I beat A.C.'s 8 deck game for 7 years between 1982-89. A lot of counters say the 8 deck game is not worthwhile but that depends on what your definition of worthwhile is. Every Thursday (my day off) I drove about 4 hours to A.C. and played hi-lo for between 12 and 14 hours straight breaking only to inhale a sandwich. I didn't stay in a hotel I napped in my car. My expenses, gas, tolls and parking were about $40. Now probably about $80. I spread between $5 (or$10) to $60. I got sweated a few times but they never made a strong move to stop me. I believe if I had been spreading $25 to $300 they would have by shuffling early or cutting out half the shoe. A lot of times I just left the table on a high negative count. I won 2 out of 3 times. My biggest win was $1600 and some change my biggest loss was $800 and some change. I averaged $140 per session. It was fun and I made a little. I stopped playing because my next step would be to bet much more and make much more somewhere other than A.C. and I didn't have it in me to do it. What they call "the right stuff." I guess because of inflation they now would tolerate a spread of $15 to $120.
