Is playing heads up practical outside of Vegas?

When counting, I know that in theory my game should be much more profitable when playing heads up with the dealer. From reading old threads here, I can see that many of you prefer to play alone. My problem is, I have never really found a way to make this work at all in practice. I'm wondering how some of you make this work, and asking for any tips.

In my state we have a fair number of casinos, and after disregarding Free Bet and scam 6:5 tables, you're lucky to get more than two real 3:2 tables open on a weeknight. Plus a higher limit table, but I usually stay away from those to avoid heat with my long sessions. These are not hole-in-the-wall Indian casinos, either. I'm talking CET properties, etc.

Say you're playing heads up and now the TC goes -2. (Which happens, what, every other shoe? ) Now what do you do? That's the crux of the problem.

You can color up and go visit the sights in the restroom and grab another beverage. Swing through the pit again and the discard tray on the table you left earlier is still in the exact same condition. (They're not going to shuffle around here just because the table is empty.) You just wasted 10 mins. The one other open table is populated by a few ploppies, and the shoe's nowhere near done yet anyway. Wander around the casino looking for ladies of negotiable virtue (I can never find any) and still the discard tray on the heads-up table hasn't moved.

This just doesn't seem like any way to play the game to me. At least if I was playing with a few ploppies, I could excuse myself to use the restroom and wait on them to eat up the bad cards. Sure, my HPH is going to be way lower, but $xx/hr for 3 hours is better than close to $0/hr after maybe one good shoe.

It seems as if the only two choices I have many times are 1) Play with a moderately busy table and accept low HPH but near-constant play, or 2) Play heads up and have to play all the negative counts myself.

Going to another casino isn't usually an option since the next one may be a 2 hour drive, and I've already paid for the hotel room or been comp'd it and checked in. Not that I'd be interested in leaving a casino every time a shoe goes negative, anyway. That seems extreme.

How do you guys handle this?

First of all, blackjack is played by OTHER PEOPLE. So if you don't like other people playing with you, you have to visit during the wee hours and/or on a weekday to find the heads-up privacy you crave.

It's true that you pretty much have to endure negative counts all by yourself when playing heads-up. But you're forgetting that you also get all the positive counts to yourself. And since you get to vary your bets, the latter vastly outweighs the former.

Anyway, let's say you're playing at a 2% disadvantage in a negative count. Minimum bet $10--it's costing you twenty cents a hand to wait it out. You can fade that! Just sit there and keep playing until the count goes positive. Jumping up and "going to the restroom" every time the shoe goes negative, by the way, is like spray-painting "CARD COUNTER" on your forehead.

I for one have never minded playing at a table crowded with ploppies. It's excellent cover, for one thing. And yes, I don't get as many hands per hour, but I sit third base and get to see 10-20 cards come out before I make my playing decision. That helps a lot.

Quote: Joeshlabotnik

Jumping up and "going to the restroom" every time the shoe goes negative, by the way, is like spray-painting "CARD COUNTER" on your forehead.

Well, with auto-shufflers in use here almost universally, you don't get any breaks between shoes, so you always have to leave a shoe to get a drink or legitimately use the restroom. You got no choice there. And since my cover is being a moderately heavy drinker, 99% of the time it's a legit bathroom break... just happens to be at a good time. It's not as frequent as I might have made it sound.

I don't personally mind playing at a busy table either, for cover reasons as well as the flexibility. I never sit at third base though... someone mentioned spray paint? :) I don't think my act would work too well alone. I was just curious to try a new approach for once.

Quote: Joeshlabotnik

Anyway, let's say you're playing at a 2% disadvantage in a negative count. Minimum bet $10--it's costing you twenty cents a hand to wait it out. You can fade that! Just sit there and keep playing until the count goes positive.

Hmmm you may have a point there. I never thought to run the numbers in CVData, but I guess I should have done that first. The rules are rather bad here, so I'm fighting a bad game to begin with, which mentally makes large negative counts even worse. I'll see what the numbers say... if I'm not going to be making 40-50% more heads up, I think it's not worth losing the cover and the entertainment, and I may stick with busy tables.

Few things here to consider in my experience. Table limits , ( low, less than $25 vs High limit ),Table betting range ( min. bet to max. bet), card delivery (shoe vs DD pitch vs CSM), other players vs heads up, and shuffle vs no shuffle when last player leaves. In many cases the shoe game will not be reshuffled upon an empty table whereas the DD will. These factors IMO may play a part in the amount of scrutiny from the pit and reaction to and tolerance of your actions from other players.
If you're playing a shoe " heads up" vs DD pitch, you can do the obvious ; bet table min. until a more favorable count. Along with that, since the frequency and duration of these periods will vary, you can, to offset the neg. run, set your beginning $ bet vs your pace/min. bet, to a higher amount not to bump the ceiling while on the ramp. This will work better, obviously, if the min,/ max. table limits are broader, say ( $10 or $15 to $2000) vs ($10 or $15 to $500).
If you are playing a " lower limit" shoe game "with other players", you can probably pull your bet and sit out until more favorable conditions with minimum scrutiny.
If you're playing the DD game, usually $25 min. to $1000/$2500 your #hands per shuffle is such that the frequency and duration of the negative streaks are manageable. If , however , you encounter a prolonged negative streak from shoe to shoe and you're playing alone , you can, 1.) break, with or without a color-up, which will elicit a new shuffle or 2.) min. bet and ride it out.
Sometimes its good to have another player to move the cards along allowing you to wait .
On the lighter side, listen for the exit triggers ! It might be time to move on when you hear..... "You've got to be Fricken kidding me!" and "This is Friggin' unbelievable!" and remember,.... You only SPLIT TENS when you're at a full table and your buddy needs a seat.
I'm sure there's more. Good Luck!

This is a shoe game, 6D. If it was DD I wouldn't even consider any monkey business because you don't have to sit through many hands. But when you're looking at a big negative count with 4 decks left to be dealt, that's a lot of cards to play by yourself when you anticipate losing.

Spread is $10-200. And before anyone crucifies me for being that obvious, I haven't gotten heat since 2001 when I was nearly arrested. They seem to give you a lot of latitude when you regularly consume 14+ mixed drinks in 4 hours. Here, anyway. In Vegas I wouldn't last a half hour I'm sure.

Quote: cwwbjr

On the lighter side, listen for the exit triggers ! It might be time to move on when you hear..... "You've got to be Fricken kidding me!"

Yeah, I hear that all night long. Coming out of my own mouth! I do always take advantage of what other players are doing in that respect, though. Yet another advantage to playing with other people.

If you are trying to empty a full table, wait until the shoe is 2/3 dealt and buy in. If other players tell you to "wait" tell them that feel like playing now and that THEY can sit out. Bet at or close to table minimum.
Play slowly, even in obvious situations. If you can, bet oddball amounts, like $17, or even $31 (6 reds, etc). If other players tell you to hurry up, tell them that they can play at another table, etc.
Play every other hand so as to "ruin the order of the cards".
At low bets, split 10's vs 5 and 6, split 5's, etc. to further aggravate the other players.
Once the players leave, start spreading your bet, saying something along the lines of "now that those jerks have left, let's really play some Blackjack".
I hope this helps.

Either play through the negative count (no big deal, unless it's a table with a high minimum) or switch casinos. Generally if conditions are optimal (great game, fast dealer, you are winning) then you should be more inclined to play all. Switching casinos might be better for longevity tho.