. After about 15 or 20 minutes, the players to my right left, and new players sat down. Here is where the whole situation really started to bother me. The new players at the table were noisy, disrespectful with the dealer and the other players and overall disgusting, but again, I've seen this before and I knew this was always something to be expected, but if that wasn't enough, their play was as bad as the one form the couple on third base. I thought of standing up and leave, come back another time, but the counts were actually pretty good. I played almost all rounds in every shoe because the count was just that good, but this didn't help at all. The decisions that were being made at the table were unbelievable: splitting 2's vs dealer ace, again doubling 12's, standing on 7 against dealer 5 or even standing with soft 13 (ace two) vs dealer 2. Normally I listen to music to calm myself and stay focused, but the casino recently prohibited any kind of earphones or headphones at the blackjack tables, so I had to comply.

As the time passes, the counts were getting better and better, but the game was apparently getting worse. Even with counts as high as true +13, I couldn't catch a break and couldn't keep myself from thinking that it was because of their bad play and poor decisions. I know that the way other players play their hands has little effect in the overall outcome of the game, but it just didn't seemed like that today. Almost at the end of my session I moved places to first base, and stay there till the end. Ended up with a loss of $1250, a raging frustration and a deep feeling of impotence. I wasn't angry at the loss (I moved past that a very long time ago), but at the quality of play; it was so awful that I couldn't help myself of keep thinking that if their play and decisions had been better, my outcome would've been better too.

My question is, what do you do when this kind of situations arise? and what do you recommend to keep my cool in this situations? This game is tough, and it will test you to your limits, but it just seems hard to not frown or get mad when you're into an astronomically high count and keep losing and losing, time after time, because the dealer dealt you busting 13's or won all your 20's with 7 card 21's or blackjacks, one after the other.

Again, thanks for reading and I hope I didn't bored you all with this story, but I really needed to get this out, and I feel better already.

[BJPloppy]

Ok, someone has to say it (with apologies to Norm); "There are other players at the table?"

[stopgambling]

Hey everyone.

So, first of, this is going to be a long post, so thanks to all of those who'll actually take the time to read and respond to this.

Okay, here we go.

So, first of, think that posting the summary of every session I have is the way to go because, apart from being kinda pointless, I don't want to be filling this site with trash or simply empty content and making it difficult to find the actually important stuff, but I need to get this out of my system. Again, thanks for reading.

I just came back from playing a little bit, but I'm just so frustrated that I don't even know how to phrase this without sounding foolish.
The session was overall average in the final results, but a few things happened. When I arrive at the casino the only table available was almost full, so I sat down and watch the play for a while, waiting for the shuffle. Right now I'm wonging at +1, and because of the general environment of the casino I play, I can pretty much get away with it, even with the long pauses in my play in between the good and bad counts.

Anyway, being at an almost full table, although not ideal, at least it allows me to watch the play until my time comes.
And oh boy it did come quickly. The first shoe I sat at started normal, but the count was rising very fast. After just two rounds and about 36 cards into the 6D game, the TC was +2, so I placed my first bet of the night. I was just in the middle of the table, playing the fourth spot. In third base was a young couple, almost teenagers, and generally I have no problem with how people play (not my money, not my problem), but I started to get very frustrated and even angry a this couple, you'll see why now.

Their play was very far from perfect, and with this I mean even stupid (I know I can be somewhat prejudiced because of the experience, but bare with me here). They were not only making the common stupid plays like surrendering 13's or doubling 7´s, (if this can be called common or stupid). No, they acted like they wanted to piss the entire table off on purpose: splitting tens or doubling down 12's vs dealer 10 was a common thing for them. No, I'm not making this up, but I wish i was doing it.

