Blackjack accounting woes- What works?

I am struggling to keep an accurate record of my results, measuring two basic areas: Results and Conditions. "Results" tracks the path of the cash, the buy-ins, tips, expenses and wins or losses. "Conditions" records casinos, number of tables, type of game, rules, dealers, pit and anything that could help me choose a good game in the future. The biggest problem is keeping the discipline of note taking. Sometimes I forget to enter the amount of buy-ins, especially if there were many in a short period. The other main trouble comes when it making a permanent record of the notes. If it has been a few days (or weeks), the hastily scribbled notes have gone cold and the abbreviations I created may be meaningless.

My partial solution: I used to carry blank notecards with me, but now have made a sheet with blanks for information and multiple choices for common conditions such as penetration and crowding. It has saved me a lot of time scribbling, but I still slip up now and then. As for keeping track of buy-ins, before playing, I put a certain amount aside for that session. If I slip up and don't record the amounts, I just check the remaining cash. I also try to collect data on which dealers are exceptional, either good or bad. I'm terrible with names and often forget to record them- I have countless entries like "YBF friendly, good pen".

Some casino data goes stale quickly as conditions and staff change. Tracking the results of the game has helped me find where I was bleeding cash and fix it (bad pen, over tipping). I am interested in what data other players collect and how they manage it. What works for you?

Thanks,
Sentry

I count my cash before I walk in the door. I count my cash after I walk out the door. That is my profit. I don't try to track seperate buy-ins, individual table results, etc. It is all just one long session.

What I do is take detailed notes in my note book as soon as I leave. I don't try to hastily scibble stuff. After I am out of the casino, I carefully record the obvious, good dealer pen, rules, etc.

But I also record crowd conditions, the general 'feel' of the place, pit reactions, date and time, number of tables open, and the weather.

So is a rainy Wednesday afternoon after a holiday weekend better as far as crowds go than a really nice Tuesday evening before a holiday?
Does a casino have extra tables open at 4:00 and the crowd not show up till 5:30? This is the type of information I am trying to capture with my notes.

I keep meticulous records and have developed a spreadsheet into which I enter the data upon returning from a trip. This sprdsht has the following columns:

*date
*day
*time session started
*session length
*casino name
*# of decks
*"special rules" (if it's D10, not DA2, or noDAS, etc)
* penetration
*shuffle (I might note if a notch was used, or if it was an auto-shuffler, for example)
*# of players (which, of course, is an average, because it may vary during the session)
*Results: +/- $
* Results in units (in which the spreadsht divides the preceding column by my unit size)

In order to record these data accurately, I print out a page of the spreadsht that shows just the column headings (with space for about 10 sessions, or rows) before I go to play and fill in the columns on this spreadsheet after each _session_--using one row for each _session_. This might mean that I make a trip to a bathroom stall right after the session is completed (if I am not leaving the casino), so that I can write this stuff down when it's fresh. Also, as I have noted before, I keep session short--to 1.5 hrs or less, usually right around an hour. I do this for many reasons, but one certain benefit is that it dampens the opportunities for confusion arising from multiple buy-ins, many different dealers, etc.

Regarding calculating win/loss: I always buy in for the same amount (regardless of whether I'm up/down for the day and regardless of whether I already have chips from this casino. My buy-in $ are always kept in my right front pants pocket--I know how much I started with in that pocket, so, in the event of multiple buy-ins during the same session (rare, we hope), I can, like SOTSOG, figure out readily how much I bought in for by knowing how much is left in that particular pocket.

Record-keeping is essential, I believe. A little bit of 'eyeball' analysis (you don't have to use elaborate statistical techniques, though you can, of course) of your sprdsht data will help you determine where and under what conditions you perform best.

