Casino Under Age

Hello,

I want to thank everyone of you who have helped me with your comments, prise and criticisim. I have stayed away from the Casino for a few weeks and went to Foxwoods last night. I am 20 years old and as you know 21 is the legal age.

I got in no problem, after taking a sip of my aunts beer the COCKTAIL WAITRESS demands to see my Id, I told her I did not have my license on me but just a few credit cards and my comp card, which would prove im 21, well she takes it gives it to pit boss who see's its my fathers card (same name) he was born in 1961 and I don't look 20 nevermind 40.

The pitboss ignored it and let me play, after the cocktail waitress fought with a PIT BOSS other security came over and said I had to leave..... I was playing for about 20 minutes and had several hundred dollars in chips . . . . .. they told me to color in! I did and the security guard said would you like to cash out? They didnt touch my money or even try to figure anything out, they were totally nice and just wanted me off the gaming floor (had I been up 10k that might have been more of a problem) Anyway I stayed out my aunt met me and we walked into another part of the casion where I played till 2 am.... Had 1000 BR, $10 play per hand or $5 for Bj and $5 bet on the match the dealer..... Counted successfully for the first time saw the shoe get as low at -27!! When it hit +10 and higher my bets were 10fold and I won all the good hands.... ended up winning about $100 only had a positive shoe for several hands and 99% of my concentration was on counting, but I now have absolute faith the system does work and how when counting you are not gambling which is my overall goal.

Thanks to all, just wanted to let you know what happened... hopefully it dosent happen again but I know what to expect and it was destined to happen sooner or later.

Ed

... hopefully it dosent happen again but I know what to expect and it was destined to happen sooner or later.

Stay out of the casinos until you are of legal age, and you won't have that problem.

The problems will start when you are of legal age and start getting backed off, tresspassed, backroomed, thrown out of your room in the middle of the night, chips consficated, and a whole lot more that I could mention, but I thought I'd go easy on you this time.

:-)

Seriously, don't create problems for yourself that you really don't need. Wait til you are 21, and during that time, study Wong, Schlesinger, Carlson, Snyder, along with other great bj authors (avoid any book by Patterson or Patrick), buy Casino Verite and BJRM and use them, and you'll do fine.

Celebrate your birthday with a trip to LV, and hit 'em hard.

Regards,
drumz1

I thought you'd said you were gonna study and practice hard, not to go there till you turn 21, that you once "had a gambling problem" but not anymore, that you have good discipline.... I can only wish you good luck because that is the only way how gamblers can win.

> Had 1000 BR, $10 play per hand or $5 for Bj and $5 bet on the match
> the dealer.....

So 50% of your bet was on a negative expectation side bet? That is not Advantage Play. You are still a gambler at heart. You are probably losing more money than you are winning by counting, and therefore not playing a winning game. The advantage in blackjack is very small. You must do everything you can to maintain it and maximize it. That includes not playing side bets unless you have the advantage and not tipping away your earnings.

> Counted successfully for the first time saw the shoe get as
> low at -27!!

Hopefully you were watching that -27 and not playing it! What was the true count at the time?

> When it hit +10 and higher my bets were 10fold and I won all the
> good hands....

If you are waiting for a TC of +10 to push out your max bet you will be very disappointed. With a 1:10 spread you should be playing your max at around +5, maybe sooner. If you are pushing out your max bet at a RC of +10 you will be even more disappointed! Your bet spread is the most important decision you will make for shoe games. Using an inferior bet schedule is a guaranteed trip to brokesville...or back to GA meetings.

> �but I now have absolute faith the system does work and how when
> counting you are not gambling which is my overall goal.

Card counting is still gambling, it is just gambling with a slightly positive expectation. Pay very close attention to the word EXPECTATION. Just because you expect something to happen doesn�t mean that it will definitely happen anytime soon. You are expecting it to happen sooner or later. You MUST have a complete understanding of variance, standard deviation, and risk or ruin before you begin playing or even creating your bet spread. Stop playing and start reading. And, above all, keep posting questions here. This website will be your greatest source of knowledge about this game.

-Sonny-

Hello,

My trip was more for entertaiment and practice, as I said I was so busy counting and keeping a running count for the first time that everything else was pointless. I bet $5 to $10 a hand. Anytime the count was +2 or higher I would bet from $5 to $15 to $35 and even higher. On the really low - shoes I did stay in, playing the minimum $5 (casino was too busy and the more I move the more trouble)

I won $100, was never down, My goal on this trip was to get in real life practice after counting during free time for the past two weeks. I will not be returning for several months.

Hope this makes more sense, I was not a fool at the tables like I have been in the past. Just finished Blackwoods book and have some more coming in the mail.

Hope this puts to rest your opinion on any bad mistakes I may have made, thank you all.

