Quote of the day

"If you see a guy here in Reno, and then you see him a month later in a casino on one of the Caribbean islands, you know he's working."

Richard Marcus

American Roulette

Gambling With an Edge - guest Ted Straton

The guest this week is Ted Straton talking about how to live free in Las Vegas by using comps.

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Gambling With an Edge - guest Stanford Wong

The guest this week is Stanford Wong. Wong is on to talk about his newsletter Current Blackjack News, and real estate investing in Las Vegas.

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Name That Casino

It's everyone's favorite game show - Name That Casino. Three casinos, three different cities.

What? They never heard of shooting craps?

Gambling With an Edge - guest Mark Billings

The guest this week is Mark Billings, author of The Bias Wheel Handbook, and The Ultimate Edge. This episode focuses on roulette.

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Gambling With an Edge - guest Michael Konik

The guest this week is Michael Konik, on to talk about his new novel, Becoming Bobby.

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Gambling With an Edge - guest John Chang

This week's guest is John Chang, head of the famous MIT blackjack team featured in the movie 21, and the book Bringing Down the House.

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Advice to new card counters

It seems there are a lot of new card counters on the blackjack boards recently. I don't know if they received blackjack books as early Christmas presents, or maybe the movie 21 has been playing on cable, but for whatever reasons the new posts are proliferating, often with the same questions, and often making the same mistakes.  Here are a few suggestions to those just starting out.

1. Learn basic strategy backwards forwards, and in your sleep.
If your wife shakes you awake at 4am and asks, "What do I do with 13 against a 2?" you should know the answer without a blink. When people tell me they have learned basic strategy I ask them a few questions:
13 vs. 2
A7 vs 10
99 vs 9
If they get those right (which almost never happens) I ask which basic strategy did you learn? The one I recommend is DAS ( double after split) H17 (dealer hits with soft 17) LS (late surrender). I found I had to ask this when I was quizzing my son. I asked him when you double A7 and he said 3-6. I gave him the "incorrect" buzzer and he whipped out a basic strategy card he had been using. Unfortunately it had the BS for S17 and no surrender. That's okay. It's only a few tweaks.

2. Learn the right count.
Which is the right count? To answer that I have to ask, WHY do you want to count cards? Here are three different types of players, and a recommendation for which count to learn.

• I want to excel at something difficult and challenging, that if viewed in a vacuum could be considered the count that would win the most money for a given session.
  Okay, you want the "hard" count. If an easy count would win $50 per hour you want the hard count that will win $51 per hour. Maybe throw in a side count of aces and 7s. Boost that win up to $51.05. The count for you is one of these - Zen, Uston APC, Revere APC, or Hi Opt II. But make no mistake - if your end goal is to make as much money as possible, these counts are not for you. These counts are for people who will not play lots of hours, and want to play single, and  double deck. These counts are for the type of guy who likes to be able to solve a Rubik's Cube.
  
• Vegas Baby! I want gourmet meals, tickets to fights, champagne, and I want them to pay me for it!
  Right on. You want the simplest count possible. For that you want either the Red 7 which you can find in Blackbelt in Blackjack, or the KO which you can get in Knock-Out Blackjack. You should also pick up Comp City, which will help you get the most out of milking the comp system. Your approach here should be that you are making most of your ev from the stuff the casino is giving you, and you do not want to get any heat or barred by trying to earn extra money with a big bet spread.
  
• Show me the money! It's all about the Benjamins!
  If you just want to make the most money possible I would recommend the Hi Lo. For that you should read Professional Blackjack by Stanford Wong. Hi Lo is a simple strong count, and if you ever team up with someone chances are this is the count they use. The large successful teams of the past like the MIT team or the Hyland team used this count and won many millions of dollars.  I know you are saying, "Why can't I use the "better" count if my goal is maximum earn?" Obviously you can, but I don't think you will earn more money. Making money counting these days means playing shoe games. The stronger counts perform better on the single and double deck games. Playing one of these counts for long hours will cause you to make mistakes, and become mentally fatigued sooner. If you can play just one extra shoe because you are using an easier count then you have more than made up for any gain you would have had with a stronger count.

3. Learn what is important, and what is not.

There are 3 things beginners obsess over that are not important. Which count to use, keeping side counts, and the rules.

Here are 3 things that are important. 

Penetration - how much of the shoe do they deal?  Here are 2 games

6 decks cut 2 1/2 S17, DAS, LS - good rules, less decks, bad cut

8 decks cut 1 H17 no DAS no LS - terrible rules, more decks, good cut

Which game is worth more for the card counter? It's very close but the 8 deck game is worth slightly more.

Game speed - how many hands per hour are you getting?

If you are playing at a full table you might get 50 hands per hour. If you play by yourself you can get 150 hands per hour or more. That means you are winning 3 times as much if you play alone versus playing at a full table. Wouldn't you like to triple your paycheck? Game speed is important. A side count of 7s is not.

Your bet spread - How big a spread is there from your minimum bet to your maximum? Say that you have determined you will bet $100 at a TC 2, 200 at TC 3, 300 at TC 4, and 400 at TC 5 or higher. 

At a $50 table you are spreading 50-400 or 1-8 you win $24.02 per hundred hands

At a $25 table your spread is 1-16 or 25-400 you win $43.70

If you only wong your spread is 0-400 you win $63.37

Look at the way you win rate goes up by increasing your spread. Many new players think that when they increase their spread it increases their risk, but in this example you actually decrease your risk by increasing your spread.

And the most important factor...

