Counter traps

Hi guys, I'm wondering how to spot a counter trap? basically a table that is too good.
If the whole casino has the same game but one table has it at say 5$ min shoe or with much higher pen than the rest of the casino, how can you tell if it's the dealer's habit or it's a counter's bait?

Who needs card counter traps anymore when they have preshuffled Chinese decks?

Pen and table limits will never have anything to do with counter traps. It will always involve the number of decks and rules in play. Stay away from any abnormalities from which that casino or area is offering. For example, if the casino uses mostly shoe games with average to lousy rules(6/5, Soft 17) and then has some double deck games with good rules or shoe games with good rules(3/2, S17), it's pretty obvious those double deck games will be watched more closely. Even if the rules stay the same with the shoes and double decks, the double decks will be watched closer.

If you're in Vegas, the golden rule is to stay away from double deck if you want any type of longevity. But with that being said as long as you keep your sessions short, you can play whatever, just make sure you leave after you show your max bet, mix up shifts, and stay away from pits where the pit bosses hawk the games.

You really need to try and pay attention to how the pit watches their games more than anything. If you know anything about body language, you can get a pretty good vibe and idea of how serious they are about counters. Also, you can really tell if one of the pit critters are 'sharp' and have any idea about advantage play. The funny thing is, they're all idiots and the people above them that tell them to hawk the game are even bigger idiots. They think counters are going to bring the house down or something. It's completely laughable. In fact, if they had any brain whatsoever, they wouldn't hawk the game at all and offer the best rules and pen possible. If they instead focused all of their idiotic energy more on watching for dealer collusion, dealer theft, and players past posting, now that would be something called 'efficiency'.

Heck, what do I know, these millionaire executive officers working for these billion dollar corporations rather order preshuffled cards because it 'saves' them time for when it comes time to change the cards. WOW, some profit strategy that is, let's order preshuffled cards to save time to maximize our profit, because you know, every time they change the cards at 4am, the tables are just completely filled up and ready to go, there's no downtime at all.

I can't imagine many casinos will be setting bait on a $5 table.

Quote: billryan

I can't imagine many casinos will be setting bait on a $5 table.

Usually don't. ZK was correct... It's usually not limits, but the table rules themselves. Find a S17, RSA, LS, DD game for $25, especially at a place where all their 6D games are H17 NRSA, NS? Yeah, I'll watch you play it...

I don't count, but I like to think I'm observant enough to add something. MGM definitely has a trap on their main floor. It's in the back next to the craps pit, S17 with a $25 minimum, 6 decks. Aside from what else is being said here, I have always felt like the supervisors watching over those tables were their best employees. Instead of just hovering over every table, he engaged most of the gamblers in more than just a casual meet and greet. You can just tell how good a supervisor is if you spend enough time in casinos and in my limited experience they protect the most vulnerable games.

That said, I offer my advice freely and you know what they say about free advice...