What's the best table you've ever played at?

Question in the title.

Here's mine:

I found a DD pitch game in Vegas on the strip.
H17
No Surrender
DAS
Up to 4 Splits
No RSA
3:2

The dealer was quick and friendly, but also had the authority to shuffle whenever he wanted as there was no cut card. As I was playing, the topic of card counting came up between me, him, and the pit boss. Naturally I asked how it worked, claimed it was impossibly difficult, etc. The dealer claimed he knew how to count which concerned me.

Needless to say he figured out pretty quickly that I was counting. I knew he knew, but he liked me, so when I asked him to play a few more hands when he said it was time for a shuffle, he allowed it putting the pen at 80%+ easily. He also stopped calling out my large bets to the pit.

The gravy on top: he didn't realize the table was no surrender, as the rest of the pit was (6 deck games). I ended up playing for a few hours with no heat, and walked out with close to 70 units up. At the end of my last shoe I asked him "What's the count?" He said 1. It was actually 0, but I acted impressed/shocked that counting was possible while I raked in my winnings.

I never saw him again after that, but I'll keep looking.

Barona, 2007, SD, DAS, H17, LS, DA2, $100 min., spreading 1-4. Won $2,850 in 45 minutes (would have said 28 units, but the word has different meanings for different people, so I'll just crudely flaunt the cash). Now if you had asked "What was the most fun table you've ever played at?" it wouldn't have been this one. I felt like Gary Cooper in "High Noon" and it was 11:55.

The best table I ever played at was at the downtown end of the Strip. About 20 years ago, I'd been visiting as many casinos as possible (to collect chips) and it was my first stop after the downtown ones, getting light so about 6am. There was a Double Deck hand-dealt and the others were reasonable players. The Dealer was putting on a good show, telling you what your totals were when you doubled-down etc. I guess for a graveyard shift it was an enjoyable table for him as well. Everyone was playing small, tended to be winning a bit and tipping him for the service. A really fun table and I've never encountered such service/show with enjoying the experience since. I don't know whether he was helping us (I guess he might have and besides we were all tipping him).

Wow isn't that positive game even without counting? It's at least damn close.

Technically? House Edge wise, I guess I'd have to go with the Cortez. EV/fun I'd have to say about 7 years ago I came across a $15 min table with 'okay' rules... 6D, H17, DA2, DAS, Late Surrender. What made it so good was it 'seemed' as though whenever I tipped the dealers they made an 'error' in my favor. I wasn't quite sure, and just kept my mouth shut and kept playing, but more than a dozen times I was paid on pushes, pushed on losses, and was paid a green under my red. I was spreading from $15 to like $160, so I did have greens under there quite often, but I think 2 or 3 times I got paid on a flat $15 with $35. I also got zero heat. Needless to say I was tipping most of my hands lol.

Las Vegas: Single deck, S17, late surrender, 3 to 2, double on anything. Dealt all the way down, meaning that when the dealer dealt the last card the deck was shuffled and play continued. The shuffle was often sloppy and hasty. No heat. Camp out for hours and bet table min on one hand and table max on the next. Switch from one to two hands and back at will. Everyone who knew anything played at least two hands. Made six figures in about four months.

Atlantic City: Four decks, good rules and penetration, early surrender. Big wins.

Quote: 1BB

Las Vegas: Single deck, S17, late surrender, 3 to 2, double on anything. Dealt all the way down...

What year was this?

EV wise probably a SD S17 surrender game dealt all the way down. A mid-west casino that I don't even 100% remember the name of outside Des Moines. Terribles I think. I was just going in to play a little and get a chip for my collection. But the game was so good. I stayed won a grand in less than an hour while red chipping it. That's hard to do. I was spreading 1-10 units,with no heat at all. I think my buy in was only 150 or something. The game wasn't supposed to be that good. It was a no surrender table. But the dealer had never dealt SD before. In fact i found out later that SD had just been added to the casino the week before. They were way clueless, on how to handle the game. I also remember them not using a bottom cut card to hide the last card in the deck. You could almost always see it as the dealer went around the table. I wish I had been better bankrolled, and thus able to take better advantage, but I wasn't even planning on playing that night. I was just in town on business.

Fun wise, I played a table in AC one time with a very cool group of strangers. 25 min table. But everyone was spreading up to 200 a hand. I was the only one there who had the least little bit of a clue. But we could do no wrong as a table. I would love to know what % of hands I won that night. Had to be 75%. I remember going 45 min at one point without taking a hit. I either had a made hand or the dealer had a stiff card. Everyone at the table won at least 4 or 5K. I've never seen anything like it. Makes up for the times you lose 14 out of 15 hands when the count is high and you have big bets out. Fun night. We stayed until 3 or 4 am when the pit critter shut down the table for the night. As we were walking out one of the boardwalk bums asked for a cigarette. I don't smoke but we each gave him a $20, he was thrilled. Seemed like the least we could do to repay the Karma.

