1. Enhver av en stor klasse av materialer med svært variable mekaniske og optiske egenskaper som størkner fra smeltet tilstand uten krystallisering, blir vanligvis laget av silikater som smelter sammen med bor oksid, aluminiumoksyd eller fosforpentoksyd, er generelt harde, sprø og gjennomsiktige eller gjennomskinnelig, og anses å være superkjølte væsker i stedet for ekte faste stoffer. 2. Noe laget av glass eller annet gjennomsiktig eller gjennomskinnelig materiale, spesielt: a. Et drikkevann. d. Et vindu eller et vindu. e. Serien av gjennomsiktige plastplater som festes vertikalt over brettene i mange isbaner. en. briller Et par linser montert i en lys ramme, brukes til å korrigere feil syn eller beskytte øynene. b. ofte briller Et kikkert eller feltglass. c. En enhet, som en monokle eller spyglass, som inneholder en linse eller linser og brukes som hjelpemiddel til syn. 4. Mengden inneholdt av et drikkefartøy et glassfullt. 5. Objekter laget av glassglass. 1. Laget eller bestående av glass. 2. Philip, født 1937, amerikansk komponist. Et gjennomsiktig eller gjennomskinnelig materiale som ikke har krystallinsk struktur, og som vanligvis bryter eller knuses lett. Det er laget ved å smelte et silikat, som sand, med brus og lime. Sodan får silikatpartiklene til å smelte, og lime fungerer som en stabilisator. Visste du at Windows, TV-skjermer og briller alle bruker det faktum at vi kan se gjennom glass. Som vanlig sand er glass laget av silisiumdioksyd. Men hvis de er laget av samme kjemikalie, hvorfor skulle sand være umulig å se gjennom og glass være gjennomsiktig. Den oppsiktsvekkende gjennomsiktige egenskapen til glass skylder sin eksistens til et annet fantastisk faktum: selv om glasset er vanskelig, er det ikke virkelig et solidt. Noen forskere tenker på glass som en slags frossen væske, mens andre snakker om glass som en uordnet form for solid. Glass er derfor forskjellig fra det vi vanligvis tenker på som enten et fast stoff eller en væske. Snarere enn å ha det ordnede arrangementet av mest hardt materiale, ligner glassets mikroskopiske struktur en væske, fast i tid. Interiøret av ekte faste stoffer har grenser som sprer lys, noe som får den til å hoppe av. Glassets væskelignende mangel på disse grensene lar lyset gjennom. En kopp er en liten, rund beholder, vanligvis med et håndtak, hvor du drikker varme drikker som te og kaffe. Når du ikke holder en kopp, hviler du vanligvis på en tallerken. John lagde koppen og tallerken på salongbordet. En kopp er også en måleenhet som brukes til matlaging. Bland fire kopper mel med en klype salt. Et glass er en beholder laget av glass og brukes til kalde drikker. Jeg satte glasset mitt og sto opp. Han ga Ellen et glass juice. Et krus er en stor dyp kopp med rette sider og et håndtak som brukes til varme drikker. Du hviler ikke et krus på en tallerken. Han spiste øyeblikkelig kaffe inn i to av krusene. 4. beholdere og innhold Du kan bruke kopp. glass. og krus for å snakke om enten containene eller innholdet. Jeg droppet koppen og det brøt. Drikk åtte glass vann om dagen. 1. Et hardt bruddbart gjennomsiktig stoff. Flasken er laget av glass (også adjektiv) en glassflaske. glas, glas-. glass glass-vifte klaas lasi verre staklo veg kaka glass vetro di vetro stiklas stiklinis stikls kakas glass glass glass kieliszek. szklanka. Vidro (dedin) sticl sklo sklen steklo staklo glas cam thu tinh 2. et vanligvis høyt hul objekt i glass som brukes til drikking. Det er seks glass på brillens sherry-briller. Glas kopo sklenice glass glass vaso. copa klaas juomalasi verre aa pohr gelas glas bicchiere stiklin glze gelas glas glass lustro copo pahar pohr (ik) kozarec aa glas bardak. Kadeh ci cc, ci ly 3. (også glass) et speil. Spiel espelho zrcadlo der Spiegel spejl espejo peegel peili glace. Mikrolyt og ledning, Zrcalo tkr cermin speil specchio veidrodis spogulis cermin spiegel speil barometr espelho oglind zrkadlo ogledalo ogledalo spegel ayna, gng soi 4. et barometer eller det atmosfæriske trykket vist av en. Glasset faller. barometer: barmetro barometr das Barometer barometer barmetro ilmaklaas ilmapuntari baromtre - barometar barometer barometer loftvog barometro barometras barometr barometer barometer barometer okulary: barometer barometrometer barometer, zrani pritisk barometar barometer barometre ci phong v biu briller substantiv flertall briller. brille culos brle die Brille briller. giras prillid lasit lunettes naoale szemveg kacamata gleraugu occhiali akiniai brilles cermin mata bril briller szklanka culos ogelari okuliare ola naoari glasgon gzlk knh eo mt mengden som et drikkeglass vil holde. Hell i to glassfuls vann. glasvol copo cheio sklenice (pln) glass glass glass vaso klaasitis lasillinen verre puna aa pohrnyi segelas glasfylli bicchiere stiklin glze (k mrvienba) gelas glass glass