My first black/purple game
Now, risk of ruin aside, let me tell you how well you get treated in the $100 pit. Not only are there a whole bunch of empty tables constantly open for me to play 1v1, but (a) the dealers are awesome. Friendly, conversational, and very good at dealing. 300 hands an hour easily if playing alone, which I was... (b) I asked for concert tickets, got them. (c) I asked to get a hotel stay extended one night, the response was "no problem, sir, let me do that for your right now". (d) hot towel service, drinks in large glasses, etc. etc.
At first, I was spreading 1-3. It went OK, but not great. After an hour, I was down $500. I decided to stay, and got a really good shoe. I was still spreading only 1-3. After gains of over 2k, on a $100 bet, I got dealt 2,3 vs 2. I end up drawing a 4, 3, 5 for a total of 17. Dealer draws an incredibly exciting 7-card 22. There were two aces in there, but all baby cards otherwise. So phew, I win. But heart is racing and that's when I thought, now or never, and put my first purple down. I get blackjack. There are no words that describe the feeling of winning a big bet because you knew you played it at the right time. A friendly floor was watching and asks, "wow! how did you know?" and my response to her is "oh the dealer and I have this thing - he tells me that BJ is coming up in advance. It's just that sometimes he is the one who gets it" and everyone laughs.
I come back down to $200 bets, win most, lose a few, and finish the shoe at an incredible +5k. For a single shoe. The entire time, it was an awesome exchange between me and the dealer, the two of us telling the floor to keep watching because she was lucky, and then after that made me lose we told her to go away. All very excellent spirits. Her reaction at least looked like, pff silly kid, whatever... This was easily one of the most fun times I ever had at a table, let alone my biggest single-shoe win ever...
Of course, I kept playing. The next two shoes were good, but not as excellent. I ended up putting up a purple bet three additional times, and won those. Near the end of the shoe after that, I had a purple double-down which I lost. That's when I called it and went to bed, giddy like a school girl.
Would I do it again? well -- it's still very risky given my (replenishable) bankroll. But my gambling money is an experiment and I don't depend on that income, so I am pretty sure that yes, I will try again. But only under those conditions - friendly dealer, quick deals, 1-on-1. In the mean time, though, I'll stick to the $50 tables. I know that the 1-5 spread isn't as aggressive as some people may be pushing for, but I find it to be extremely effective...
Quote: arcticfunI stayed a couple of nights at Mohegan Sun toward the end of last week (S17, BJ 3:2, split infinitely except 10s, DAS, double any 2 cards, split aces get one card (no RSA), late surrender, penetration between 1-2 decks out of 6). I had had two excellent runs recently playing $50-$250 with total wins over 10k. On this last visit, I played some of the same and stayed neutral for a full day (swings of +/- 2k) so I decided to see what playing $100min would be like. The plan was to have a reasonable stop loss, even though "they are for ploppies", risking only a small portion of the money I had won on prior nights.
Now, risk of ruin aside, let me tell you how well you get treated in the $100 pit. Not only are there a whole bunch of empty tables constantly open for me to play 1v1, but (a) the dealers are awesome. Friendly, conversational, and very good at dealing. 300 hands an hour easily if playing alone, which I was... (b) I asked for concert tickets, got them. (c) I asked to get a hotel stay extended one night, the response was "no problem, sir, let me do that for your right now". (d) hot towel service, drinks in large glasses, etc. etc.
At first, I was spreading 1-3. It went OK, but not great. After an hour, I was down $500. I decided to stay, and got a really good shoe. I was still spreading only 1-3. After gains of over 2k, on a $100 bet, I got dealt 2,3 vs 2. I end up drawing a 4, 3, 5 for a total of 17. Dealer draws an incredibly exciting 7-card 22. There were two aces in there, but all baby cards otherwise. So phew, I win. But heart is racing and that's when I thought, now or never, and put my first purple down. I get blackjack. There are no words that describe the feeling of winning a big bet because you knew you played it at the right time. A friendly floor was watching and asks, "wow! how did you know?" and my response to her is "oh the dealer and I have this thing - he tells me that BJ is coming up in advance. It's just that sometimes he is the one who gets it" and everyone laughs.
