Taking Heat?

Playing at a casino the another night between 12am and 4am and pit boss came to the table 3 or 4 times and stayed 3 mintues about on each visit and was getting rather annoying. First he asks how im doing and i say not so good and then i win one hand and then he says well your doing pretty good you should up your bet. Told him no, but he kept right at it up your bet. He'd leave and then come back 10 mins later observe the cards and talk a bit most of the same stuff though

Probably being paranoid if you even call it that im more curious than anything to know if this was a form of heat. or simply put the pit boss keeping a rather annoying eye on me?

I only do wizard ace fiv with slight modifications (there really is no return in card counting i find) and wizard ace five basically gives in my opinion the best advantage per shoe. (Im talking short term which is what i play 4 or 5 hours at most, i dont stay 40 or 50 shoes 10 hours to wait for that one high count and hope to god the cards come my way.

Anyways ive never heard of anyone ever getting kicked out of this particular casino for counting. So i chalked it up to he was bored it was graveyard shift.

what ya think?

They probably knew you were counting to some degree and were talking to you just to attempt to mess up your count. Was the table busy or were you the only one?

To answer we need more information. Which casino, amount you bet, spread, how many at table, first or third base, pit boss's and your gender, drinking or not drinking, and anything else you think might be important.

Well given possible casino employee's visit this site it be unwise to give exact detailed information which would then give away to a degree who i am in the casino, if you know what i mean. But most the information your asking about i find either irrelevant or looking for biases within casino operations which is true their are tons. But to know the casino amount bet, how many at table, and first or 3rd plus pit boss is irrelevant, gender matters but not much due to the fact casino personnel will consider males counters before females, and drinking they look for as a cause of you possibly raising your bets I.E. are they drunk and just playing stupid.

....If for example i was betting 10 bucks and then raised to 100 3 hands and dropped back to minimum and did that 3 or 4 times a night, dont matter the information you've asked because anyone could clearly see im counting or for some strange reason up my bet alot at random times. I could be a 60 year old black woman, who is drinking jack and coke, with a full table 6 deck sitting in the middle witht he least paranoid pit boss in the house, but if i happen to be pulling off that 10 bet 100 bet that i just described im sure i be getting some heat.


But i was betting low and raised my bet a unit or two higher at certain times, just like any other counting system....I typically win where i go id say ive lost 2 times out of 7 times being their......

I just want some opinion on the matter because next time i go, i dont want to be giving myself away and having to be backed off, because there isnt to many casinos around me.

and its not a very hard count just ace-five, ive counted down tons of deck with regular counting methods but it only go's posivie say +5 or +6 running count which isnt nearly enough to put out more money, or calculate true edge (the true count)
plus when the count does go high its no guarentee that you'll get the cards you want.....so i do wizard ace-fiv but when the count of aces go's high i only slightly increase my bet due to the fact blackjack's are more probable, instead of dramitically increase my bet like the method says you should do...thats just stupid in my opinioon
but to me betting say 5 and then betting 10 when the couunt is decent and 20 when i count is really good seems more realistic instead of sitting their counting deck after deck with no reward for your hard work you can just coutn ace-five and up the bet when the tiem is right and just like regular card counting just hope the ace's come out in your favor and some times they do and some times they dont.......

the table was slightly busy with 4 out of 6 spots full if i remember correctly.

He may have been suspicious or bored or both.
Conversation is often distracting to counters. They know that. This might have been a first line of defense but its hard to tell. I would think if he left fairly promptly he wasn't that concerned about you.

I think casinos look at betting patterns and social cues. Yes, they probably have a slight bias towards suspecting males but they watch the money, not the anatomy. The first card counters I met way back when were each young females. The dealers may be a bit more distracted by an attractive female but the dealers and the floor and the camera people are mainly watching the betting circle. The surveillance people look at how closely the players are sitting together and whether there are any social cues such as no females and no head turning when the dealer indicates a gorgeous female is passing by. She might not be anything special but the dealer and floor will note whether you look or not.

Raising your bets a few times when the count is against you might be a good thing to do every now and then. Let them think your just a whimsical drunk rather than a cagey card counter, but I wouldn't do it at their suggestion that's a little too much of a giveaway.

Quote: Hollywood06

Well given possible casino employee's visit this site it be unwise to give exact detailed information which would then give away to a degree who i am in the casino, if you know what i mean. But most the information your asking about i find either irrelevant or looking for biases within casino operations which is true their are tons. But to know the casino amount bet, how many at table, and first or 3rd plus pit boss is irrelevant, gender matters but not much due to the fact casino personnel will consider males counters before females, and drinking they look for as a cause of you possibly raising your bets I.E. are they drunk and just playing stupid.

From what you have said, I think you are in good shape. Even if the pit boss suspects something, he/she did not act upon it. I do suggest you play during a different shift so he/she doesn't see you for awhile. However, If you were playing in Vegas, I would suggest you not go back to that casino for six months or so.

However, do not dismiss things like first or third base and amount bet etc. For example, pits boses look for counters at third base, so play at first as a cover. You can still see all the cards, if dealt up, before you play. Do not play at other seats because you have to move your head or eyes back and forth to see the cards dealt--this is a tell. Play at a table with lots of others, not alone, and do not be the highest better at the table.

I'm honored to hear you were using my count. Others have made similar comments, but I think he suspected you were counting, but was not sure. The ace-five I think is good for confusing the pit, because they tend to know the plus-minus, so your good counts will not always be in synch with theirs. The questioning I think was a warning that he was keeping an eye on you, and also just to mess with you.

Quote: matilda

Do not play at other seats because you have to move your head or eyes back and forth to see the cards dealt--this is a tell. Play at a table with lots of others, not alone, and do not be the highest bettor at the table.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm barely able to count my hand much less the whole darn deck, but if physically looking at other players cards is a tell, then this might be the one excuse for chatting at a BJ table or playing with a companion whom it would seem natural to be talking to and looking at from time to time. Such chatting would be a cover for turning in a direction to allow you focus clearly on the other player's cards.