glass szklanka copo cheio pahar (plin) pohr poln kozarec puna aa glas bir bardak dolusu. Lng mt cc nc cha c 1. viser ikke noe uttrykk. en glassaktig stirre. glaskjærne, skinnende, glatt, glatt, glatt, glatt, glatt, glatt, glatt, glatt, glatt, glatt, glatt. uttrykksls szklisty () vtreo sticlos sklen steklen, srep besizraajan glasartad, sett ifadesiz, bo, n 2. like glass. et glassaktig hav. klar, spielgladde cristalino jako zrcadlo klar glassaktig vtreo. cristalino klaasjas, peegelsile lasimainen uni comme un miroir staklen vegszer seperti cermin spegilslttur cristallino. trasparente stiklinis (par dens virsmu) gluds spogugluds berkaca-kaca glassagtig speilblank. glassklar szklisty cristalino ca oglinda ako zrkadlo prozoren, prosajen spegelblank cam gibi, nh gng glasagtighet brilho sklovitost die Klarheit glasagtighet, vidriosidad, aspektet cristalino klaasitaolisus lasimaisuus aspekt vitreux prozirnost vegszersg sifat seperti kaca og lkist gleri vetrosit trasparenza lygumas, iraikos nebuvimas stiklainums gludums Gullkornet glass, glassglasset glassglasset sølvglasset sølvglasset sølvglasset sølvglasset sølvglasset glans, glans og glansfarget glass. betyr briller, er flertall: Hans lesebriller er brutt. men et par briller tar et entall verb: Et par briller har blitt funnet. n. Vidrio, cristal forstørrende Spring de aumento. Blackjack Største gevinster og tap: Spillere på deres quotImpossiblequot Fluktuasjoner Vinnere og tapere: True Tales From the Blackjack Trenches Av Tobaksa, Tommy Hyland, Taylor James, Dan Paymar, Pro21, Dustin D. Marks, One More Sko, Bob Loeb, Abbot Avarissa, Bill Haywood, Anthony Curtis, JC, Cizef, Max Rubin, James Grosjean, John Brahms, Moe Cash (Fra Blackjack Forum XXI 3, Fall 2001) 169 Blackjack Forum 2001 Nye kortteller blir ofte forbauset av hva de anser å være quotimpossiblequot bankroll fluktuasjoner. Jeg har nylig sendt e-postmeldinger til en rekke langtidspartnere, noen profesjonelle spillere, noen forfattere, noen som er kjent, noen ikke, og spurte om de hadde noen minneverdige historier om gevinster eller tap de kunne dele med Blackjack Forum-lesere. Jeg kontaktet kortteller, shuffle trackers, blackjack-lagspillere, kortspillere, gammeldags skjulte blackjack-dataspillere, videospillere, turneringsspillere, sportsspillere, internettspillere, kompis og kuponghustlere, og til og med en innrømmet snyder. Hvis du tror du har en quotumpossiblequot fluktuasjon eller to, lytt til hva noen av proffene har å si Arnold Snyder Ett hundre tusen dollar. Spelt ut, med hver null, og en stor stor dollar registrere deg foran det er 100 000,00. Da jeg begynte å spille blackjack, var vinnende hundre tusen referansen. Hvis du hadde, var du en proff. Enhver amatør kan vinne tusen eller ti. Det var fluktuasjon. Et hundre du arbeidet. Det tok lang tid, vanligvis et par år å vinne hundre tusen. En gang vant visste vi at du aldri måtte bekymre deg for å gå kvittetid stuck. quot (Hah) Malcolm, en flamboyant fixtur på blackjack-scenen, vant hans på litt over et år. Dessverre mistet lagkameratene sine 100 000 i samme år. Quothas, quothas (en felles venn) quothas vant 140.000 liv, og har spart 160.000quot (Woody hadde også investert i vinnende banker.) Jeg har vunnet 160.000, og Ive har spart 1.40.quot. Bankrollene ble i løpet av årene større og svingene større også. Fortsatt var hundre tusen hundre tusen. På slutten av 1980-tallet ble det største spillet i verden handlet i Korea. Walker Hill Casino i Seoul var ganske høflig og ville vanligvis ikke bar deg til du reiste deg fra bordet, men bar deg de ville. Når det var sperret, med tanke på at alle andre i kasinoet var asiatiske, var det vanskelig å gå tilbake i døren og blande seg inn. Et team av venner og slektninger fikk seg selv sperret, men en av dem kom opp med en god ide. De fleste Walker Hills-lånere var japansk. Det var trodde at koreanske sjefer aldri ville bære en japansk spiller. Hvorfor ikke rekruttere noe japansk, og trene dem som Gorilla BPs? Hvorfor ikke det virkelig fungerte så bra at et og et halvt år senere, våren 1988, begrenset Walker Hill innsatsen fra en av våre spillere (Rocky, verdens største BP ), og endret også reglene som hadde gjort stedet så attraktivt. Så i mai 1988 fløy jeg ned til Pusan, Korea, for å prøve Paradise Beach Casino på størrelse. Selv om jeg hadde ringt spiller for laget i over et år, var det min første gang i Korea med min bror, Pro21. Etter en dramatisk helg (se Pro21s-konto andre steder i dette nummeret for detaljer), fløy han tilbake til USA, mens jeg dro tilbake til Seoul for å henge om lagets leilighet. (En god måte å bli ansatt på for neste tur, i stedet for andre freelance-PCer (spill innringere), er å være der, 8000 miles unna, noe som sparer teamflybilletten.) Noen få uker, gjennom sommeren, et sekund PC ville ankomme, BP