I'm not sure if I am calculating my play session time right. Do we include the time while we are in wong-out &/or back-count mode? I always do because it's just part of proper advantage play technique. It�s part of the game. Isn't it?
I'm not sure exactly why you are asking this question, but if you are trying to keep up with your actual WIN/HOUR rate, then yes I would certainly count time spent back counting or wonging out and moving from one table to another.
Here's something to think about that may help you answer your own question. Players will sometimes post on these pages that they don't like the idea of wonging shoes, because they get to make actual bets on so few hands per hour that they don't feel like they're getting anywhere. They state that they may only get to play around 20 hands per hour when playing a strict wonging game, compared to 100 hands per hour at play-all. (I'm using round numbers here just to get the point across.) But they are missing the whole idea. Those extra 80 hands per hour that they are so eager to play are going to be negative or break-even bets. They don't help you at all - in fact there is a cost associated with playing these hands. The player who plays just the 20 positive expectation hands and sits out the other 80 hands is much better off than the player who plays all 100 hands. The strict wonging player could beat the game flat betting if he had to, while the play all player has to spread his bets to overcome the drain from the neg. exp. bets.
EE
I would much rather play 20 - 40 hands per hour in positive EV than 100. I personally have no desire to gamble $ just to be playing. In fact, I once counted the start of about 100 shoe games in a 12hr session. It was the weirdest thing I had ever seen. It was totally frustrating. Only about 6 out of the 100 went possitive off the top enough to get to my 1.5TC wong-in point and 2 shoes provided monsterous counts. From that, I won nearly 300 units.
I use KO, but will mention HiLo values in this thread since it seems to be the standard.
I wong in at +3 TC and wong out the instant the count drops below +1.
Playing 2-3 hands at a time whenever possible.
+1 is break even, I used to wong out on +1 but realised it was a mistake. Many times I would see the +1 return to +2 instead of going to 0. Once your seated might as well play until your next hand will be -EV.
You can avoid the hugh bet spread, but wonging too much can draw attention as well. After playing a few hands I like to take a 5min smoke break, rather then instantly back count another table.
As long as you know what it is you're tracking, that's all that is important. You want to be able to compare casino to casino, city to city, shift to shift, various game types, how it changes year to year, etc. As long as you are able to make sense of your records for comparison purposes in the future it is okay.
I start counting my time when I count my first card, whether I'm playing or backcounting. I end the time when I decide to terminate the session. I include table search time within the same casino if I am really looking for a new place to play. I don't include travel time from one casino to another. But this is just my way. Anyway you do it is okay.
The one thing I do think is important is including table search time if you do both play all and Wonging and wish to compare win rates. When only counting time actually at the table it distorts the difference to an amount much bigger than your actual win per hour of effort difference.
