*Double deck BJ
*3:2 on naturals
*double down on any first two cards
*may double down after splitting
*may not re-split aces, and you only receive one card
*dealer stands on soft 17
*IMO penetration is excellent - about 80% - dealer uses a cut card and places it 15-20 cards from the bottom
Also, some of the dealers are pretty weak and sometimes flash the first burn card. You can also get away with some ticky tacky moves like the moves Carlson describes in his book like the "quadruple down" and the "free hit." The game is for fairly small stakes, but I can bet spread very easily with little or zero heat. I have been spreading $10-80. Or sometimes I will move to two hands of $75 each if there are a few other players. It is also easy to take alot of breaks when the deck goes into big minus counts.
For the bad part, I am expected to tip because I am a casino employee who also works off tips (I deal poker) and some of the dealers and pit crew know me. But this also helps with my camo, as they all think I'm a degenerate gambler and they juice me on my comp ratings. I never tip more than a dollar, but I toke about $5-8 per hour and will give them $3-4 when coloring up after big wins. If I am getting crushed by the dealer, I tip zero.
And I am not good at math, so could anyone give an estimated win rate with my $10-80 spread (no complicated math please). I would also guess the dealers get out about 20% fewer hands due to their lack of experience. I am using the simple hi lo count and use Wongs' strategy numbers from his Prof BJ book (which I adore BTW, thank you Stanford for your great book - I paid the cover price and it's been worth every penny). I only use the strategy numbers for the most common plays i.e. 12v2-6, 13v2-6, 16v10, 16vA, doubling on 9,10,A etc. I take insurance if the true count is +3 or higher and I do a side count of aces. I do lose the count occasionally and just bet small and play BS.
So any opinions on the game and win rate with my toking? Even though I do get "good comp ratings," the comps at these casinos are limited to some bounceback cash and average food comps. Also, what is the bankroll requirement for this game? I currently do not have a $10K roll, but I have started playing with about $2K and this seems small for the swings I have been having, but so far $2K has been enough to keep playing (so far).
Is the game too small to overcome the toke rate?