i slep. Vi spilte fra fredag kveld til søndag ettermiddag, fordi kasinoet var tomt i løpet av uken. PCer trengte å sove noen få timer mellom skift, men vi jobbet med våre BP med ubarmhjertig. Rocky satte rekorden: 39 timer ved bordet i en 44-timers periode. Bare en grunn til at han var verdens største BP. Endelig kom en tur der en dårlig ting skjedde. Kasinoet bestemte seg for at Rocky vinner for mye, og kalte Walker Hill for å se om de visste om ham. (Det hadde sannsynligvis ikke hjulpet med at en Yakuza-sjef som jeg hadde hatt innkjøringer med opp i Seoul, mistet 50 000 å spille med oss en ettermiddag, og begynte å skrike at det var all Rockys skyld fordi han citerte som en Americanquot) Ikke før hadde de hengt opp telefonen, enn rocky var begrenset til en innsats spredning på 100.000 300000 vunnet. (Omtrent US150-450, med en bordgrense på to millioner vunnet). For et godt mål begrenset de meg også. citerer jeg bare satser på hundre tusen wonquot quotDoesnt saken. Fra nå av, 100 000 til 300 000.quot Det var slutten av det, trodde jeg, til en måned senere, en telefonoppringing informerte meg om at en PC og BP skulle ankomme i slutten av uken. QuoteWhere are we goquot quotPusan. quot quotNot med mequot Hadde jeg faktisk blitt sperret Vel, egentlig ikke, men jeg var sikker på at kasinoet ikke ville tolerere meg. Du skal jobbe med Darryl. Han har ikke vært i Pusan i år. Og du har en helt ny BP. Hes har aldri vært der. Hes har aldri vært hvor som helst. Aldri vært i et kasino i sitt liv Allikevel, vi fikk ingen andre til å sende. Quot Og så videre fredag kveld, mens Steve, vår nye BP, sjekket inn i Paradise Beach, og Darryl slo seg inn i rommet vårt over gaten ved Green Stranden (bare 40 per natt), jeg åpnet et dødt bord i kasinoet. Du er en dukkontakt The Shift Manager vinket en finger under nesen min mens han prøvde å tenke på noe annet engelsk ord for å rope på meg. Sitat Du hundre tusen tre hundre tusen, og Oh, og fordi jeg spilte hodet opp, måtte jeg spille tre hender til noen kom til meg. Som den eneste kunden, kunne jeg ha vært midtpunktet for oppmerksomhet likevel, men siden jeg var den nyskapende amerikanske korttelleren, var jeg mer enn det. Lederen tok sammen hver sjef, og hver forhandler, lined dem opp, og fikk dem til å huske ansiktet mitt, pore av pore. Jeg smilte svakt, og ba hardt for en runde av dårlige kort. Selvfølgelig trakk jeg flere naturaler enn noen økt i livet mitt. Etter 45 minutter, flat betting, var jeg opp 65 spill, rundt US10,000. Jeg dro før skiftebyttet, 30 par øyne skarpe på min avreise tilbake. Om morgenen, på slutten av kirkegården, legger jeg inn mitt neste utseende. Samme historie, samme dialog, litt annerledes cast. Denne gangen vant jeg bare 35 spill. De hadde ikke stoppet meg fra å spille, så en time senere kom jeg tilbake til dagskift, og min første sesjon med BP. For en stor spiller hvis hele casinoopplevelsen var begrenset til sin økt med Darryl natten før, gjorde Steve ganske bra. Han blandet seg ikke med de andre japanskene (de var alle Yakuza-høvdingene, og han var en sushi-kokk), men han fulgte signaler godt, uten noen åpenbar nøling, eller overdrev interessen i hendene mine og pommes frites. Vi spilte i 6 timer, og vant sakte, men jevnt. Etter hvert som skiftet utviklet seg, tok tempoet opp. De andre spillerne begynte å følge Steves-spill, og presset da han presset, bakte seg når han satte seg av. Forhandleren er forpliktet, ved å snu iskall. Hun begynte å bryte, hånd for hånd. Siden de japanske spillerne nesten aldri bryter (det kan være forhandlerens bustkort, og de andre vil aldri tilgi dem), vant alle. Etter 6 timer sendte jeg Steve fra bordet. Med ham borte, dro de andre umiddelbart. Han hadde vunnet førti og en halv million vunnet. Jeg hadde plukket opp en million og en halv. De andre spillerne som sto på, hadde fått tjueåtte millioner flere. Bordet var nede i sytti millioner, eller nesten akkurat det magiske 100.000 ct. Han vinner for mye. Tre sjefer var der, skaden var for mye for en å vurdere. De så på meg for sympati, og jeg forpliktet: "Det er riktig at den japanske fyren var den heldigste spilleren jeg noensinne har sett. De nikket, sjokkert. Svette drippet klammet fra tre sett med bryn. Sitat mye vinne for mye. Swing og grav var mye å snakke om, men på flyet til Seoul var Darryl kråkende. Steve hadde vunnet ytterligere tjue millioner vinner. Vi tilbrakte uken i Seoul, mens Steve gikk rett fra Pusan til Japan, for å besøke familie. Neste fredag var vi tilbake på kriminalitetens scene. Steve og jeg gjorde lite skade over natten, men lørdag ettermiddag led Darryl til en annen tjue millioner vinnere. Elsker det dagskiftet Vi hadde ikke spilt mer enn en time lørdag kveld, da springen kom. Steve ble trukket av spillet, for å gi seg til Casino Manager selv. Ti minutter gikk