> Hello,

Hello! =)

> My trip was more for entertaiment and practice, as I said I was so
> busy counting and keeping a running count for the first time that
> everything else was pointless�On the really low - shoes I did stay
> in, playing the minimum $5 (casino was too busy and the more I move
> the more trouble)

A better (less expensive) idea would be to watch instead of playing. Try counting down the deck from behind one of the players and think about how much you would bet on each hand and how you would play each player�s hand. That would give you 6-7 hands of practice per round and would be completely free. Better yet, download a good blackjack program and practice for free at home. It will take quite a lot of practice before you can estimate the discards and find the TC accurately. You should get up to speed at home without distractions before you try keeping up with a live full table. The transition will be much easier and you will feel much more confident that way.

Good luck, and let us know how you are doing. The next year or so will be a very exciting journey for you. Your whole attitude will begin to change. You will become a smarter player and a smarter person. You will wonder why anyone would bother playing blackjack without counting cards. You will see things that nobody else around you notices and you will use them to your advantage. You will feel extremely confident while the gamblers around you are afraid of losing and praying for good luck. You will know that every play and every bet you make is correct while everyone around you is regretting their actions. You will walk into any casino and know that you are playing at the most profitable table they have, or you will leave in disgust without losing a single cent to their terrible games. You will have the skills to win several units every hour while having fun playing cards�

�and you will still lose very often and for long periods of time. That is the sad truth. =)

-Sonny-

I want to thank you all for your comments and advice. I will next time backcount. I will also be practicing I have a full simulation at my house of Blackjack at this casion, i have the shoe, the discard tray the table and the 8 decks. I have friends coming over to play. I don't think I will really ever lose much or any money at this point.

**********************

What is truly amazing and a wake up call about how BJ can and can not be gambling is when I had the count in my head say.... -9 TC or -27 running countt how people were betting higher or not betting differently this advice even If I lost that night was worth it. I truly understand how Blackjack becomes a slight risk/investment when you count and use BS and I18 and all the other tactics and studying.

I saw people bet $50 a hand at a $10 table in a -20 running count while betting $10 in a +3 TC, I won more than half of my big bets, If I was getting any heat I would have surely been thrown out I went from hours of $10 or less a hand to $50-100 on 2-3 hands, with my small play and $100 > win I had no fear of this.

Thank you all....... This old quote comes to mind espcially with blackjack........ The more you KNOW the more you know you don't KNOW.

This is the end of my beggining, I still have a long way to go.

Thank you all so much your kindness and expertise has helped me more than all my books or practicing.

Good cards,
Ed

I re-read your post and figured that your comments were intended for our underage gambler (ZigZiglar) who started this thread.

Regards,
drumz1

Thanks a lot, true down to earth advice, thanks for being honest and not just criticising. I will be practicing a lot and after I learn some more will hit the casino with very low play, I still need to adjust to the large casino atmosphere, I have only bee going to casinos for just over a month, thanks again and I will be sure to take your advice, I've already read or own most of the books......

thanks,

What books have you read?

Here's one of my favorite sayings:

"He who says, 'It can't be done,' is REALLY saying, '_I_ don't know how to do it.'"

From this and past posts, I have to conclude that you tried counting and failed. But, rather than blame yourself, you blame the mathematically proven solution to the problem presented by the game of "21."

Most alleged "card counters" DO fail. They fail for a number of reasons -- impatience and lack of discipline being among the most common.

Most alleged "card counters" are simply gamblers who bought a book. Now, having read the book, they know ABOUT card counting, but they're still what they started out as: GAMBLERS. Gambling and discipline are antitheticial -- Gamblers are normally undisciplined and highly disciplined people normally don't gamble.

It is a rare person indeed who has the necessary discipline to succeed at card counting and who, at the same time, is willing to do it or is even interested in doing it.

The worlds greatest blackjack book.
Born To Lose (a book on gambling addiction)
Play blackjack like the pros (blackwood)
bootleggers 200 proof blackjack
I am a green chip member
I own Professional Blackjack and some others that I bought on this website and amazon, just finished blackwoods book was excellent.

I am studying hard.

Ed

Was your message aimed at me ZigZiglar?
Playing blackjack for 4 straight hours at table minimum I would say is patience, playing by myself at home for 2-3 hours almost every night and spending all my free time at the office reading this website, would you say that is someone tryin got get rich quick?

I figure I will play blackjack if I can count or not, but why risk money? I have very good financial skills, If I'm going to play blackjack at the worst I want to break even and enjoy the comps, then comes having a 2nd income and traveling the world for nearly no cost....... hopefully you understand I don't think this is a game, The more I read the more I know how much there is to learn, but Im not even 21 yet so until then I'll be hitting the books daily.

The books you mentioned are all good. I would suggest that the next batch of books you read are:
Blackbelt in Blackjack 3rd edition
Blackjack Attack 3rd edition.

The thing that you must learn from all the books:
1. the level of discipline required to get an edge.
2. you must have a (winning) game plan before you sit down at a table.
3. you must stick to the game plan at all cost.

A great way to know if your game plan is a winning plan is to use simulation software. There are numerous packages available.

-Shaggy