to give or not to give (players card)

I was playing at this Missouri casino. dd, h17, das, about 55% penetration. Nothing great, but this was heads up and surprising number of high counts came up. I had predetermined to not provide my card. This is MO, where you cannot be barred for counting, but on my last visit at 6d, some calls from pit, and the 80% pen at 6 deck turned to 50%. At one point, I was getting big cash coupons and free room offers even after being identified. The big coupons appeared to be tied to a big loss I took.

After about 2 hours, I was down about $5,000 and about ready to toss in the towel I decided to go ahead and ask new pit boss- did you get my card (even though I had already declined a few times). Almost the next hand, a load of small cards came out, and count turned big positive. Some big wins, then $800 bet, split hands, double down. Within minutes, the $5000 loss turned into $1000 win and pit boss on the phone.

Left without incident. I guess no cash back offers this time. Wish I had decline on the card now, but you never know when how the session will go.

I don't know where this rumor about not being barred from MO for counting started, but I have personally had several counters barred from MO casinos back in the day. MO has a strong innkeeper law, so I don't know where your info comes from.

Missouri cannot legally bar counters as per their gaming regulations. They can however take other countermeasures, the main one being to cut the shoe in half. You can be barred from Missouri casinos though for creating a disturbance or other reasons (many of which are the same ones which any private establishment can refuse service).

don't believe it. Missouri used to have the weird $500 buy in limit and players would get in trouble and a few were evicted for buying/selling chips to other players. One of more of these may have been counting.
I knew times I and others have been threatened- "if you bet more than $50, we will shuffle". that is not backing off.

Go to one of them and spread $25-2000. Guarantee you won't get backed off for that.

Even if you can't get barred in that state, why risk overexposing yourself and having playing conditions deteriorate? They've already identified you and have taken countermeasures (half shoe in 6D) which makes 6D unplayable.

You should have spread your playing throughout the three shifts if possible and kept your sessions 45-60 minutes as recommended in the books.

Also, you were in 5k, which is terribly high for 25 min or lower. Unit-wise, you were down 200 units and got back 160. Way too big of a swing. And you had your bet up to 800, which is a 1-32 spread if the minimum is 25. Don't get carried away or greedy just because they can't bar you in that state.

What's your reasoning for using a card? The big cash coupons and hotel offers? Ask yourself if you're there to make money or if you're there for comps and hotel rooms.

Your other option is to try their DD game. If it's pitch, the PB might tell the dealer to shuffle as soon as you raise your bet dramatically.

Your gig at that casino might be done for awhile. Try staying away from there for 3-6 months. If they recognize you after that time, move on.

Sorry for the delayed response, but cash back, coupons, comps, etc make up an important part of the equation especially at the mid and high stakes.

I took a 2 day trip to Reno. Airfare about $300 + $100 car. and uncomped room and meals would have been about another $200-300. I played about 16 hours at generally mediocre games for short stints (sd H17 with house advantage of about 0.40% and dd H17 with house advantage of about 0.52%). I probably played at an average expectation of about $50/hr. So I barely would have made enough to cover expenses.

Why did it go? I had used players card at most places (except where my card is blacklisted from other properties. I had $500 free play + room + food comps at SL, $600 free play + $1200 loss rebate + about $100 in points play, $1200 in match play from one, about $50 from one + about $40 in points play. The value of my comps/coupons far exceeded my expectation compared to playing blackjack. And I did schedule this as wisely as I could have- had I been able to go on last day of month and extend into next I would have raked in more.

Second, not giving a card and playing high stakes is often a quick boot. Give them a real card and they will often let you play and watch and give you some hours and then watch the tape before booting you.