forbi, deretter tjue. Til slutt returnerte Steve og sjefen. Steve prøvde ikke å se på meg, men øynene hans fortsatte å glide sidelengs mens han samlet opp sjetongene for å gå ut. Han var klart fryktet. Vel selvfølgelig var det barna første tur til dekanernes kontor. Trykk på. Sjefen var på skulderen min. Quote Quot Jeg vil gjerne snakke med deg. Quot Quote, etter shoe. quot Nei, hva han ville fortelle meg, ville bare ikke vente. Vi dro til hans kontor, og han var høflig, men fast. Jeg var ikke lenger en æret gjest i Paradise Beach Casino. Kan jeg vær så snill å gå andre steder på et annet kontinent, kanskje tilbake i Seoul, tok vi Steve rundt og viste ham sjarmen til Itaewon silkedrakter og barpiger, som begge kunne være skreddersydd for bare 100. Og mandag morgen var det på tide å sende han hjemme. citerer 5000. Det er alt du kan utføre av Korea. quot quote Hva gjør jeg med alt dette moneyquot-kvitt pengene mine forventer deg i går kveld For shopping, og ahem diverse som kom til 350, så når du kommer til LA, skylder Craig deg en annen 1650.quot quotBut hva gjør jeg med 5000quot Så jeg forklarte. vi vunnet 98 millioner vunnet. OLene er neste måned, men det vant det på steroider. Dens handel på under 700 akkurat nå. Du får 5 etter utgifter, som går ut til 140.000, så din slutt er 7000. Du får 5000, pluss pengene i går kveld, pluss hva Craig skylder deg når du kommer tilbake. Jeg kan komme til å holde dette, antar jeg da de forklarte Avtale tilbake i LA, de hadde ikke fortalt ham at han kunne vinne så mye penger. Hittil har det vært bare sjetonger. Plutselig var det ekte penger. Når skal vi gjøre det igjen, vel, snakk med dem når du kommer til LA. quot La dem ødelegge det for at hans blackjack karriere var over, bare en og en halv uke etter at den begynte. Kort det kan ha vært, men jeg var sikker på at Steve ville ta nyheten som en proff. Tross alt, hed vant sin livstid hundre tusen. Tommy Hyland Min mest minneverdige seier var sannsynligvis omtrent 15 år siden i Atlantic City. Jeg var en del av et massivt prosjekt som involverte 25-30 personer og så mange som 10 eller 12 på et bestemt spill. For å lage en lang historie kort, utnyttet prosjektet forhandlere som blandet på en bestemt måte, og vi hadde hver forhandler på stedet besvart for å se om de oppfylte våre krav. Selv om dette spillet var svært lukrativt gitt de riktige forholdene, var det relativt få forhandlere i hvert kasino som var spillbare. Vi trengte også å spille hodet opp for svært høye innsatser. Langt unna var den beste forhandleren i dette kasinoet en stor, elskverdig, svart mann med navnet quotRosie. quot. Dessverre for oss ble han begravet dypt på et overfylt 2 bord. Dermed måtte våre kvitteringsåpnere kvot begynne den vanskelige oppgaven med å rydde bordet. Deres jobb var å få alle de vanlige kundene utenfor bordet, så alle forlater tett sammen uten at gropen la merke til noe uvanlig. Vår BP, som allerede hadde etablert seg som en stor sucker, ville da komme og be om at dette tomme bordet skulle bli et privat spill. Våre quotopenersquot gjorde mange ting for å få de vanlige spillerne utenfor måletabellen. Noen få eksempler jeg husker er: (1) de ville gjøre uhøflige kommentarer som kritiserer de vanlige spillerne, og deretter splitte 10s seg selv og le hvis forhandleren lagde hånden og feide bordet. (2) Vi hadde sigarer og spesielt tilberedte klær som var utrolig foul. (3) Spesielt stædige kunder ville kvotekritisk få en drink spilt på dem. Flertallet av tiden vi planla et spill, av en eller annen grunn, ville vi ikke klare å få det ned. Mange ganger har vi 10 eller så folk tilbringer 4 eller 5 timer og alt vi får for vår innsats, vil være en god del negativ EV. Men på denne kvelden gikk det veien. Vi fanget bordet, fikk vår BP på, og fortsatte å vinne ca 140.000. Vi hadde slått Rosie før for et par mellomstore vinner, så vi skjønte wed vent litt før vi forsøkte å spille ham igjen. Men vi fikk aldri sjansen. Da prosjektet avsluttet omtrent 6 måneder senere, var han fortsatt der hei var hver natt siden vår store seier THE BIG SIX WHEEL. Mitt mest minneverdige tap var tidlig på 80-tallet. Jeg hadde nettopp blitt med fire veldig skarpe gutter som lærte meg å blande spor. Sannsynligvis fordi jeg allerede var mildt berømt i blackjack-fellesskapet på dette tidspunktet, gjorde de meg ikke gjennom den strenge testingen en ny rekruttering normalt ville bli gjenstand for. De viste ganske mye bare meg noen ting og slått meg løs. Jeg hadde vunnet ganske mye penger i karrieren så langt, bare rett teller, så forestill deg hvor mye jeg skulle vinne nå, da jeg var en SHUFFLE TRACKER jeg marched til Fremont, på alle steder, og i løpet av 5 eller 6 dager klarte jeg å miste 75.000 eller 100.000. Fremont-sjefene var ekstatisk i sin lykke, men ble mildt forvirret om hvorfor en