my first Vegas trip (report)

A little background: I got interested in blackjack only a few months back. After learning basic strategy, I bought a copy of KO Blackjack and read it and practiced. Then I got busy with other things for a couple months, and only started practicing again a few days before my trip last week to Vegas, my first ever. So I'm not that great a counter. I can count down a deck in about 27 seconds. I also bought the newest Current BlackJack News and looked for good games. With my modest budget, I was looking for $5 minimum tables for pitch games (for my 1-5 spread) and maybe some lower minimums for shoe games (1-10 spread). I found about 15 games that interested me and wrote them all down.

I wasn't sure how worried I'd have to be about drawing heat, as I'm only a nickel player. But as I look like a college age Asian kid that ONLY drinks bottled water at the tables, I tried to be low key. I did tip the dealers when I won big, and I tried not to jump directly from 1 to 5 bets.

I started out at the Casino Royale. The CBJN said they have a double deck game with $5 mins that allows DAS. But that must have evaporated since the first of the month. Slightly discouraged, I went to the Stardust, looking for a double deck DAS game with $5 limits. Also gone since the report was generated. Okay, on to Circus Circus. I looked for their double deck DAS $5 game. I couldn't find it. Now I'm starting to worry. Are there NO good games left at low limits? I saw plenty of CSMs all over the place. I even saw one game that LOOKED like a double deck game with decent penetration. But upon closer examination, after the dealer hit the cut card, all cards were put into a CSM type machine, and two decks taken out the front. I was guessing all these cards were mixed inside with other decks, as I have no experience in any of this. I back counted to a +14 RC to the cut card and thought that was quite unlikely in a double deck game that separated the decks.

So finally I go across the way to Slots-A-Fun. I found a double deck, h17,DAS,D8 game here. As I buy in for $100, the dealer checks my ID to see if I'm of age. Sheesh! I sat through quite a few decks where the count never became positive. At this point I thought, "who needs cover play? I've not yet increased my bet." At this point the count suddenly shoots to a +5 so I push my max 5 unit bet out. Dealer shows a 4 to my 10. My heart is pounding as I double. The dealer busts and I feel a rush of excitement. THIS is what it's all about. Pushing the advantage. Shortly after, I leave the game. About 2 hours of play, and I'm up $166.50, or about 35 units. I leave the casino feeling awesome.

The next day I try gambling downtown, as I figure it will be easier to find a good game. I actually found some $5 games at the Horseshoe, but they were gone when I came back to play. I ended up at the Golden Gate where I was able to play heads up with the dealer. She wiped out my initial $40 buy in with a run so strong she was apologetic, and I took this opportunity to leave the table for a drink so she'd shuffle up the now -11 RC deck. When I get back, I buy in for another $40. The second dealer gives me excellent cards. The count hits +8 RC and I throw out 6 units. BlackJack. Excellent! After giving the dealer a $2 toke, I leave the table shortly after with $276. Playtime was about 1 hour 15 mins. Gain of $196 or about 39 units.

I'm now feeling amazingly lucky. Not that I believe in luck, but I know that it is unusual that I've been this successful. I press my luck at the Four Queens. I find a single deck game and sit down at 3rd base. The table is full, so we only get two hands before the shuffle up. I don't see how I can make anything here, as I only have one chance per shuffle for an increased bet. I believe the man standing behind me was back counting, as he was trying to bet with the man to my right. When the bets were low, the dealer ignored him. But on the next deck, the RC was something near a +10 when the man tried to bet a big stack of chips with my fellow player. The dealer called the pit boss over and the pit boss said that he could not raise his bet like that. I lose my $40 pretty fast and decide to try my hand at two deck, which seems to be my game. This was a long and pretty uneventful fun. It was funny hearing a player jokingly accuse the dealer of counting cards when she had several good hands in a row. I laughed too, but for slightly different reasons. I left there up $83.50, more than making up for my $40 loss earlier. But I did play for almost 3 hours in this casino, which I know is not generally a good practice for counters.

That's all the play I got in. So overall, about 6hrs 15 mins of play, winning more than $400, or 80 units for me. Not bad for my virgin trip. I'd say I was remarkably "lucky", and wouldn't expect to be able to repeat those results necessarily. I didn't leave any double deck game a loser, which was very cool. Overall a great trip. Anyone else remember their first trip to Vegas or first try at counting?

D.

A good report for a first-timer. Just a small suggestion. When you post a trip report in the future, you may not want to be as specific about when you were playing and where. While it is unlikely they will remember a red-chip counter, as your betting levels rise, you are more likely to be recalled if you give too much detail.

That said, I'm glad you had a good trip and I wish you many more in the future. I hope you keep posting. You are a good writer and you get down to business.

My first time counting, I lost the count after about two hands and never did get it back. Luckily, I won anyway. If I hadn't, who knows if I'd be writing this today. :-)

Great win on your first trip. Better than I did, though I had a ton of fun on my first trip to LV. Only 2 months ago...

You wrote:
> Anyone else remember their first trip to Vegas or first try at counting?

Here's my tale:

Part 1: http://www.cardcounter.com/best.pl?frames;read=16
Part 2: http://www.cardcounter.com/best.pl?frames;read=15

RC

I've been curious about other people's first experiences as well.

