If casino distractions wern't enough

Was grinding my way back after a 3 day 2.5k loss, and doing OK. Count goes up to TC +5. The wife and I push out 3 black each. Our next door neighbor just happens to show up and starts yapping away. My wife takes over the conversation for interferance to let me concentrate. The table gets painted and dealer get's "A". Insurance? The neighbor, who has a heavy asian accent (no offence intended)"Oh you guys winning big money". I glance at her for a second, dealer says "Insuarnce closed" and turns over BJ. AAAARRGH! I know I was playing a little tired,(earlier in the session I hit a 2 against a dealer 14.It turned out OK, and thought I was still on top of things, though my wife admonished me for the foolish mistake.) I can deal with the cocktail waitresses and ploppys, but who expects the annoying next door neighbor. On top of that,on vacation at the same time we are.
CVBJ, loud TV,stereo and wife can only prepare you so much. Ironically we finished the trip $600.00 down. People , don't give me the pinniata treatment. This is jut an FYI. I've been beating myself up for the last 2 days. DO'NT PLAY IF YOUR NOT UP TO YOUR "A" GAME!

You need to learn how to filter out all the distractions. Did you actually think that nobody is going to talk to you for the entire time? I get attention from everyone like other players, dealers, pit bosses,and waitresses. Here's some advice. Ignoring other players doesn't draw any unwanted attention. Casinos don't care if you refuse to engage in a 2 minute conversation with your neighbor. However, ignoring casino personnel will draw some security attention since they're aware of counters.
Some dealers are loyal to their employer because they want to get promoted. When a dealer tries to rush me to make a decision,I say "I don't tip dealers that rush me. If you force me to make a bad decision,I can't tip you." That usually makes them back off. You must remember that dealers earn minimum wage plus tip,so they will do whatever it takes to receive tips if they're smart. I hope this helps.

We learn the hard way about being faster and to make sure the dealer's personal agenda of speed doesn't ruin our day.

When the stakes are high, quickly grab a stack of chips and hold them in the air out in front of your bet and say something like, "I think you're due to have it this time, I think I'll take it". You can also say, "hold on a moment, I want to think about it" just to give yourself more time to do your number calcs.

This happened a number of years ago. A Pit Boss was talking to me and I was giving one word answers but he continued. Finally it was my turn to either stand or take another card. I acted as if his question was extremely interesting to me and took about 90 seconds to answer it. All the while the dealer and Pit Boss were trying to get me to make my decision. He didn't bother me after that.

I always make sure I inform the dealers that their actions are controlled by my hand signals, including buying insurance. Then there is never any confusion. You've always got the camera on your side.

The camera doesn't always help. Caesars in AC. I was sitting fairly far away from the table playing two hands. I don't remember the two hands I had but the first was an obvious stay and the second an obvious hit. Waved off the first but they gave me a card that busted me AND would have helped the second hand. I complained a lot and they finally and quite reluctantly went to the tape. They wouldn't let me see the tape. They ruled against me and I had no recourse. I guess I could have gone to the CCC but I didn't need any more attention than I was already getting.

I know the feeling. The same feeling you get when you've just lost your welcome mat. That was the casino's way of saying 'we are not averse to cheating you lousy card counters.'It's happened to a lot of my friends in more blatant ways than yours. It's called a 'dickey' barring because they are 'dickin' with you!

That's how I felt. I'm also sure they know I count but their pen is pretty bad, so they don't feel too threatened. As cover, I was talking to the pit boss about Spanish 21, and he said: "Why would you want to play that game? The count starts at minus 32." I don't know what my answer was but it wasn't too good.

My opinion is that you seem to be somewhat lacking in casino preparation. But we are all generally that way. Just some more and less than others. War is the toughest game to master.
If you haven't already, I would invite you to get your hands on a copy of Stann's book, "Hollywood Blackjack". It's an enjoyable read as well as being informative. It provides one with a sense of how to play a winning game of Blackjack inside a casino. And I already know you are a tough player it's just that you can never be too tough.

The two shortcomings in my game are that I don't move around enough and I still tend to give advice to bad players (although I have gotten better about this). I won't say I am perfect in all other aspects of
the game, but in my humble opinion, I am a very strong and tough player. I put the big money on the table when I am supposed to. Having a real job and family responsibilities, I can't travel all over the world to find the absolute best games, but I have done pretty well over a very long period of time.

I've read many, many BJ books but I'll check out the one you suggest.