rik fyr som meg selv ville velge Fremont å gamble i stedet for et sted litt bedre som Caesars Palace eller MGM. Jeg forklarte at jeg foretrukket et lite, vennlig sted som Fremont hvor jeg ble behandlet som noen spesielle. Mens jeg klarte å holde øye med Fremont, ble jeg ødelagt da tapene mine ble montert, hovedsakelig fordi jeg ønsket å vinne for mine nye lagkamerater. De hadde vist meg mye tillit til meg, og jeg betalte dem med tap på rekordinnstillinger. Dessverre for Fremont, akkurat da de sannsynligvis planla hvilke bekvemmeligheter som skal tilbringe deres fallfall på (kanskje rommøbler med knotter fortsatt festet eller lyspærer som faktisk slukket lys), svarte tidevannet. Jeg vant pengene mine tilbake og har klart å fortsette å vinne noen få dollar i årene siden da. Darryl Purpose Vinteren 1983 var blackjack-teamet jeg var på, med å eksperimentere med en ny teknologi. Det innebar en datamaskin, skjult i våre sko, operert av våre tær. Datamaskinen ble drevet av litiumbatterier som var festet til anklene og koblet til ledninger som løp gjennom skrittet. Vi fortalte datamaskinen hvilke kort som ble spilt og så nøyaktig hvordan dekkene ble blandet, og datamaskinen fortalte oss hvor mye å satse og hvordan du skal spille hånden gjennom en tapper på bunnen av føttene. Fordi jeg var ganske beryktet i Nevada på den tiden, trengte vi å sjekke ut effektiviteten til systemet på et annet sted. Kanskje vi kunne tjene litt penger også. Det var det som førte oss til Leicester, England. Problemet med oss gambling på kasinoet i Leicester var at det ikke var noe bra grunnlag for en person som ikke bodde der for å være der i februar. Turister. Knapt en salgbar omslagshistorie i Midt-England kaldt. Rekreasjonsspillere. Hvorfor ikke gå til Las Vegas en time unna våre hjem med fly Når du blir spurt, hva er to amerikanere som gjør i Leicester i februarquot sa vi, quote. spiller folkefestivalen i Enderby. og ah. besøker SOCK factoryquot (Ja, det er det) Det var to kasinoer i Leicester på den tiden. Annabelles var den vi endte med å spille på. Da vi begynte å vinne, begynte de å svette. Det var en liten seier (ca 10 000), men tilsynelatende nok for Annabelles å være forsiktig med vårt lek. Når vi stoppet og prøvde å kontanter våre chips, fortalte de oss at de ikke hadde så mye penger og ba oss om å komme tilbake neste dag. HVA. Dette var bemerkelsesverdig i alle årene vi spilte ALDRI blitt bedt om å komme tilbake neste dag og plukke opp gevinstene våre Da vi reiste stink, tilbød de å gi oss en sjekk. IKKE SANT. Vi holdt sjetongene. Vi visste ikke hva du skal gjøre med quotdont har cashquot-historien, kanskje det var sant, eller kanskje de var på oss og skulle gi oss en vanskelig tid om å få pengene våre. Vi snakket lenge og hardt om natten om den riktige strategien neste dag og endte med å avgjøre at vi ville bære datamaskinen til kasinoet. (Egentlig hadde jeg på seg datamaskinen Nicholas, som var en førsteklasses spiller i sin egen rett, bare overvåket fremdriften av datakonseptet for investorene tilbake i Las Vegas.) Vår plan var at Id betalte ut chipsene og Nicholas ville sette seg ned på blackjackbordet og se om noen viktige elementer i spillet hadde endret seg. (De hadde) Hvis alt hadde vært kult, kan vi ha spilt litt mer. Før vi gikk inn i kasinoet la jeg merke til et stykke papir i bilen med notater fra tidligere sesjoner i andre engelske kasinoer om. Ikke den typen ting casual spillere ville ha rundt. Jeg brettet det opp og fylte det inn i en peanutomslag. Dette viste seg å være et godt trekk, og beslutningen om å bruke datamaskinen viste seg å være perfekt, fordi beina mine (hvor datamaskinen var) var det eneste stedet de ikke ender med å søke. Så gikk vi inn i kasinoet Nicholas på vei til bordene og jeg dro til kassereren. En mann ba meg om å komme med ham, han hadde noen spørsmål. Å bli bedt om å komme til bakrommet hadde skjedd mye for oss i Nevada og andre steder, og var ikke uventet. USUALLY, men vi hadde ikke en muligens ulovlig elektronisk enhet på kroppen vår. (Vi ante ikke hvordan rettssystemet ville behandle datamaskinene. Det var sannsynligvis ingen presedens, ingen lov, som LSD på 60-tallet.) Vi håpet å IKKE finne ut noe om lovligheten av den på denne turen. Vi hadde bestemt at hvis vi var i denne situasjonen med datamaskinen på kroppene våre, ville vi ikke si noe og be om å se en advokat. Kort etter å ha kommet i bakrommet, hadde Nicholas oppdaget at spillet var blitt forandret, ledet inn i samme rom. Den fyren som hadde ledet meg der blinket et skilt Skottland Yard De skilte oss for å få våre historier. Vår første pause var at begge av oss selv bestemte seg for at det var bedre å snakke med Mr. Scotland Yard og casino-folkene. Vi begge brøt koden av stillhet og prøvde å snakke vår vei ut av det. Casino manager spurte meg