Quote: Donuts

What year was this?

I want to say early 90s, maybe '91 or '92. It didn't last. Do you remember the Maxim?

Quote: Romes

Technically? House Edge wise, I guess I'd have to go with the Cortez. EV/fun I'd have to say about 7 years ago I came across a $15 min table with 'okay' rules... 6D, H17, DA2, DAS, Late Surrender. What made it so good was it 'seemed' as though whenever I tipped the dealers they made an 'error' in my favor. I wasn't quite sure, and just kept my mouth shut and kept playing, but more than a dozen times I was paid on pushes, pushed on losses, and was paid a green under my red. I was spreading from $15 to like $160, so I did have greens under there quite often, but I think 2 or 3 times I got paid on a flat $15 with $35. I also got zero heat. Needless to say I was tipping most of my hands lol.

If that had happened to me I would have been worried that security would give me the tap. After the green under my red by mistake I probably would have left and hoped I made it to the car.

Quote: 1BB

I want to say early 90s, maybe '91 or '92. It didn't last. Do you remember the Maxim?

Yes, now the Max. When they were the Westin Casuarina you could join and rejoin the player's club (or was it just available every 6 months, I'm not sure, but I think both) and get $20 in free play. I think I did that promo 3 or 4 times.

Quote: Greasyjohn

If that had happened to me I would have been worried that security would give me the tap. After the green under my red by mistake I probably would have left and hoped I made it to the car.

People have gotten arrested for less. I leave a table at the slightest hint of collusion.

Quote: 1BB

People have gotten arrested for less. I leave a table at the slightest hint of collusion.

Good advice.

$100 6 deck s17 das ls RSA
Bought in for $1k
Played one shoe with $5k
Flat bet the entire time $100

Was at a little hole in the wall place in the hinterlands one quiet night. DD, DA/DAS, NS, H17. $5-$100.

1 other player... a poker dealer from a sister property who had driven up to turn his tips into rent.

Not sure of the dealer was taking pity on us or what, but I think we lost far less often than usual for about 5 hours straight. I think running about 75% pen, vs the usual 55-60%. I don't recall any overt cheating, since the eye does tend to call down at that shop and "fix problems".

I don't think I was ever betting more than $20 or $25 a hand, and ended at least $1000 up.

There was one other time, same property, where I was sitting down at a 6d game to kill some time and they called my name as the winner of a $2000 drawing. Told the dealer who was counting out my chips "Hang on, be back in a few minutes..." That was OK, too.

One night, a few hours at each. First was Trop in Atlantic City the carnival game, 3 hand blackjack, where you wager 3 bets up front and you keep the first card out or whatever the rules where. Won $50k plus at Trop and then went over to Bally's Grand and played the same 3 hand black jack game. Again, won over $50k at Bally's Grand. Playing purple and black, occasionally orange. Believe this was 1990 or 1991. At Trop the game in the far extreme right side at the entrance to the high limit. At Bally's Grand it was just past the roulette table as you were passing them going towards the cashier and it was on the left/ocean side of the main aisle way.

The best place I ever played was in one of my regular places (Not in US) which at some point was my bread and butter. That was many years ago.
The standard rules were 6d, ENHC, ES10. That's a bit less than -0.3% Ev.
But there were loss rebates ranging from 15%-30% depending on the loss.

But on a particular night there was a special promotion that lasted around 4 hours. It only happened once.
There were 3 jokers inserted in the 6 decks that meant an Automatic BJ when the player got one and meant nothing for the dealer (got discarded when the dealer got it).
The Ev for the player was huge.

It was about the same time when I had started playing a bit more seriously and increased my maximums and started playing regurarly at $25 tables (prior to that I was mostly playing at $10 tables)
Do not remember my Win but I think was a few thousand $.

Freebet, way early in the morning at Mandalay sometime last year.

Was getting absolutely ripped apart-- down almost 40 units flat betting in about 45 minutes. Dealer change, and I start treading water, with one exception: he was paying me on 22 (despite my obvious signs of displeasure the first few times). In about half an hour, I recoup my losses and start going positive. Things start slowing down, and more people are trickling in. Asian kid joins me, splits into two hands of garbage a few hands later, dealer hits 22. As he's about to pay us, the kid starts swearing at the hand that pushed.

I toss the dealer a black, grab what I didn't have ratholed, and powerwalk out. Met my very confused mother a few blocks away, who is grumpy that she has to walk back to change chips and pick up the car. (She felt a lot better about it when she actually understood what happened, a long lunch later.)

It was a promotion:
6d h17 rsa doa das ns bj 2:1 bj suited in spades 3:1