Playing professionally

Hi, and thanks again for your response, which confirmed what I had suspected. There are several single deck games in my area, but generally only in small houses with less than 10 tables. Couple of questions, Professional Blackjack reccomends not playing small houses, and one of the books I read mentioned that single deck games are easier to cheat at (due to 2nds). Is this a significant danger, or is it worth the gain in advantage to play single deck games exclusively? What about if the only one I can find is in a small house? Do I still go for the single deck game? Also, you reccomended a book on cheating, and I just wonder, does it describe how to watch for 2nds? I've never actually seen it demonstrated, so though I could watch, it might be hard to know when its right in front of my face since I have no idea really what to look for. It would be great to make friends with a skillful dealer who could show the ropes of the other side of the table...

Have a great evening, and thanks again.

Jon

enough or not depend on where you play and your skill level including tracking techniques (which rely heavily, again, on where you play... US casinos shuffles are more difficult to track...) You are asking tough questions and I don't have enough time to answer, will reaponse later.

provide some info based on my experience which is non-US, non-team and non-whites:) Card counting techniques spread from US to other parts of world. There are many countries/casinos not as sophisticated as US especially on cards shuffling designs. A counter/tracker thus may make higher profit at those places. How much he/she can make? It depends... on capital and skills. Skills in counting, tracking, and avoiding cheatings. I believe I came across about 10 cheatings in my playing career of about 12,000 hours in 380 casinos. Stop loss is a method of avoiding heavy loss on cheatings. How they cheat? How do I know? Experiences... I was cheated by short shoe once, which was easy to detect: You get LOTS plus 20 counts... I was cheated by deal second which is difficult. Other methods are selective up cards and hi/lo picks... there are books on this subject and some casions follow those books... Many countries have good rules and rebate programs which make their games positive off the top. You can't find these places at books, you have to do leg works yourself or know some people did, perhaps marry their sisters... Give them some reasons to tell you their candy stores... If you find one, you have been barred, you may use them to trade but do know who you are dealing with... Some will not keep their words or simply have none to trade. Good Luck, you need it.

when you say that Red Bored says that there really isn't that many great games left anymore anyways. True the games have changed, but there are still plenty of great games to be played in this game we all love. Basically, i think that any casino that deals you at least 4/6 decks in a shoe or at least 6/8 is still good enough. Cause there are still many many games worse than this being offered and it's sickening i know. I'm not saying that i would rather play these types of games, of course not i would be nuts, but many many blackjack games, even with penetration like i mentioned are beatable and for good EV with lower risk than one would think. You just have to know how to beat them.

I guess that being new at playing blackjack half a year for major income purposes has taught me alot. Not to mention TONS of stuff that i have learned from the real knowledgeable selected few that we are lucky to get good advice from on here on a daily basis. My advice for Jon is to really play at low stakes for a while, cause i have read your posts and with the questions you are asking, you aren't ready to play blackjack for serious money. This isn't a knock to you cause i have no doubt that you can do it if you work hard at it, and really want to do it. I know you said you will give it a 6 month trial, but give it more, trust me. When you first hit that downward swing towards your roll, you won't know what hit you period, it's a bad feeling.

There is nothing like experience at this game. Like anything else, it is something no book can teach you. Getting the play and understanding of the math of the game isn't easy, but it is so much easier than handling the stress of being allowed to keep playing. This is where you must be able to act purely on instinct, once again a book can't help u here. Every situation is different so nobody here can really help you out on that either as we have to deal with this ourselves. I just got back from a trip this week and had a pit boss do everything but flat out ask me if i was counting the cards while staring at me intently the whole time and waiting for me to make an advanced play that would give him what he wanted so he can be assured and toss me. Can you deal with this??? Cause i can honestly say that at first i couldn't, and i'm sure most on here can agree with this.