After seeing this for a couple of rounds I decided that I don't have to pay attention to that because I was a trained player (at least a more knowledgeable player than that couple) and I knew better, so I keep on playing. After about 15 or 20 minutes, the players to my right left, and new players sat down. Here is where the whole situation really started to bother me. The new players at the table were noisy, disrespectful with the dealer and the other players and overall disgusting, but again, I've seen this before and I knew this was always something to be expected, but if that wasn't enough, their play was as bad as the one form the couple on third base. I thought of standing up and leave, come back another time, but the counts were actually pretty good. I played almost all rounds in every shoe because the count was just that good, but this didn't help at all. The decisions that were being made at the table were unbelievable: splitting 2's vs dealer ace, again doubling 12's, standing on 7 against dealer 5 or even standing with soft 13 (ace two) vs dealer 2. Normally I listen to music to calm myself and stay focused, but the casino recently prohibited any kind of earphones or headphones at the blackjack tables, so I had to comply.

As the time passes, the counts were getting better and better, but the game was apparently getting worse. Even with counts as high as true +13, I couldn't catch a break and couldn't keep myself from thinking that it was because of their bad play and poor decisions. I know that the way other players play their hands has little effect in the overall outcome of the game, but it just didn't seemed like that today. Almost at the end of my session I moved places to first base, and stay there till the end. Ended up with a loss of $1250, a raging frustration and a deep feeling of impotence. I wasn't angry at the loss (I moved past that a very long time ago), but at the quality of play; it was so awful that I couldn't help myself of keep thinking that if their play and decisions had been better, my outcome would've been better too.

My question is, what do you do when this kind of situations arise? and what do you recommend to keep my cool in this situations? This game is tough, and it will test you to your limits, but it just seems hard to not frown or get mad when you're into an astronomically high count and keep losing and losing, time after time, because the dealer dealt you busting 13's or won all your 20's with 7 card 21's or blackjacks, one after the other.

Again, thanks for reading and I hope I didn't bored you all with this story, but I really needed to get this out, and I feel better already.

Without a doubt you are a newbie. You need to remember the fact that it has nothing to do with the other players until you see the actual outcome. TODAY I PLAYED 15 ROUNDS AND QUICKILY LOST 3.5 MAX BETS . ACTUAL PLAYING TIME WAS 8 MINUTES AND I WON'T GET A CHANCE TO PLAY UNTIL NEXT MONTH. This is a place I stop by on my route. So what you have an edge of 1% to 2 % . That is realized after at least a few hundred hours of play and you are probably only around 70% vs 30 % Just play like a robot and try to act like a ploppy . Most members don't suggest ramp robotically , neither do I. Put in some small cover and keep learning . You have a lot to learn . Detach your emotional tie to money when you are playing . Again you are not playing with small bets or big bets. You are actually playing max bets and half max bets in simple terms while use very small bets to keep a spot at the table. GOOD LUCK . P.S. reading your posts on the first part already made me thinking you have other counters playing at the table trying to scare you away if you don't even see/suspect that then you are not ready . I have had counters at my table clueless as what I am doing . Until I can't help myself and start spreading a little . btw it is not just a counting game. Don't take things at face value .

[petenelson]

Thank you for your responses, they certainly got me thinking.

Without a doubt you are a newbie.

I get where you got that idea from, and you may be right. I certainly have a lot to learn, that's why I'm seeking advice.

reading your posts on the first part already made me thinking you have other counters playing at the table trying to scare you away if you don't even see/suspect that then you are not ready .

This is an interesting idea, and I would've consider it if it weren't for the fact that the strategy deviations that were being made didn't fit into the deviations covered by the indices, at least in my tables (I'm playing complete zen, full indices) neither they were betting according to the actual count. Am I missing something? Please tell me why you think this. It just seems to me a very expensive way to "scare" someone away, because they were losing.

In regarding of my play, I'd like to think that I do play like a robot, and definitely a lot better than when I decided to start all of this, although it seems that I'm contradicting myself saying this, because this thread is obviously about not being able to control my emotions at the table, and that has nothing to do with if I can keep the count or bet correctly. I've managed to construct a very natural-looking game, taking into account the betting ramp and overall rhythm of the game. That's exactly were my question comes from, how do you manage to numb your emotions? I'd like to think that as human beings the emotional factor will always play an important role in our acting, and taking this into account, what do you do when, although you know how to play robot-like, you just can ignore the situation?