om jeg var en profesjonell gambler. Jeg sa, nei, jeg er en businessmansometimes folkesanger. Quot quote Hvor jobber du med, spurte han. Jeg laget et navn på et selskap. quoteHat telefonnummeret jeg laget opp et telefonnummer. Han plukket opp telefonen og ringte. Bare da gikk en kollega av hans inn i rommet og han hang på telefonen. Da disse samtalene var ferdige, tok Mr. Scotland Yard og hans assistent oss ut til bilen vår og søkte det helt, og fant bare en pussetøppel. De tok oss til hotellrommet vårt og begynte å se seg rundt. Mr. Scotland Yard så min gitar case, spurte han om jeg hadde en Tommy Gun inni. Vi lo. Han så likevel. Nicholas og jeg visste at det var bare én ting i rommet at vi ikke vil at de skulle se på KORTET. Den korte saken hadde ekstra batterier og ledninger registrert av tidligere kasino turer dekk av kort, etc. De så overalt. Under sengene. Mellom madrassene. Under håndklær på badet. Nicholas og jeg prøvde ikke å se på kort saken, og ikke å unngå å se på kort saken. Vi snakket med Mr. Scotland Yard og hans assistent hele tiden. Da tiden var ferdig med å se overalt, var de mer eller mindre på vår side, og lurte på hvorfor Annabelles ville gjøre så mye oppstyr over et par amerikanere som vinner litt penger. Så en av dem la merke til det korte saken og spurte, spørsmålet i dette spørsmålet, sa Nicholas. Han gikk over og løftes lokket lokket. Men da hadde han blitt ganske sikker på at alt var på opp og opp og ikke se ledningene som så rett opp på ham, eller trodde ikke de var mye av noe å være bekymret for. Han avsluttet kort saken og beklaget for å plage oss. Vi fortalte våre nye venner at det ikke var deres feil og ha en god dag. De tok oss tilbake til Annabelles, hvor kasinoet ga oss penger for våre chips. Vi hoppet inn i bilen, kjørte rett til Dover og tok den neste fergen ut av England. Dan Paymar Jeg har ofte hørt historier om noen som treffer royal flushes back-to-back, men jeg har aldri sett det skje. Jeg har imidlertid opplevd to kongelige i en spillesession to ganger i de 12 årene som jeg har spilt video poker. Den første var på Stratosphere. Jeg hadde spilt en 106 Jacks or Better-maskin i omtrent to timer da jeg slo en kongelig. Mens jeg ventet på håndbetaling, begynte jeg å spille den tilstøtende maskinen. Om fem minutter etter at den første ble betalt, slo jeg en kongelig på den andre maskinen. Spilleavhengige var veldig vennlige og betalte dem av veldig raskt begge ganger. Den andre gangen var på Plaza i downtown Las Vegas. Jeg hadde spilt en Deuces Wild på Keno-baren i omtrent en halv time da jeg slo en kongelig flush i klubber. Min kone spilte et annet sted i kasinoet, så jeg ringte henne på våre mobiltelefoner og holdt min telefon i nærheten av maskinens høyttaler slik at hun kunne høre musikken. De kom for å betale meg ganske raskt, men endringspiken var ferdig med å telle på 1000. Jeg holdt bare hvor det var og sa, quote, ikke slutte det. Jeg og hun og sperreren så på meg med et forvirret uttrykk, så Jeg pekte på glasset på maskinen der det står, i 1175 for en Royal Flush uten vilde kort. De tok sheepishly tilbake 1000 og kom tilbake et par minutter senere med hele beløpet. I mellomtiden hadde min kone kom til å bli med meg i baren, så jeg fortsatte å spille. Omtrent en halv time senere fikk jeg en annen kongelig på samme maskin. Denne gangen tok det seg nesten en halv time å komme tilbake med pengene. Jeg mistenker at de gjennomgikk sikkerhetsbåndene for å se om jeg på en eller annen måte hadde manipulert maskinen, men ingenting ble sagt. Jeg spiste heller ikke på den ene på grunn av den lange forsinkelsen. Det var en annen forekomst av to bemerkelsesverdige kongelige. Disse var ikke i samme spillesession, faktisk var de omtrent fem uker fra hverandre, men det som er bemerkelsesverdig om dem, er at de kom på samme måte. I begge tilfeller ble jeg behandlet x-x-Q-K-A hvor Q-K-A var alle klubber, og jeg fikk 10 og J av klubber på tegningen for en sekvensiell kongelig verdi på 12.500. (Dette var på Texas Station i begynnelsen av 1996 da de hadde en bank med full lønnskvart Deuces Wild maskiner med Reversible Royal.) Nå er en sekventiell kongelig ekstremt sjelden (omtrent en av 60 kongelige), så det å bli enda er fantastisk. Å få to innen fem uker av hverandre er nesten utrolig. Men det faktum at de kom på akkurat samme måte må gjøre en lurer på. Begge ganger betalte de meg uten problemer, men noen dager etter den andre var lønnsspillet på spillene kuttet til en vanlig 95-timeplan. Da jeg var på college møtte jeg en tannlege i en bar en natt. Over noen få spill av backgammon fortalte han meg at han nettopp var kommet hjem fra Las Vegas. Han var i ganske god ånd fordi ikke bare hadde de betalt alle sine utgifter, inkludert flyflyt, men han hadde vunnet flere tusen dollar for å starte opp. Jeg