I started getting into blackjack seriously after my first trip to Las Vegas last year. I wasn't a counter, but the game piqued my interest. I was up $6,000 for the trip, but proceeded to give it all back like a good ploppy. ;) Needless to say, I wasn't too thrilled that I had lost that six grand, but I had managed to stay even for the trip. I was pretty determined to get ahead in the game. (Pardon the pun.)

I went out and bought numerous books on blackjack. I bought several decks of cards, a shoe, felt, and chips so that I could practice. I started counting down 1 deck and when I got comfortable with that I moved on to 2 decks. As I got more comfortable counting with a number of decks, I would increase the number of decks. I went on the internet and found several sites that had programs to help with counting. I would also sit with my friend and have him help me practice.

Since I live on the east coast, Atlantic City is where I usually go. I spent the past half year making weekly or biweekly trips to practice on quarter tables. (I happen to have really good income at this time so I could afford quarters instead of having to resort to playing nickels.) I lost along the way, but my skills steadily improved.

Some friends decided to plan a trip to Las Vegas for the end of March into early April. I was game - I had been practicing for the past six months and I was ready to see if it would pay off. I took $10,000 as my bankroll...

I checked into Bellagio with my friends. My first night wasn't too eventful. I managed to make about $600, but the fun was just about to begin. Later I decided to go into the baccarat room to play for higher limits. The play started slow and I only stuck to minimum. But then the count started to run high. I walked away that night with $10,000 on top of my initial bankroll! Over the course of the next 3 days, I made $60,000.

Since then, I've made a number of trips to Atlantic City. I've lost a some money when the count was high since I was black chipping, but I had to swallow it and continue on. I had to trust the numbers. On my most recent trip, I managed to make all the money back and more.

I can only hope I continue to improve as a counter.

-Orange Man
(Some woman gave me this nickname after she witnessed my $500 turn to 18 orange chips - the color for $1,000 chips in Atlantic City.)

Great post devo, and great story Orange Man! Based on your method of nomenclature, I used to be "black to purple man"...after the IRS got theirs, I am now "red to pink man". Trying to work back up to "Greenman" stature.

phantom007.

And ha to phantom007....become an Australian citizen, we don't get taxed ;) but then again we've only got 13 casino's, a few are unplayable, and no pitch games:(

"Anyone else remember their first trip to Vegas or first try at counting? "

Well, you brought back some memories ...

" I sat through quite a few decks where the count never became positive. ...the count suddenly shoots to a +5 so I push my max 5 unit bet out. Dealer shows a 4 to my 10. My heart is pounding as I double. The dealer busts and I feel a rush of excitement. THIS is what it's all about."

Be sure that you keep a copy of this report, so you can read it again a year from now. It's fun to look back at old notes, and see how you used to think in your early days of counting.

Lefty

My first time counting was about 5 months ago. I didn't count the whole time and only played for about 4 hours and ended up breaking even. I was actually ahead but lost it all at one place downtown and at the Stratosphere though I shouldn't have been playing there because they had crappy rules. I've learned alot since then and will be going on my first gambling trip to Laughlin in a week or so. It should be fun, I'll be trying my hand at a tournament or two and go all out for coupons and fun books. I'll try and type out a report when I return.

Sporkboy,

I'd be really interested to hear a young, happenin' guy's take on Laughlin (especially from someone who also plays red). I've never been there and wonder how it compares to Reno -- another low-stakes pitch-game town. Do write up that report. Maybe someday, on one of these trips, you'll become a sporkMAN.

RC

Hmmm, I don't think that sporkman of justice has the same ring to it, defender of the spork sounds better. As for me I'm not even a red chipper yet, I'll be Silver Sporkboy for now until I build some confidence/bankroll. This is really another learning trip for me though I would hope that there will be something to learn on every trip out, if I think I know it all then it's time to quit because I've lost my desire and have become sloppy.

OK I'll do a report but be forewarned that it will probably rotate around food as I like eating there, they have pretty good buffets and decent 1.99 steak sometimes. My plan is as follows: Get to Laughlin about 10:00ish from Los Angeles (about a 5 hour trip), check in and get some food. If time permits I�d like to hit the Laughlin visitors center to get some coupon filled publications and likewise hit the newsstand. I�d also like to start signing up for comp cards and try to get fun books, looking to score some match play coupons here. At noon we�re going to head to the Palms River which I assume is the old Sam�s Club/Gold River to sign up for a 1:00 free blackjack tournament.

After the tournament we�ll go around collecting comp cards and checking out the local conditions taking lots of notes in my little green notepad. From there we�ll play it by ear. Is there anything I�ve missed that I should do before actually sitting down to gamble?

On one continent! Must all be 300 ks apart,so how have you been a pro gambler for the last 2 years!
O i forgot PROGRESSIONS.

What are these coupon books and where can I get them?

I make the silly mistake of mentioning that I happened to be successful with progressions.

Yes, there are only 13 casino's. They tend to be in pairs, and much more than 300kms apart.

You should know that the best casino to play in, Crown, is quite large, so smaller action goes under radar. They have also backed off a bit over the last few years.

Conditions are 85% pen, .55% starting house edge, 350+ tables.

I have also made quite a lot online in the sort time I've been doing it. It helps when you have constant access to different IP addresses/personal info etc.