This matter is ending up being a bit rhetorical, because of what BJPloppy said:

"There are other players at the table?"

I don't think I have an emotional attach to the money anymore, as stopgambling said. I even said that the loss didn't matter, I know that's the way it is sometimes, but maybe I'm wrong, and stopgambling is actually seeing past all that, which is more likely I think.

Thanks for your time again, I think I needed to talk about this whit someone, despite the trivial it might seem, it helped me a lot.

[refinery]

Play better conditions. How slow must that table have been? If you're concerned about other people's decisions (which is complete voodoo), the game is too slow. Think about it.

[Freightman]

The count kept going up, and up, and up. You kept raising your bet , and raising and raising. You blew your wad (metaphorically speaking).

You never had the advantage. The small cards came out at a far quicker rate than the big cards. It’s when the big cards come out that you have the advantage. Think about this.

[BJGenius007]

The count kept going up, and up, and up. You kept raising your bet , and raising and raising. You blew your wad (metaphorically speaking).

You never had the advantage. The small cards came out at a far quicker rate than the big cards. It’s when the big cards come out that you have the advantage. Think about this.

Anything could happen even in high count. Recently I had a supposedly best shoe. It is head to head. The dealer penetration is 5.25/6D. But I only won one of last eight hands in that shoe when the RC was between +21 and +43. For Zen, the TC is between +30 and +45. But dealer kept beating me and I did not get any 20 or BJ. Because the TC is so high and I was playing head to head, I can pretend getting angry and play two hands. But every time I did so, I got two crappy hands. If I had just played one hand, I would have got 20 and won that hand.

[ZeeBabar]

Hey everyone.

So, first of, this is going to be a long post, so thanks to all of those who'll actually take the time to read and respond to this.

Okay, here we go.

So, first of, think that posting the summary of every session I have is the way to go because, apart from being kinda pointless, I don't want to be filling this site with trash or simply empty content and making it difficult to find the actually important stuff, but I need to get this out of my system. Again, thanks for reading.

I just came back from playing a little bit, but I'm just so frustrated that I don't even know how to phrase this without sounding foolish.
The session was overall average in the final results, but a few things happened. When I arrive at the casino the only table available was almost full, so I sat down and watch the play for a while, waiting for the shuffle. Right now I'm wonging at +1, and because of the general environment of the casino I play, I can pretty much get away with it, even with the long pauses in my play in between the good and bad counts.

Anyway, being at an almost full table, although not ideal, at least it allows me to watch the play until my time comes.
And oh boy it did come quickly. The first shoe I sat at started normal, but the count was rising very fast. After just two rounds and about 36 cards into the 6D game, the TC was +2, so I placed my first bet of the night. I was just in the middle of the table, playing the fourth spot. In third base was a young couple, almost teenagers, and generally I have no problem with how people play (not my money, not my problem), but I started to get very frustrated and even angry a this couple, you'll see why now.

Their play was very far from perfect, and with this I mean even stupid (I know I can be somewhat prejudiced because of the experience, but bare with me here). They were not only making the common stupid plays like surrendering 13's or doubling 7´s, (if this can be called common or stupid). No, they acted like they wanted to piss the entire table off on purpose: splitting tens or doubling down 12's vs dealer 10 was a common thing for them. No, I'm not making this up, but I wish i was doing it.