fortalte ham at etter hvert ville kasinoet få alle disse utgiftene tilbake, og hans bankroll. Sitat fra meg vil de ikke. Jeg teller kort. quot Det var første gang jeg noen gang hadde hørt om å telle kort. For noen som elsket å spille kort dette hørtes for godt til å være sant. Han anbefalte en bok, Playing Blackjack As A Business, av Lawrence Revere, og neste dag bestilte jeg det spesielt hos min lokale bokhandel. Etter at boka kom, tilbrakte jeg mange timer på å studere diagrammer. Jeg lærte grunnleggende strategi bakover og fremover. Ned i kjelleren ville jeg håndtere hender til meg selv. Snart visste jeg forskjellen mellom single deck strategi og flere dekk. Jeg visste om quotdouble etter splitsing, quote og quotsoft 17.quot Nå var alt jeg trengte var å vente på bursdagen min til å slå 21. Da jeg kom med bursdagen min, bestilte jeg en pakkeavtale til Vegas som en gave til meg selv. 179 ville få meg en flybillett og fire dager og tre netter på den vakre Flamingo Capri. Flamingo Capri pleide å sitte der Imperial Palace er nå, og det var egentlig ganske dump. Jeg var lovlig alder og rett i midten av stripen. Se opp Vegas mdash her kommer jeg. På slutten av turen var jeg foran 220. Jeg hadde betalt for turen og hadde litt forandring igjen. Jeg husker så klart og tenker, hvis jeg kan gjøre dette med bare grunnleggende strategi, tenk bare hvor mye jeg skal gjøre når jeg lærer å telle. Jeg ser tilbake på det nå, og ler på min naiveteakute, men dette var et sjeldent øyeblikk i mitt liv. It caused me to move to Las Vegas after college, and led to my playing professionally for 25 years. Invariably every professional gambler is asked, quotWhats the most youve wonquot or quotWhats the most youve lostquot Im not sure this is the most of either, but this is the story I usually tell. In the late 80s my team was playing a lot in Korea. On one particular trip I was going to play with my brother in Pusan. We arrived on a Friday and that first night after we both played we got back to the hotel room to compare notes. We had won just over 100,000. Elated I called my teammates back in the States and told them we had hit our target on the first night out. Then, on Saturday and Sunday, my brother and I proceeded to lose the entire 100,000 ending up even for the weekend. People might think this was quite a tragedy but in reality this was probably the best weekend I ever had. The reason was because of the way our team was structured. At that time we had a target of 100,000. When the target was hit the money would be split, 50 to the investors and 50 to the players. The players share was based on how many hours each player had played on that bank. Since this was a new bank I was the only player with any hours. (My brother was an employee of the team and worked for a salary.) When I called my teammates on Friday night it meant that I personally had a payday of about 60,000 (including my share as an investor). The 100,000 loss went onto the next bank. All in all it wasnt a bad weekends work. Dustin Marks It seems like a long time ago. I had a lot more hair and a lot less belly. It was a time before all the crap that currently overruns the pits: automatic shuffling machines, biotech, and computers. I was working as a 21 dealer somewhere in the great state of Nevada, and I was doing what I did best: ripping and tearing. All those hours of standing dead at the table gave me time to dream up new methods of making sure the casinos had less money to count. One of my favorite moves I conjured up was a method of stacking an agent a double down hand from a new deck of cards. If there were a Hall of Fame for cheating moves, this masterpiece would definitely be in the running. I always felt stacking a Blackjack from a new deck was too dangerous. Even a pit boss with no electrical activity above the neckline might come out of his comatose state if a player bet the limit and got a snapper on the first round of a new deck. I managed to get on swing shift where it was normal to open a game at the start of the shift. When opening a game, the floorman brings a sealed deck of cards to the table. I would run down the cards and then shuffle. As I shuffled I stacked the double down hand. I would then spread the cards and wait. Now, waiting is not my strong suit. (I think this will bring a hint of a smile across a certain face from the past.) You see if anyone else sits at the table the stack is ruined. I didnt want a square to spoil all my hard work. Human nature is a funny thing. Most squares will not sit down at a game if there are no players. To make sure, I had a look on my face like I was about to projectile puke. (One lady tripped over a chair trying to get away from me. I guess I was convincing). This technique was needed, especially with this agent Im going to