Honest questions: Is there a direct correlation between the "feel" of a place and your session profits or losses? Do casinos that "feel" good to you result in more profitable sessions? Since you record your "feelings" about a session after it's over -- after you know if you won or lost -- could your financial outcome be affecting your "feelings"? Do your "feelings" alter your decision to initiate a session of play? How many sessions have you recorded, and how accurate are your "feelings" in predicting the success of a session?
Just pulling your chain a bit, but sounds like Voodoo at work here.
Cheers!
Walter
PS: Actually, I agree with your method of recording session results. I'm just surprised that you use it.

kept on MS-Excel (any good spreadsheet program will do)

Track the following info,

Casino, Date, Time played, Shift, Alias, Avg Bet, Number of Decks, Win, Loss, Buy-In Total, Dealer Tokes, and a big comment space for dealer names, etc.

From that info Spreadsheet keeps totals, averages, calculates theoretical ev, actual hourly ev, etc.

by the 'feel' of the place, I am talking more about the decor or the crowd. I don't want to walk in wearing a suit and tie and ordering a nice white wine in a joint where everyone has their name on the front of their shirt and is drinking Budweiser.

also does the pit have a heart attack if you pull out purple chips or is it just another day for them? That helps contribute to the feel.

As I said my notes really don't track financials, my pocket can tell me that, I use notes more for cammo, crowds, and heat levels.

I wish I had whatever it takes to keep detailed records like everyone is describing.

I carry a small pocket notebook in which I record the name of each casino, total buy-in for the session, total cash out (assuming there is one), profit/loss, length of session. If I notice anything out of the ordinary (dealer giving outstanding pen, paranoid pit boss, etc), I make a note of it.

That's all.

When I get home, I enter it all the numbers into a spreadsheet on my computer.

And I do believe that the act of collecting, entering, and reviewing these data is helpful in critiquing one's play and in planning one's future sessions/trips. While it may seem like a lot of variables, it really takes (literally) less than a minute to jot these down after finishing a session.

Even though you don't collect data on as many variables, Parker, wouldn't you agree that, as you're entering your data and notes into your spreadsheet, you can't help but conduct a mental review of your day/trip, and, in doing so, most likely find some patterns (good or bad) and, sometimes, an 'aha' moment?

I'm with you Parker. I just record what you do, plus my unit bet and whether it's a SD or DD game (now 6D also). I then record everything on a spreadsheet, at the end of the month. Then I have my monthly totals, and annual totals.

Last year, I also kept track of my insurance won/loss record, because I had a feeling I wasn't doing so good on insurance bets. My feeling was correct, as insurance bets for the whole year was just under 1/3 won. Not too good. Not sure what to do about it, although the sample size is so small it probably doesn't mean much.

Neko

I used to "dress up" for every casino visit. Now I only do so in Vegas when I'm playing in the VIP area, just 'cause it makes me "feel" better. Purple action scares the crap out of me, so I want to look good even if I don't always "feel" good.

N, it's time to move up from Excel to QuickbookPro (QBP). It's free to try out QuickbookPro before paying for it (It costs $200@Costco). If you like, I'll order one for you to dry run your data (I get your snail mail address). You'll love QuickbookPro over Excel because:

1) You only enter your win/loss info once.
2) QuickbookPro provides Income Statement, Balance Sheet, & customized tax reports for you to prepare your income tax returns.
3) QuickbookPro allows you to cumstomize any win/loss reports that you want!
4) QuickbookPro provides solid tax records (i.e., General Ledgers) to backoff IRS agents if you're audited.

Personally I love QuickbookPro over Excel because QBP provides much better customized financial/tax reports than Excel.

Regards
Your friend

I have QuickbooksPro, and never even thought of using it for bj record keeping. I use it for my personal CPA business, but not for my clients' bookkeeping. Reason I don't use it for my clients is that the reports look too amateurish, not professional looking at all. I use it for my own business because of the check writing convenience and also because I wanted to learn the program, so I could help clients who work with it for their own needs.

I will have to think about how to adapt it to keeping my bj records.

Neko