(Message Deleted by Poster)
It is impossible to say for sure whether he was a CC or not without knowing if he spread at the correct times, but a couple of items seem odd.
The main problem would be not wanting to be known while betting that kind of money. If he bought out or cashed in for over 10K, he has to do a CTR. The type of gambler you described would routinely be subjected to those and he would not remain anonymous.
Also the spread is extremely high even for aggressive types like me. However, I have no problem with him winning a lot. If you wager that much, that is going to happen. If you bet up to $1000 a hand, you'll have a lot of days where you'll win or lose 20K.
$24K for a barring any day of the week. I have a friend who is a high stakes player....he has told me that he can count on one hand the number of times he has had a significant five figure win and not been barred upon his return visit.
It is impossible to say for sure whether he was a CC or not without knowing if he spread at the correct times, but a couple of items seem odd.
The main problem would be not wanting to be known while betting that kind of money. If he bought out or cashed in for over 10K, he has to do a CTR. The type of gambler you described would routinely be subjected to those and he would not remain anonymous.
Also the spread is extremely high even for aggressive types like me. However, I have no problem with him winning a lot. If you wager that much, that is going to happen. If you bet up to $1000 a hand, you'll have a lot of days where you'll win or lose 20K.
I agree with the sentences I put in bold. The rest would not been written with someone with experience in high stakes play.
Math Boy
Math Boy, once again you are putting your powers of perception to the upper limits of their capabilities. I am not sure why you persist in trying to be a psychic about my playing career. You may very well be a high stakes player and even a successful one, but it is not going to elevate your ranking to denigrate other counters.
I haven't played in the casino mentioned in the original post, but most Tribal casinos I know adhere to the federal laws on CTR's. And if you are suggesting ways to avoid those requirements, then you are recommending structuring, which is a federal offense.
Contrary to your assumptions, I certainly do have years of experience in high stakes play. Of course it is possible the casinos who kicked me over 200X could have been mistaken about my ability and chip level. Maybe they were as color blind as me and thought I was only playing red rather than bumble bees.
I agree with Math Boy and Big Player, you could write a book on CTR dodging, and its not wise to make a fetishism of avoiding getting barred, this is ultimately about getting the money in.
In Kevin's defense however, I wouldn't neccessarily draw any inferences about his ability from his comments. Some people prefer not to do things a certain way or have a different style, since most of us are self-taught. For example, I never hustled comps, which many talented people think is incompatible with advantage play. Similarly, I am amazed at the lack of team discipline other apparently successful operations have exhibited. Horses for courses I guess.
Jonathan, from what you described, it sounds like he was a card counter, although the bet spread (1-30) is incredibly brazen even for the most bullish pros. I can't see any high stakes individual playing that way and hoping to get any longevity. If the spread you described is correct and he was indeed a CC, then the only guess I would offer is he might have been part of a big team that constantly rotated in a lot of new faces and didn't care how many got burned out.
I agree also with John May on the CTR issue. I personally think it is unwise to try and circumvent federal laws. I would never recommend anyone doing so and I feel the gain is not worth the risk.
Jonathan, from what you described, it sounds like he was a card counter, although the bet spread (1-30) is incredibly brazen even for the most bullish pros. I can't see any high stakes individual playing that way and hoping to get any longevity. If the spread you described is correct and he was indeed a CC, then the only guess I would offer is he might have been part of a big team that constantly rotated in a lot of new faces and didn't care how many got burned out.
I agree also with John May on the CTR issue. I personally think it is unwise to try and circumvent federal laws. I would never recommend anyone doing so and I feel the gain is not worth the risk.
I guess that I can agree that you agree with John May on the CTR issue. There is a big difference between "circumvent" and "violate".
Math Boy
I agreed with John May that the current CTR laws are weird and convoluted. However, whether we agree with them or not, they are still laws and are subject to enforcement.
I am certainly not an attorney, but if you research the laws on structuring I believe you will not find any difference between circumvent and violate. The issue is intent.
Can you get around them and not be prosecuted? Of course. The question however is one of risk versus return and I disagree with anyone who recommends structuring.
I agreed with John May that the current CTR laws are weird and convoluted. However, whether we agree with them or not, they are still laws and are subject to enforcement.
I am certainly not an attorney, but if you research the laws on structuring I believe you will not find any difference between circumvent and violate. The issue is intent.
Can you get around them and not be prosecuted? Of course. The question however is one of risk versus return and I disagree with anyone who recommends structuring.
I agree that you agree with John May. But I think they are very straightforward laws. I agree that they are still laws. And that you can get around them and not be prosecuted.
Here is a trivial strategy for me to circumvent the CTR laws: play red chips. Call the FBI! This guy could be betting green/black/purple but it betting red with intent of not getting CTR'ed! There are of course many other strategies which we should not discuss in public and which do not include structuring.
Math Boy
I agree that you agree with John May.
What I actually said here was that you could write a book on CTR dodging. Blackwood mentions structuring-I was not thinking of approaches that would set off structuring alarms. Leave me out of this argument.
Anyone that has anything positive to say about Blackwood should be wearing knuckle dusters. This "my bets are bigger than your bets" is so frigin' tired.
It is not a "my bets are bigger than your bets" thing. It is that Kevin Blackwood has almost no experience with high stakes play, at least in the last decade. Yet he regularly gives advice to people concerning high stakes play. And I have yet to see a good piece of advice come from one of his posts yet.
If no one who disagrees with Kevin ever posts, his posts are seen to be correct by consensus. I consider it a duty to the blackjack community to point out when I disagree with him. He is no expert, yet he presents himself as such.
Math Boy
After reading the ongoing discussion here and at other times and the many responses of Kevin Blackwood, I would bet that he is one of the very few among us-- a successful high stakes player of much experience. Havinf played for many years I believe can tell. Also after reading the comments of some of the others I would bet that it would be far more likely to find them in charge of french fries at the neighborhood Mickey D's than at the high limit pit sitting next to Mr. B.
"His picture was in the pit area the next day to be on alert. It said he was suspected of counting.
So what do you guys think?"
I think I need to know the local channel, foremost.
Also after reading the comments of some of the others I would bet that it would be far more likely to find them in charge of french fries at the neighborhood Mickey D's than at the high limit pit sitting next to Mr. B.
If that comment is directed at Math Boy, you are wrong. I know him personally. I've known him since he first got started in advantage play. He has studied the game and found ways to glean opportunities that most of us garden-variety card counters don't even think about. He is playing high-stakes on a regular basis, in a variety of games. Perhaps he worked at McDonalds while he was in high school, but nowadays he is far more likely to own one, if he ever decided to invest his winnings in that direction.
"He is no expert, yet he presents himself as such."
YOU and the rest of your swarm don't think he is. The fact that you think he is a redwood does not change the fact that he is a blackwood. Now this does not mean you are not an expert MB, and there is more than enough room for a dozen experts here, so long as they don't go into a witchunting rant when someone steps in on their posting game. The fact that he is more mature than you are would make anyone think that what he says will be closer to fact, if not fact itself, than the words that you speak. Turn your ego switch off for a while and relax. You are not the LAPD of BJ21.
BL, Chappy is not saying MB is a fry clerk, just that KB is not one. It is not a mutually exclusive event.
If you play at high limits at all, saying that you should not find legal ways to avoid being CTR'ed is absurd. You would be getting a small, small fraction of your EV. It is akin to saying that after losing a few double downs, you are against doubling down and thus should avoid doubling down at all costs.
This is what Kevin Blackwood is advocating. It in no way, shape, or form is an opinion that has any validity when playing high stakes.
Math Boy