Casino tolerance. You could find a casino that dealt 51 cards out of a single deck, super fast dealers that deal 200 hands per hour, and you spread 1-100, but if they won't tolerate your action the game is worthless. Some casinos, like The El Cortez, have a great single deck game. But they have been known to bar people that have not even played a hand! Just the way someone looks at the blackjack table can get them backed off. I know several players this happened to. There are other casinos where a $5,000 bet may get a yawn from a pit boss. If a casino will not take your action there is no way to make any money. 

So the next time you are headed to a new casino venue don't ask your counting friends - "any places with good rules?" Ask them, "Any places that take action, have good penetration, and lots of empty tables?"

And when you are ready to move beyond counting, check out advice to new advantage players.

Gambling With an Edge - guest Bob Nersesian #5

The guest this week is Bob Nersesian.  Bob is a frequent guest to the show, and always entertaining.  Bob is the lawyer who advocates for the players against the casinos, and has successfully sued many Vegas casinos on the behalf of players.  This episode is primarily about the laws regarding using a device in the casino. He is also the author of Beat the Players.

Bob Nersesian podcast

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Gambling With an Edge - guest Eliot Jacobson

Eliot is a Ph.D. mathematician and former advantage player. Now Eliot works as a consultant designing casino games, auditing Internet casinos, and advising on game security. On the show Mike and Bob ask Eliot about switching sides, and the latest advantage plays, among other topics.

Eliot Jacobson podcast

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Quote of the day.

"Learning to count cards is easy. Learning to get away with it is tough."

RWM

Gambling With an Edge - guest Bob Nersesian #4

The guest this week is Bob Nersesian.  Bob is a frequent guest to the show, and always entertaining.  Bob is the lawyer who advocates for the players against the casinos, and has successfully sued many Vegas casinos on the behalf of players.  He is also the author of Beat the Players.

Bob Nersesian podcast

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Today's Advantage Play

Last week I went to Frys to buy a battery charger, and a new lens for my camera. They have an odd system at Frys, you select your item in the department, and they print out a slip for you to take to the cashiers. The cashier then gets the item and rings you up. While I was walking to the front of the store I remembered I had an app on my phone called Shop Savvy. I had never used the app before but figured I try it out. You open the app and it allows you to scan the bar code on any item, and it tells you how much the same item is selling for at local stores near you, and online. When I looked at the lens I was buying it showed that it was $50 cheaper at Amazon, and had free shipping. When I got to the cashier I told her I no longer wanted the lens because it was $50 cheaper at amazon, and showed her my phone. She said, "We'll match any price." Is this a great country or what?!

Benjamin Franklin said, "A penny saved is a penny earned." But Franklin was wrong. A penny saved is worth much more than a penny earned. When you earn money you have to pay taxes on it, and saved money you don't. So take advantage of this shop savvy app. It's in itunes, and the google play store, and you can't beat the price, FREE!

Now if you are shopping at Frys and want to take advantage of their matching price offer you do have to take that paper over to customer service where they will do the price matching. In my case there was a long line at customer service and I didn't have time to get my lens. So if you are looking for a Christmas present for your favorite blogger...

Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS II Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

Quote of the day

"All the evidence shows that God was actually quite a gambler, and the universe is a great casino, where dice are thrown, and roulette wheels spin on every occasion."

Stephen Hawking

Gambling in movies

Richard Roeper is a very good movie reviewer. He also considers himself a bit of a gambler. He wrote a really terrible book called,  Bet the House: How I Gambled Over a Grand a Day for 30 Days on Sports, Poker, and Games of Chance. To professional gamblers Roeper is what we call, a "ploppy." Now to be fair it would not surprise me if Richard thinks my movie reviews suck, and as a director he may call me... a ploppy. I don't really know since I was afraid to see if he ever reviewed one of my movies. But on one thing we agree. When it comes to gambling in movies they usually get it wrong. Here is an article of his about two upcoming movies that contain gambling.  Gambling movies not always a sure bet - Chicago Sun-Times.

Gambling With an Edge - guest Willy Allison

This week's guest is Willy Allison, surveillance expert, and CEO of World Game Protection Inc. I thought this was a really good episode with lots of good info on surveillance.

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Quote of the day

"Money won is twice as sweet as money earned." 

"Fast Eddie" Felson 

The Color of Money

The Color of Money

Gambling With an Edge - guest Arnold Snyder

This week's guest is Arnold Snyder talking about his new novel Risk of Ruin.

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Interview - Mike Patterson VP of Table Games at Barona Casino

When I walk through a casino it is with a critical eye. You still have a Caribbean Stud table? What a waste of space. CSMs that pay 6-5 on blackjack and you can only double on 10 or 11? You must be kidding. I'd get rid of two of those crap tables, and put in four more carnival games. All of these decisions are the purview of the Director of Table Games. I wanted to know more about how tables games directors think, and was fortunate to be able to interview Mike Patterson, VP of Table Games at Barona Casino near San Diego, CA. Barona is the most successful casino in California, so they must be doing something right.

RWM: Let's start with, how long have you been VP of Table Games, and what was your path in the casino business to get you here?  

MP: I started out in 1994 as a dealer for Barona.  I worked my way up as a floor supervisor, pit manager,casino manager, director of table games which was later changed to VP of table games.  I have been responsible for the table games department since 2001.

Gambling With an Edge - guests Staci Alonso & Chris Brune

The guests this week are Staci Columbo Alonso - IGT Vice President of Global Marketing and Chris Brune - IGT Distinguished Game Designer.

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