Been reading the board now for sometime and been playing blackjack now for about a year. I'm completely fascinated in the art of card counting, how AP's use it to make a living at the game, the cover the use to get away with it and the stories they have from trying to make a living at the casinos expense. My new favorite book is now of course "Bringing Down the House".
Though I haven't taken the steps to become a counter.............yet, I do love the game and got hooked after playing for the first time in a casino about a year ago. After a few lucky nights in the beginning I proceeded to get my ass handed to me and realized I had to do some research and learning about this game if I wanted to play and not get killed. Through my research I read all about card counting but just didn't have the time needed to invest in it so I learned basic strategy cold for sd, dd, shoe games and implemented my betting strategy and started going back. I still had losing sessions as is expected since I'm still playing at a disadvantage but actually had several winning sessions with bs and progression betting and recouped some of my losses.
Had a trip planned to Phoenix for a while now with a two day pit stop in Vegas beforehand and have stayed out of the casinos saving money up to hit Vegas hard and see what I could do.
Rolled in last Wednesday morning and got to Harrah's and checked in about 11:30 A.M. On our way up to the room I just couldn't ignore the sounds, smell and lights of the casino and told my buddies I wanted to make a quick score on $25 SD BJ. I buy in for 4 quarters and wouldn't you know it, the dealer is throwing me 20 after 20 and in a minute I'm up 150.00. The dealer hit a blackjack on the next hand so now I'm down to 125.00. I decide that's a good enough start, throw him a 25.00 toke and cash out up 100.00. Total winnings: 100.00
We chill in the room for awhile, hit the pool and make our way over to the Rio for the worst steak dinner I've ever had at The All American Bar and Grille. On to the Palms wher we find an unoccupied 10.00 table. Things start off back and forth for a while and right when I get on a roll some a-hole wanders over to the table and plays 3 20.00 hands pounding on the table in frustration each time as the dealer kicks his ass. What do you expect when you double on A5 v 10?? Not knowing he was gonna cruise I tell my buddies to get ready to get up cause I'm not in the mood for this. Luckily he leaves and I don't have to because things start rolling. All my doubles and splits are working, the dealer is breaking 75% of the time on her bust card and towards the end of the shoe I'm playing two circles and up about 675.00. It's almost midnight and we wanna head to Ghostbar so I make a final 75.00 bet, lose, throw the dealer a 50.00 toke and cash out up 550.00. Total winnings: 650.00. I'm a happy man!!!
Don't know if cc's hit the bars/clubs while in Vegas but you should!!! Ghostbar is about the coolest place I've ever been in and polish off the greygoose and tonics overlooking the Vegas strip thinking life can't possibly be this good.
On to Rum Jungle in Mandaly Bay and it was frickin dead so we hit the tables and proceed to just keep things about even and cash out up 10.00. Now up 675.00 total. We finish up with drinks at the Bellagio at a bar near the tables and then breakfast at Harrah's and are heading up to the room about 5:30 A.M. when I feel the need to go back out to the floor and see if my luck is still there and it is. I'm up a 100.00 real quick but unfortunatley the table is filled with Asians all yelling at each other in the home language especially a couple whose husband got pissed when the wife split 4's against a 10 but somehow eneded up winning both hands. It's late, this is annoying the crap out of me so I throw the dealer a 5.00 toke and cash out a 100.00 up. Total winnings: 765.00
Thursday early afternoon rolls around, we wake up, take a walk up and down the strip and end up and the Aladdin where a buddy of mine wants to see a friend who works there and I find my first 5.00 table. I tell my friends I'm gonna hang out and see how my luck is and figure a 5.00 table will be safe and I can protect my earnings for the night ahead. Things are staying about even and all is well except for the jerkoff next to me who can't help but to yell out $hit, #uck, jesus and everything else everytime the dealer throws him something $hitty against a 10. After trying to catch his eye with a couple of "you're the biggest tool I've ever seen" glances and him not catching it I give the dealer a 5.00 toke and cash out up 55.00, happy that will buy me a nice dinner tonight. Total winnings: 820.00
Chilling in the hotel around 7:00 waiting to get showered up and head out for a nice dinner my buddy says he's gonna take a walk and comes back up to the room quickly announcing they've opened the carnival court area outside, they've got outdoor blackjack and the dealers are frickin hot and scantilly clad. Dinner?? Who needs friggin dinner. We get ready quickly, go to Chipolte next door and hit the 5.00 SD BJ tables outside. Slamming 1.00 Corona's in the beautiful early night air I probably get up about 45.00 but tip out about 35.00 of that cause I'm having such a good time and the dealers are hot. Cash out 10.00 up. Total winnings: 830.00
