A question on etiquette

Hey there, been checking all your sites and found the basic casino etiquette, but just wondering about this issue (which I got on this section cause it really bothers me). Is it bad etiquette, or just me getting annoyed, when players jump from one table to another. Let me explain. In Mexico, recently, casinos offer live games, and it's very common that, when playing blackjack, and the shoe is finished, while the dealer shuffles, some players will go to the nearest table and then play a couple of hands, and then go back to their table. With the automatic shufflers in Vegas, I understand this doesn't happen much (tho I have seen some, tho very few, dealer shuffling blackjack tables)

As far as player etiquette, I don't think most people get bothered by it, since you're jumping at the shuffle as opposed to mid shoe.

Be sure to take your chips with you, however. Some properties don't want you to have chips on multiple tables, and some jurisdictions prohibit it.

Time is our most precious resource, even more than money. We can "save" money and we can accumulate money. We can "save" time, but we cannot accumulate time - unless you're in prison.

Why should they be forced to wait 10-15 minutes for a dealer to shuffle cards in the painfully systematic fashion? Instead of the table hoppers bothering you - you should be bothered by the time spent shuffling - when they could have someone shuffle that six to eight decks of cards on a table in the pit while we play. It's a horrible waste of time. If I only have an hour until the wife gets done with her massage - I don't want to spend that waiting on cards to be shuffled.

Actually, they get on the table I'm playing at, midshoe, while the shuffle goes on on the one they were playing at. And ukaserex, I do get what you mean, when I hit the tables early in the afternoon, I only have about two hours to play, and yes, these dealers are SLOOOOOOOOW, but instead of getting to another table midshoe, if I want to try and make a little extra while my dealer shuffles, I hit the roulette and play black or red a few times.

You can make a little extra by avoiding the roulette.

Quote: standbymyman

You can make a little extra by avoiding the roulette.

I pretty much never play the roulette, but when I feel like I need to play in between shuffles, as I said, I play a little bet on the colors, nothing meaningful, and usually just breaking out even, but that way I feel I didn't waste my time in between shuffles, but I try not to disrupt other gameplay

Table hopping happens all the time in Vegas. Especially at the bac tables or those half drunk degenerates that hop between blackjack, roulette and bac at the same time.

I personally wait until the end of a shoe in Blackjack to "jump in." Unless I am leaving the casino and wanted to wong-in for a quick score. But it is usually proper etiquette to ask permission to join a table and it is often appreciated by the patrons.

I'm not one to forbid anyone from playing at a table and if they make me uncomfortable or play an unorthodox strategy, I will simply stop playing and sit out, or pick up my chips and go elsewhere.

I had never had anyone ask me if it was okay to jump in mid-shoe -- until this past weekend. Didn't seem to help or hurt. ( was losing anyway - couldn't lose more unless I bet more, right?)

Quote: ukaserex

I had never had anyone ask me if it was okay to jump in mid-shoe -- until this past weekend. Didn't seem to help or hurt. ( was losing anyway - couldn't lose more unless I bet more, right?)

It's more psychological than anything. If someone places their money on the felt and the dealer turns up a twenty or Blackjack, a lot of people have instant animosity towards that person because they think it was their "fault."

Whereas, if they ask to play at the table and nobody objects, but the dealer still turns up a 20 or BJ. The guilt is removed from the new player and the table can only blame themselves for saying "Yes."

Not that it is their fault or anything, but it just makes the transition easier if someone asks to join rather than barging in.

To be a wonger, you need thick skin and/or be deaf.

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

To be a wonger, you need thick skin and/or be deaf.

+1

Quote: Ibeatyouraces

To be a wonger, you need thick skin and/or be deaf.

Or....hmmm....how do I describe it. This might be tough, bear with me. [You'll understand once you get to the end.]

There was a TV show or a movie, don't remember exactly what was going on, but essentially something like this: One person is reading quietly on the couch, someone else walks in blaring music. The person reading says, "Hey, I'm reading over here." To which the person blaring the music says, "No worries, you won't bother me."




Anyway, same thing with wonging into a blackjack shoe. You wong in, place your bet, all's good. If anyone objects, just act like the guy who was blaring music in my previous example -- "It's all good you guys, let's do some winning. Don't worry I won't bother none of y'all."

I am an aggressive wonger. My usual approach is to play off the top of a fresh shuffle, but wong out (exit) aggressively as soon as the count heads south. When playing a shoe game that sometimes means I play 2 or 3 rounds and leave a negative count. I am just not interested in sitting there for 10-15 minutes hoping the count comes back, when I can find a new better opportunity in much less time than that.

BTW statistics show that the count will rebound from a mildly negative count (where I exit) to once again become positive a fair percentage of the time, so some people think I am missing opportunities by exiting early. But guess what....I am not looking for just a mildly positive count. I am looking for a significantly positive count....my max bet territory. And the count rebounds from mildly negative to max bet territory far less frequently. I'll take my chances with a new shoe.

Best case scenario for me is tracking multiple tables at once and jumping directly from a negative or neutral count directly to the next table and a positive or more advantageous situation with zero down time. This technique allows me to see and play nearly twice as many max bet opportunities within the same time frame. I like to think of it as changing the true count frequencies in my favor and it can improve my win rate by almost double. (not quite double because there are some instances where both tables will be max bet situations and you obviously can't take advantage of both).

So my jumping around is NOT appreciated by many patron. "Flow of cards" and all that non-sense. :) BUT I am not there to make friends. In the million rounds of blackjack that I have played and having probably sat down at tens of thousands of tables, not once have I began a lasting friendship, so I can live with the other players not liking me very much. (I actually get a lot of practice with people not liking me on some of the gambling forums) :) One good thing....with my short session style and several aggressive exit 'triggers', I won't be around long enough for them to hate me for too long. Lol.