After seeing this for a couple of rounds I decided that I don't have to pay attention to that because I was a trained player (at least a more knowledgeable player than that couple) and I knew better, so I keep on playing. After about 15 or 20 minutes, the players to my right left, and new players sat down. Here is where the whole situation really started to bother me. The new players at the table were noisy, disrespectful with the dealer and the other players and overall disgusting, but again, I've seen this before and I knew this was always something to be expected, but if that wasn't enough, their play was as bad as the one form the couple on third base. I thought of standing up and leave, come back another time, but the counts were actually pretty good. I played almost all rounds in every shoe because the count was just that good, but this didn't help at all. The decisions that were being made at the table were unbelievable: splitting 2's vs dealer ace, again doubling 12's, standing on 7 against dealer 5 or even standing with soft 13 (ace two) vs dealer 2. Normally I listen to music to calm myself and stay focused, but the casino recently prohibited any kind of earphones or headphones at the blackjack tables, so I had to comply.

As the time passes, the counts were getting better and better, but the game was apparently getting worse. Even with counts as high as true +13, I couldn't catch a break and couldn't keep myself from thinking that it was because of their bad play and poor decisions. I know that the way other players play their hands has little effect in the overall outcome of the game, but it just didn't seemed like that today. Almost at the end of my session I moved places to first base, and stay there till the end. Ended up with a loss of $1250, a raging frustration and a deep feeling of impotence. I wasn't angry at the loss (I moved past that a very long time ago), but at the quality of play; it was so awful that I couldn't help myself of keep thinking that if their play and decisions had been better, my outcome would've been better too.

My question is, what do you do when this kind of situations arise? and what do you recommend to keep my cool in this situations? This game is tough, and it will test you to your limits, but it just seems hard to not frown or get mad when you're into an astronomically high count and keep losing and losing, time after time, because the dealer dealt you busting 13's or won all your 20's with 7 card 21's or blackjacks, one after the other.

Again, thanks for reading and I hope I didn't bored you all with this story, but I really needed to get this out, and I feel better already.

Perfect example of stuff that Math does not have to deal with. Math says 1-2% advantage but it sure as hell disappears fast when math meets anger, frustration, a declining BR and ploppies.

All the pros here are like a pro ball player saying yes, you can play this game, just keep putting in the hours at the weight room and gym and one day you will make lots of money.

[BoSox]

The session was overall average in the final results, but a few things happened. When I arrive at the casino the only table available was almost full, so I sat down and watch the play for a while, waiting for the shuffle. Right now I'm wonging at +1, and because of the general environment of the casino I play, I can pretty much get away with it, even with the long pauses in my play in between the good and bad counts.

Anyway, being at an almost full table, although not ideal, at least it allows me to watch the play until my time comes.
And oh boy it did come quickly. The first shoe I sat at started normal, but the count was rising very fast. After just two rounds and about 36 cards into the 6D game, the TC was +2, so I placed my first bet of the night.

Why did you sit down, to begin with? You said that you were waiting for the shuffle but that wasn't the case at all. Your chance to enter came quickly but what if it did not? What were the chances that another new customer tapped you on the shoulder and said I want your seat since you are not playing?

Regarding you saying:

"

because of the general environment of the casino I play, I can pretty much get away with it, even with the long pauses in my play in between the good and bad counts."

There was only one table available to play at that time, what does that mean to you? It should be, that someone must be watching it for obvious reasons. Always remember this following one-liner:
There is no heat until there is.

[21forme]

Why did you sit down, to begin with?

I was thinking this for another reason - full table = poor conditions. If I walked in and the tables were full, I'd simply leave and come back another time. I know that's a problem if you traveled a good distance, but better not to play than to play bad games.

Their play was very far from perfect, and with this I mean even stupid (I know I can be somewhat prejudiced because of the experience, but bare with me here). They were not only making the common stupid plays like surrendering 13's or doubling 7´s, (if this can be called common or stupid). No, they acted like they wanted to piss the entire table off on purpose: splitting tens or doubling down 12's vs dealer 10 was a common thing for them. No, I'm not making this up, but I wish i was doing it.

Maybe, just maybe, there was another play going on here and they weren't stupid.

Ok, someone has to say it (with apologies to Norm); "There are other players at the table?"

I know this has been disputed in the past, but I take credit for that line!