I did it!

[ddbcinti]

Well today I finally did it. I won 42 units!

I went to a different casino which is farther away, but I like their

shuffle better. Ellis, I had been listening to the WCB tapes #5 & 6

all the way to the casino (and also probably two dozen times before

today) but today it just clicked! After one shoe I realized that I was

hitting too much and was often breaking, and the dealer was breaking

a little more than the 25%, so I started standing more and hitting less

because the 10s were not clumped well and seemed to be often well

distributed throughout the shoe. It was a slow easy game and it took

me three and a half hours, but I have never stayed that long in the game

before. The long ride home is much better when you win!

I hope that this was not a coincidence! I feel like calling in sick tomorrow

so that I can go back to the casino to see if I can win again and prove

that this was not a fluke! Maybe I am finally learning how to vary my play.

[Zenwin]

I'm happy for you and I hope it'll work for you every time.

Would you mind answer some questions about your play ?

Was it a full table (how many persons) ?

Did you play 1st or 3rd base ?

Was it hand or machine shuffled ? If it was machine, was 2 alternate decks used ?

Any table heat when you applied NBJ ?

Thanks.

[ddbcinti]

Zenwin,

I played first base in an 8 deck, hand shuffled game. There were 3 people, including me in the game when I started. But the number varied from 3-5 throughout the game. Surprisingly, the quality of the game remained fairly consistent even with players coming and going. I left the game when a sixth person entered. The casino was starting to get more crowded and the game had already started to deteriorate anyway on the last shoe. I was playing a very conservative game and was often standing rather than hitting because the tens were not clumped very well and seemed to be distributed well throughout the shoe. So I did not get the usual rude comments from the dealer or other players for hitting too much like I usually do in an NBJ game.

I did, however, draw alot of attention from the pit boss who kept walking back and forth trying to determine what I was doing with my stack of chips that I was using to track the signature of the game. Has this ever happened to you? Each time he came by I pretended to be building a little pyramid of irregular chip stacks, and when he kept eyeing me I kept building even while the dealer was shuffling. Eventually he went away and I started covering my stack of signature chips better with my right hand so that he could not see what was going on.

How is your game coming along?

[ECD]

Now there is a very sharp pit boss Zenwin. Most players play with their chips anyway so our little signature trick seldom draws attention. They make little designs or tunnels or they are trying the chip tricks they saw on TV poker.

I would be inclined to wonder if this pit boss was familiar with NBJ and your chip signature. Many dealers play NBJ and many interned at casinos where NBJ is required reading. Its a neat and useful little trick isn't it.

[Zenwin]

Great trick !

What were you trying yo track in this game ? Ten ratio or game signature ?

Also, please tell me if you had made table selection first or did you just pick the 1st base to play ?

Thanks.

Zenwin.

[Mad Dog]

Yesterday I played 8-deck blackjack in Vegas. It is so easy compared to six deck. I played at third base, but used advantage betting instead of 1-4-6. It was beautiful. It was like taking candy from a baby. A crowd gathered to watch. Conditions are great right now in Vegas as long as you mind your table selection.

[Mad Dog]

I did, however, draw alot of attention from the pit boss who kept walking back and forth trying to determine what I was doing with my stack of chips that I was using to track the signature of the game.

Sometimes chip stacks are used by shuffle trackers to track ten clumps through the shuffle. The chips get shuffled the same way as the cards, and this produces a profile of where high concentrations of tens are in the shoe. If the pit boss thinks you're a tracker, you can get the boot.

[ECD]

Mad Dog, I was wondering when you were going to try the other half of the manual.

[ECD]

Good Job DD. Hey Mad Dog, its kinda fun drawing a crowd isn't it. Get used to it. It happens a lot playing NBJ First Base. And the funny part is they don't have any idea how you're doing it.

[Keith Smith]

Get a partner and have him play third base. Have him flat bet and when there is an obvious low card clump, hit no matter what he has, split, hit stand with less than 11 if highs are running. Me and Ellis used to do this all the time.