Setting up a bankroll and knowing how to size your bets are one thing, but knowing how to beat most games out there is another thing altogether. Many games aren't worth a shit out there, but many that lots of posters on here would never dream of playing aren't as bad as they think. It's just that the game isn't worth playing it their way, with their bankroll, their spread, their overall approach. Lot's of the posters on here only play a few times a year so i can't blame them for only looking for the games with the highest EV, but at the same time that doesn't make games of lower quality unbeatable. You just have to learn how to make those games beatable to an acceptable EV and risk of ruin to your bankroll as well. Once again experience and further knowledge of this game will help you along. I hate it when gamblers who go to poker from blackjack say that blackjack is boring compared to poker cause poker always presents different situations and a never-ending strategy. Bullshit!!! Any professional blackjack player who is really earning from this game know's that one's strategy must change on a consistent basis to make it at this game, otherwise you won't.

I can go on forever with this it seems, but once again i want you to know that i am not knocking you but am giving you advice off someone who knows what it is like to think you know it all at this game and barely lose it all cause of it....ME!!! I know so much more about blackjack than when i thought i did a few years ago and still want to learn more and more to become an even better player. So, good luck to you and i hope you really put in the time to tackle this hard cause otherwise you are wasting your time and money.

regards,

table

I'll let Kyle know that there are many good games that exist....and they certainly are not 4/6.

4/6 blackjack is a terrible game. There are too many casinos offering a better game,so I wouldn't waste my time on 4/6 unless this is the only choice you have.

i KNOW that 4/6 is a terrible game and trust me i don't spend much time playing games like that. But given the right circumstances and knowing how to attack it, can yield a good game for you. Good luck to you.

regards,

table

Don't give out your full name on a public bulletin board that can be read by any casino employee who feels bored.

I have conclusively seen cheating. The dealer was dealing seconds and a card got stuck as he dealt it. It was hanging between the top card and the rest of the deck as he stood there and looked stupid. He finished his deal and nobody said a word, I think the other players were too dumb to understand what had just happened. Me, I left.

The dealer's name was Jim, a young, thin, dark-haired kid, and this was at the Atlantis (might have still been called the Clarion at the time, I forget) in Reno in the mid-1990s.

BJTraveller, we met a few years ago at a party in Vegas when you were posting under another name. It was a real trip talking to you. Have you ever been cheated out of a shoe without it being a cooler or short? Have you ever had anything like seconds dealt out of a shoe? How much shoe cheating have you seen that is not real easy to detect? Thanks.

Math Boy

Tableburner,

Thanks for the long response. I appreciate any advice anyone gives me no matter if it is agreeing or not. When I refered to Red Bored's quote of games being poor I just meant that in the past the games were much more profitable than now. I very much agree with you when you say that a 4/6 or 6/8 at least is a profitable situation. If I didn't believe that than I wouldn't be putting in the practice time I am now.

Furthermore, I do know how much dedication and practice it takes to be competent and successful. I am also very aware of Standard Deviation and the chances of taking a huge hit in your bankroll. Moreover, when I fist signed on to this forum I had a gameplan. This plan is changing as more and more knowledge becomes avaible to me. I do not plan to play for serious money untill I get at least a year in small stakes. A previous response of mine would say otherwise. So I thank you for your response and it is because of the knowledge that is shared here I will succeed.

Kyle

Ofcourse a 4/6 isn't a very profitable game unless you know how to attack it and being in the right circumstances. I would like to know what are those circumstances for you and how do you go about attacking them?

but you give me too much credit, as i am still learning VERY MUCH at this game. I cannot go into detail about the "tactics" needed to beat mediocre penetrated games. It's not like this is a secret, and the pros on this board i am sure get some kind of idea of what i am talking about. All i can say is that casino's with lots of tables can be used to your advantage and team play doesn't even come in to affect with what i am saying. But trust me, if you keep thinking about it and studying the games and how each one should be beaten, i'm sure you will figure it out. Good Luck!!!

regards,

table