Going Full Time Pro.

[charr]

Ellis and everyone,

As a pro relying on the game for your income do you think we should get to know the casino personel or a particular person or be in complete stealth mode, in and out of there??

Pros / Cons?

[ECD]

Char, forget stealth mode. Forget getting to know them. THEY will get to know YOU much quicker than you think. Don't make the mistake I made! Be friendly with these people. They make strong alliances. Tip well when you win and DON'T tip when you lose. They catch on quick.

New cards make a great asset. Your biggest obstacle is not clumping, it's dealer biases. New cards do not have dealer biases. Dealer biases are inherant in repeated play of the same cards but cannot exist in new cards. It's very refreshing to see dealers getting only 4 ten ups in 13 hands rather than 6 or 8 like they do later in the day. It's also very refreshing when the dealer CAN'T push your 20's and 21's with the amazing frequency she will later in the day. And it's refreshing not to see dealer 5,6 and 7 card 21s like you will see later in the day.

But recognize that there are THREE types of new cards. First base, Third base and unplayable. You will learn how to watch card preps and know what to expect. But it is MORE important to record which casinos produce which results with their preps. It takes an act of God for a casino to change their initial new card prep. They all think THEY have the best one but they aren't prepping for NBJ players. We are only 1 in a thousand.

When you find a good morning First or Third Base situation it often stays that way for weeks. The card prep Mgr doesn't have the authority to CHANGE the prep. This must go through channels. But, the more morning "gifts" you find the better. Because The less you exploit the same one, the longer it takes for them to change it. Find 3 or 4 because they aren't that hard to find. Find them playing nickels. That's what nickels are for. Once you find them and prove them out, go straight to quarters. But also watch the card preps from afar to make sure they didn't change their routine. If you suspect a change, go back to nickels until you "verify".

Remember, when you go pro, you have the extra time to take advantage of these things. BUT, advantages are not advantages unless you take advantage of them!

[ECD]

You know, you have one big advantage over me when I went pro. You have a reliable mentor. I thought I had several. Until I found out that they were WRONG about virtually EVERYTHING!

[charr]

Ellis,

I thank you for assuming the role as mentor. Trust me I've made you proud over the last 18 years of nbj play! Funny after all these years of communications with you I still don't know what you look like!

I was wondering HOW do you handle comp cards and ratings? Do you want to get rated all the time win or lose? Or try to hide chips as you win to give a losing impression? Is it bad to be rated ans always win? Or just never get rated and stay nameless?

I usually get rated and always get free rooms, I figure that it is only helping my bottom line. But as a pro who relies on playing at the casino I'm not sure now?

[ECD]

Ellis,

I thank you for assuming the role as mentor. Trust me I've made you proud over the last 18 years of nbj play! Funny after all these years of communications with you I still don't know what you look like!

I was wondering HOW do you handle comp cards and ratings? Do you want to get rated all the time win or lose? Or try to hide chips as you win to give a losing impression? Is it bad to be rated ans always win? Or just never get rated and stay nameless?

I usually get rated and always get free rooms, I figure that it is only helping my bottom line. But as a pro who relies on playing at the casino I'm not sure now?

charr, you are thinking about this correctly. There is no harm in getting rated and it can only help your bottom line. You can't hide. They have other ways to find out who you are anyway. But room comps get tricky when playing pro. Except for very high rollers with a losing history, casinos will usually only comp your room for 3 nights. They figure it this way: In 3 days they should have all your money so there is no point in comping you further. But, they figure, if they don't have all your money then you are too good to comp. You will be in the later category. Either way, when you are staying at casinos, you end up needing a new room every three days. Therefore, from a comp standpoint you are better off to only play a casino for two days. On the third day, change to the casino you hope to get comped at next.

When I did this, I played the morning session normally at the new target casino. But in the afternoon session I bought in for $1000 instead of $300. I always separated the $700 in chips from my normal pile of $300. The only purpose of that $700 is to get comped easier. On your comp tiket at the pit boss desk the most important entries to the pit boss in deciding your comp is your hours of play and your buy-in amount. Ok, your next trick is to wait until you have a big bet out to ask for your comp. Also wait until you have max hrs of play.

Using this technique I was often able to stay comped for a month or more even though I had to "move" every 3 days. Limit your belongings to one easy to carry rugged duffle. I used the same rickshaw driver with every move and tipped him well. They carry cell phones these days so thats easy to do. Keep it quick and convenient. You don't need distractions.

[Guest CarlosM]

Ellis! regarding the people who work in the surveilance room "eye in the sky",

because they spend hours, every day for many years, do you think they also know that card counting doesn't work like people think it should? Do you think they know how clumped the cards are? Do you think they know about NBJ or it's players? Do you think they know when an NBJ player is playing and it's on their camera? Or do they think he must be a pro or a card counter? Or think he is lucky?