new in town...

Hi there. I'm new to BJ - I've got about 100 hours of practice as AP under my belt so far, with constant reading of recommended books. I'm teaching myself both Hi-Lo and KO to see which one sticks best and I find easier in working practice. I use both Casino Verite software and cards themselves to practice, using the Youtube videos from blackjackapprenticeship as assistance. For me, I just enjoy playing the game and stumbled upon AP whilst googling how to improve at BJ.

I don't feel ready to play in a casino yet and at this stage I wouldn't be ready, just overeager (at least in my opinion). I'd ideally like to give myself another few weeks practicing. I'm off work with injury (paid! So at least I have a renewable bankroll) at the moment so really I've got nothing but time; this is at least distracting me and keeping my brain working in the meantime. But at what point did you know you were ready to go into a casino? Did you just bite the bullet?

I don't know if this is permissable here, but I'm in the north of the UK in a large city with approx 3-4 casinos nearby. From what I've read online, deck pen seems to have a reputation in parts of the UK for not being entirely great, but we seem to lack CSMs. Out of all websites, I can only find one that prints their rules - it looks good, its a Caesers. Would it be acceptable to just go into a casino and casually observe the table with the cover of having a few drinks with friends etc? I don't think they'd respond favourably to me calling up and asking 'soooo... whats the penetration like?' I'd ask for recommendations as I don't mind travelling and making a trip out of it but I don't know if its against rules for ask anyone to do anything that could make them identifiable. And I guess where I am could be that kind of place.

Apologies in advance for how green I must sound.

I went into a casino to play it was overwhelming for about a half hour. I was doing an ace side count and I didn't see how anybody could do it with the noise, hot waitresses, people walking by you, etc. It all just comes together quick. Can you take a deck and throw two cards out at a time, cancelling out high v low cards and go through a deck with no errors? Can you do it with three cards at a time? If you can do that with the tv blaring you should be okay in a casino. Also, if you are playing with bad pen, don't get your hopes up.

Check out Blackjack Bluebook II by Fred Renzey. I've been using the KISS III count described in his book for years-and it sure works for me.

Buy a copy of Current Blackjack News (CBJN) from this site. It will give you a wealth of information about games, rules, and penetration.

Get the blackjack game CVBJ from www.qfit.com and practice. You can crank up the speeds of play above what actually occurs at the table to get you used to the speed of play.

Know whatever system you are playing cold.

If you want to test the waters, there are casinos like El Cortez that have $3 tables, at least part of the time. Even though El Cortez has the well deserved nickname "sweaty Spaniard", if you keep your spread small you should be able to play at that level for long enough to get some real table experience without risking significant money.

Lol - there is my half deaf father in law with the TV blaring who enjoys calling over "how are you getting over with your game, love?" in between the wife shouting about being a blackjack widow... I just need to convince my other half to dress up as a cocktail waitress and I'll be set ;)

Seriously though - I can count down at a reasonable speed, but as always, I'd like to improve on it. Bad pen is one of my big worries.

Thanks for that. I was looking at Green Chip membership, even just for a month as a suck it and see - for �6 a month its about the cost of a book/a couple of coffees with pretty much a wealth of info with access to the newsletter you mentioned.

I'm in the UK at the minute, but I'm trying to arrange a vacation to Vegas just for the experience if nothing else. So I'll bear El Cortez in mind. The $3 table tip is a good one for here though, thank you - one of the casinos I was looking at has tables starting at �2, so I was going to stick with that to test the water. I still need more home practice in before a casino, so thank God for CVBJ. I don't think you can ever practice enough.

So what if you lose a few bucks. Go see if you like the game. It was almost 30 years ago when I played my first hand of blackjack, and I knew right there and then that I loved the game.

I was no way prepared to play the game. I didn't even know the rules. I didn't know what double down meant and I surely didn't know what to do when the dealer asked for insurance. Nobody else did or said anything so I did the same as them when the dealer asked for insurance.

Oh by the way, I bought in for $20 and played a $2 game. In about 20 minutes I lost my entire buy in of $20.

I played at the Spaniard back in '77 at a dollar table. Bought in for $20, then another 20, and got backed off when I was up a whopping $17 spreading 1-2. 57 silver dollars made too big a stack for the PC.

You can tell how the pen is by watching the dealer place the cut card.

The biggest problem I had the first few times in a casino was keeping the count. So I stopped trying to vary my bet by the count until I was sure I could keep an accurate count. I just played minimum bets and basic strat. until I was sure I was able to keep the count. Then added bet variation then play variation. Take your time and it will not take long. If you try to put it all together to quickly it might get frustrating.