Posted on 08/19/2003 12:06:52 PM PDT by freepatriot32
Edited on 06/29/2004 7:09:59 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
Rob McGarvey is, in the lingo of the blackjack world, an advantage player. A card counter. To maximize his take, he keeps track of the cards as they're dealt, and tailors his bets based on the cards his system predicts will hit the felt next.
(Excerpt) Read more at wired.com ...
No, not in BlackJack.The House has fixed rules. With 16 or lower, the House must take another card.
If the deck has more high cards left in it than usual, then the House is at a disadvantage during that period because those high cards will bust the dealer.
Of course it does, otherwise there'd BE no house.
Michael
That’s what the floor manager (whatever the title is) is for. He can count cards as good as anyone and is looking for things like that. He’s also watching betting patterns of people at the tables. Oh, and he’s watching several tables simultaneously. And being very low-key about it too, BTW. In fact, people have a tendency to never even realize they’re around until they hear the “Sir, can you come with me?” line. They’re pretty impressive, actually.
No, card counting's not that hard, actually. There are several systems around. A reasonably intelligent guy can learn them effectively after several hours.
They work, too. But even when you're playing them correctly your overall advantage is small, ~1% or so. Even if you play a hundred hands an hour you've got to bet high to make it worth doing.
If you have even a reasonably good memory you won't need to use markers like an ashtray, the chips, or fingers. The casinos know this. So I doubt they really key into what your chips and all the rest look like.
What they look for is that you're playing for a while, and winning. If you ever see the typical tourist play, you know it's easy to spot the difference between such a person and someone who knows how to play. A typical visitor just doesn't know much about the game, and will burn through a hundred bucks in a few minutes. If you're playing a while, employing sound strategy, varying your bets sensibly, and just hanging in there-- either winning steadily or not losing over a long period of time-- that's all it takes. They figure you're playing a system and they'll just come after you. This will happen even faster on a high limit table.
By "go after you", I don't mean they'll kick you out. Sheesh. Just about 1/3 of the card players in Vegas are trying to work some system or other. They'd be throwing people out all night.
No, they want you to stay. Usually, someone doesn't play his system well enough and the casino will get its money eventually.
The casino will also send in the nasty dealer. This person will be rude, will throw the cards at you, won't take a break, and will generally try and sweat you. Some of them go further, and play card games. They'll cheat, in other words. Usually, this is a guy, but not always.
At this point, you have two choices. Keep playing and lost your money, or go somewhere else. This isn't just the small operations, but some of the big casinos, too.
So, anyway, the problem with counting is that it's a significant amount of work, and you're not likely to have the opportunity to cash in big before the casinos start grinding you. But if you're going to Vegas anyway, it's not a bad idea. Even with ten dollar units you can win enough to pay for your room and some meals. It takes a while, though. You can't expect to keep coming back to a table and winning all day, either. But there are plenty of casinos and if you're only in town a day or two it can be a worthwhile way to spend some hours.
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