Mohegan Sun report

I spent most of Thankgiving at Mohegan Sun, it was my first visit (I usually do Vegas 1 or 2x a year).
The place was nice, and the BJ rules were fine for me, deal Stands on Soft 17, DAS etc. All games seemed to be 6 decks, since I play KO, this was fine with me.
I played for a few hours and did fairly well, I am only a red player, but due to the selection of tables I was a 15 minimum table.(I played a Max bet of $50 on good counts.)

I am heading to Vegas for X-mas, anyone have any recommendations?
Or thoughts on KO vs. Hi-Low?

Also, this was my first time counting in a casino, I usually just play basic stategy...I was pretty comfortable and was able to joke with the deal, boss, etc... and only lost the count towards the end of 2 shoes. Does anyone have any advice on keeping up with real play? Besides practice, practice, practice?

You posted:
. All games seemed to be 6 decks, since I play KO, this was fine with me.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but many tables are 8-deck.
Also, there are MANY tables with those Damn Continuous Shuffle machines!!!!!

BTW, you didn't mention the DELICIOUS cuts! Can you say 2.0 to 2.5 decks cut off from 6?? Or 2.5 to 3.0 cut off from 8?

The casino as a whole is as nice as most major LV Strip casinos, but
the penetration on the BJ is ATROCIOUS!

Best of luck,
Shoe

With 1 unit bet of $15 then you were falling way short of where your max-bet should have been.
1-12 to 1-20 spread on the shoes is generally considered necessary. Of course, this is also assuming you are getting decent pen which you probably weren't at the Mohegan. In short, you were playing a losing game.

To have any success at those types of places you would need to
1 - increase spread
2 - wong aggressively (my strategy of choice)
3 - make sure you aren't playing at a CSM
4 - shop within the casino for best pen (although it is likely to be consistently bad there).

Good luck

They Watch for that BIG bet spread. Enough said.

Also, with the LOUSEY Pen, there is the frustrating phenomenon of the
"money" cards remaining behind the cut card with the counter betting up into GARBAGE!!!! I can't tell you how many times I have LOST there due to that!

MS has unbeatable games, UNLESS one is Well-financed to withstand the fluctuations associated with the HUGE spread required to beat this game, that IS, IF one can get away with such a spread.

Best of luck playing in that cesspool!

Cheers
Shoe

Thanks for the advice,
I did tour the place 2x before sitting down and didn't see a single csm or 8-deck game...but yup the penetration was crap, like One_more_shoe said the cut about 2 decks. One little thing I did like was that they show you the first burn card...

I realize that my spread was weak...this was my first time out trying to count, I am more than comfortable at the tables and my basic stratigy is solid but I didn't want to throw around large bets until I am more sure of my counting....I know I lost it a couple of times...

Does anyone know if Foxwoods penetration is any better?

HMMM

Sounds like you were ONLY in the Casino of the SKY and not the original Casino or Casino of the Earth. Casino of the SKY has MOST of the 8-deck games and only a few CSMs. Casino of the Earth has most of the 6-deck games but MANY csms.

Here is what I found a few weeks ago:

Casino of the Earth

High Stakes Pit

16 6-deck games, manually shuffled

Original 8-deck pit

6 8-deck Blackjack Bonanza tables

Wolf Den Area, old 6-deck pits and adjacent pit

6 Continuous Shuffle machines * I have a report that additional
tables were converted to CSM!!!!
26 6-deck games, manually shuffled

Total: 54

Casino of the Sky

High Stakes Pit

3 6-deck Face Down games with regular Shuffle Master Machines
17 6-deck games, manually shuffled

6-deck pit near entrance to shops

10 6-deck games, manually shuffled

Non-Smoking pit

2 continuous shuffle machine tables
3 8-deck games, manually shuffled
3 8-deck blackjack bonanza tables

2 small pits near bar

5 8-deck games, manually shuffled
5 8-deck games, manually shuffled

8-deck pit near garage entrance

10 8-deck games, manually shuffled

total: 58

Casino Total: 112 tables

As a new counter, you "may" not be as skilled determining 6 decks
vs. 8 decks. They use the same SIZE discard rack for each.

Best of luck!
Shoe

The pen is a "bit" better at Foxwoods, BUT the CROWDS are worse!
FW artifically KEEPS the BJ tables FULL! Have fun, especially if you intend to Wong. Let's face it, they make it very very tough, if not impossible for us to win!

Cheers
Shoe

Yup, I was only in the one casino.

I only played at 1 table and am still pretty confident that it was a 6 deck...any advice on how to tell the difference? Would simply asking how many decks it is seem odd??? If am wrong then obviously my count was crap and I am somewhat lucky to have not lost money.

Like I said earlier, this was my first run in a casino, so I am trying to work out any stupid things. (counting the wrong number of decks is definately one). So I do appriciate advice.

If it was near the entrance to the mall of shops and had 10 tables
and it was a Friday night, Saturday or Sunday, then you were at a
6 deck table. If it was not there or it was during the week, unless you were in the high stakes pit, you were at an 8-deck game.

Other than getting 14 decks of cards, count the number of cards to
come out in a shoe and then estimate the # of cards behind the cut card. Should be OBVIOUS if it is 6 or 8 decks.

In any case, It should be quite obvious at shuffle time which is which.

Btw, when I was a raw rookie, before I learned to count, I honestly
could not tell the difference. Simply due to lack of experience and
not having played 6-deck games at the time.

Play some 6-deck and 8-deck shoes, the difference becomes like night and day!!!! Simple.

Cheers and best of luck,
Shoe