We make our way over to Caesar's and have a couple quick drinks at some bar right at the end of the complex before you hit the strip, decide it's lame and need to head to a bar we saw earlier that turned out to be called Shadow. Before we go in I notice a roulette table and while knowing little about the game, not that it's that complicated, know that you can just bet on red or black. I slip my buddy a 100.00 and tell him to put it on black............and guess what. It did!!! I own this town!!! My buddy shoots me a "You suck" look at all my good fortune and I tell him that's our drinking money inside. Total winnings: 930.00
We go inside and soon after my buddy rolls up on this group of hot females who turn out to be on vacation from Mexico. I'm buying drinks and a round of patrons and the buzz on is in full effect. The girls are leaving for Light at the Bellagio and tell us to meet them over there. We decide we don't wanna follow them over like a bunch of stalkers so we hang out for a while longer and on the way out I throw 200.00 down on the same roulette wheel on black and it hits on green. Not knowing the game I think this is a push in bj and laugh my ass off finding out it's not. The roulette dude starts laughing at how hard I'm laughing at just dropping 200.00 bucks. Total winnings: 730.00 Side note; I found out the next day that if I had bet that 200 on green I would of won like 7000.00 dollars. DOH!!!!!
We make our way over to Light and find our girls from Shadow in line. I've got my buzz on working and don't wanna lose it in this line waiting/hoping we get in so I give my buddy a 100.00 to give to the door guy to speed things up. My buddy proceeds to mush it against his forehead and one of the door guys must of seen it cause he motions us up, asks how many and in we go. The club is kicking and I take a stroll around to see if I can get something working. I'm on my phone texting somebody when for some still unknown reason some guy comes up and gives me one hell of a fore-arm shiver to the back and after a quick heated exchange I tackle him and proceed to get escorted out.
Not ready to go home I'm hitting casinos on the way home jumping in and out of tables and just breaking even. I end up back at Harrah's and proceed to get my ass kicked on a shoe game losing 200.00 Total winnings: 530.00
Not ready to give up yet I make my way to a sd game and proceed to get stomped down again losing another 200.00 Total winnings: 330.00.
I head up to the room planning on calling it a night but the liquor takes over and I grab 200.00 more and head back downstairs to find a shoe game. Took me about 1.5 hrs but I come back about 350.00 of the 400 I just lost. Total winnings: 680.00
Friday is check out day and we hit the sportsbook to parlay some college football games, I pick my parlay, throw down my 200 at 12-1 odds and go to make a final push on a 10.00 shoe game. I have the table to myself when this obnoxious group of chicks show up who just got into town and of course they are all giddy and ready to have fun and proceed to whoop it up at the table, high fiving everybody everytime someone gets a blackjack or doubles down and wins on a 10.00 bet singing to every song playing in the background. I'm down about 70.00 from the 150.00 buy in and decide this is too much so I go all in on the rest of my chips and lose. Total winnings minus the parlay bet also which won't come in until tomorrow: 330.00
I proceed to lost my parlay bet the next day. 3 of my picks came in and the one that didn't was favored -12.5 and won by ten but missed two field goals that would of covered the spread. Hey buddy, those misses cost me 2200.00!!!!!
Found a casino in Phoenix on the final night and won a 100.00 but had to sit next to some lowlife who everytime he won tried to throw up an extra chip on his stack hoping the dealer wouldn't notice while he was paying everybody else off causing the pit boss to come over and watch the table about the whole time I was at it. Toatl winnings: 430.00
I swear to god, the reason I don't play more is not because I'm afraid to lose......well that is actually it, but the scum you have to put up with at these tables alot of the time is also a big part of not playing more.
All in all it was an excellent trip, didn't get my butt handed to me and came out a few dollars ahead. After buying drinks and getting us into Light and playing my parlay I only came home with probaly 100.00 in actual winnings but I came back with all the money I had allotted for gambling and that in itself feels like a win.
Like I said. I'm fascinated with the whole card counting thing and could have a 5000.00 bankroll put together after the first of the year and become a red chip recreational player if I can find the time and desire to learn to count. In the meantime, I'll make my periodic trips to the casino to play recreationally, learn what I can about the game to implement in my bs, progression betting play and continue to read the boards for stories from the pros on how it's really done.