I come back down to $200 bets, win most, lose a few, and finish the shoe at an incredible +5k. For a single shoe. The entire time, it was an awesome exchange between me and the dealer, the two of us telling the floor to keep watching because she was lucky, and then after that made me lose we told her to go away. All very excellent spirits. Her reaction at least looked like, pff silly kid, whatever... This was easily one of the most fun times I ever had at a table, let alone my biggest single-shoe win ever...
Of course, I kept playing. The next two shoes were good, but not as excellent. I ended up putting up a purple bet three additional times, and won those. Near the end of the shoe after that, I had a purple double-down which I lost. That's when I called it and went to bed, giddy like a school girl.
Would I do it again? well -- it's still very risky given my (replenishable) bankroll. But my gambling money is an experiment and I don't depend on that income, so I am pretty sure that yes, I will try again. But only under those conditions - friendly dealer, quick deals, 1-on-1. In the mean time, though, I'll stick to the $50 tables. I know that the 1-5 spread isn't as aggressive as some people may be pushing for, but I find it to be extremely effective...
When I read the title of your post I thought, Oh no. Another player gets roughed up. Just kidding. Great story.
Quote: arcticfunpenetration between 1-2 decks out of 6
Do you mean, they only deal 1-2 decks before they shuffle, or they put the cut card 1-2 decks from the end (dealing 4-5 decks?)
I'm sure that is correct, only a paranoid casino would put the cut card 1-2 decks from the front.Quote: AxiomOfChoiceDo you mean, they only deal 1-2 decks before they shuffle, or they put the cut card 1-2 decks from the end (dealing 4-5 decks?)
Those "Barnies" are good things, particularly when you win with them. The clever banter is good too. They won't suspect you of counting when you want the floor to be there and you are cracking jokes.
Seriously. that is awesome. I'm getting ready for my annual trip this aug and stories like this are fun to red while waiting in anticipation.
Well, can't be too careful around Advantage Players.
Oh minimum bet $5 maximum bet $5
Cashing in was painless. The total amount was 18k and change. They asked for my player's card and ID. Determined that I didn't have any markers, double-counted the bills with a second person present, and handed everything to me. No questions, no accusations, nothing of any sort. The cash cages aren't very private at MS unless you're playing on the 39th floor or whatever ... (10k per hand?) so I was careful to go when no one else was around -- around 8am Sunday morning.
Quote: BuzzardGolden Gates casino had a BJ pit for a while. Lasted about 4 months. How's this for being paranoid ? DD, but cut card in the center or a few cards towards the front of center. Deal 3 hands at full table. Shuffle 2 decks, Repeat Insanity.
Well, can't be too careful around Advantage Players.
Oh minimum bet $5 maximum bet $5
Oh, gimme a break. Flat bet for everyone? How paranoid can one casino be?
OP: great story. I hope to be able to do an excursion like yours one day.
when you are winning.
If you begin losing, that witty banter with the dealer and PB's becomes grating!
Wishing you positive variance.
Quote: RSYou were spreading 1-3 and 1-5 on a shoe game? That's...interesting...
It's still +EV just not as much as most people want to get.
Quote: geoffIt's still +EV just not as much as most people want to get.
Is it really? Maybe with very aggressive wonging out...
If you just want to have some fun, have some big swings, and break even in the long term, and get some free vacations out of it, it's fine. There is nothing wrong with this approach!! I don't think that you are going to make real money going 1-3 or 1-5 here though.
Quote: AxiomOfChoiceIs it really? Maybe with very aggressive wonging out...
If you just want to have some fun, have some big swings, and break even in the long term, and get some free vacations out of it, it's fine. There is nothing wrong with this approach!! I don't think that you are going to make real money going 1-3 or 1-5 here though.
I'm showing a 1-3 spread as worth about 1/3 the EV of 1-16 with about double the RoR. If it's for a hobby or trying to play a break even game for comps it could be worthwhile maybe.