tell you about. After what seemed to be an eternity, my agent came to the game. Uncle B was an older gentleman who looked like he was lost. I dont think this was an act. During large team plays, we had to assign someone to watch Uncle B, otherwise he would disappear. There was nothing worse than when we had a play set up and saw Uncle B in the wrong pit as he looked for us. (Well, I guess I exaggerate. Having a little old lady scream, quotHey the dealer didnt shuffle the cards, the uninteresting gentleman is wearing a computer under his jacket, and the guy at the bar is a BP waiting for the signal. quot Yeah, that would be worse) After five years of living in Vegas he would still ask, quotWhere is that damn Dunesquot But this is what made Uncle B such a good BP he was above suspicion. Anyway, Uncle B dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out an enormous wad of C-notes. He made a table limit bet. I shuffled the deck, retained the stack, and set a brief where Uncle B needed to insert the cut card. Even though Uncle B was old, he nailed the brief with ease as he took a drag off his cigarette. To make it look good I asked, quotDo you want to play it or do you want changequot His answer was always the same, quotPlay it dealer. quot I called quotmoney playsquot and a boss waddled over. I dealt, Uncle B turned over his cards, looked disgusted, and went back into his pocket pulling out more hundred-dollar bills. He peeled off 10 C-notes and I dealt him his double down card. I turned my hole card over and hit out to a 20. Perfect. I turned over Uncle Bs double down card, a paint, giving him 21. My fingers danced over to a stack of black chips and I paid him. He gathered up our winnings, looked me in the eye and said as he always said, quotThank you dealer, quot and disappeared into the night. The boss asked, quotDo you know who that wasquot By now I had been whacking the joints long enough to know stupidity was about to rear its ugly head. I looked at him and said, quotNo sir, I dont who that non-toking old fart is. quot The boss gave me a dirty look and retorted, quotHe is one of the best poker players in Vegas. quot Now, Uncle B never played a lick of poker in his life. This is just another example of a boss with a single-digit I. Q. fronting off about something he knows nothing about. So the boss thought old Uncle B is a great poker player taking a one-time shot at the blackjack table. Great I felt like saying to the boss, quotI tell you what pal, you let Uncle B take a shot at my table everyday because he is going to win every time. quot If you ever see some old guy walking around looking lost and if he gets up from a game and says, quotThank you dealer, quot its better than even money thats Uncle B. Tell him Dustin wants to know quotWhere is that damn Dunesquot A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. I had read a few books about counting, had the drill down, and with a tiny bankroll, was making a few bucks. I hadnt yet graduated to Blackjack Forum or gotten to know serious blackjack players. It was on a family trip to a Wisconsin water park that, lo and behold, the Native American casino was about three miles from our hotel. Obviously, I had to check it out. The crowded six-deck tables were filled with tourists itching to throw away their money and Wisconsin locals, itching to win the grand prize at the nightly drawing mdash a wheel of cheese. (And they say that the expansion of gambling hasnt brought benefits to the new gaming locales) The first shoe was erratic, winning a few, losing a few. At one point we all have stiffs against the dealers small card, and one of the players stalls the game, announcing one of my favorite idiotic blackjack truisms: Somebody has to take a card or well all lose. Of course, nobody takes a card and we all lose. Oh, well. The count goes up and Im raising my bet after two decks. I catch small cards on my soft doubles and win these hands, keeping me in the game. The count keeps going up, ending with about a 20 running count when the cut card comes out with a deck and a half remaining in the pack. Im about even. The next shoe is more of the same. Im losing a little and the count is still rising. By the end of the shoe, the running count is over 20 again. The third shoe has a constantly rising count again, and halfway through it my wife is ready to go, as Im still losing. quotWe cant leave now, quot I tell her. quotThe true count is 5.quot We keep playing, losing more, and the running count is 25 when this shoe ends. Im starting to get a little suspicious (DUH), but I want to play one more shoe. Once again, theres a constantly rising count, and I keep wanting to play just one more hand to see those high cards that should be coming, but never arrive. I quit playing with a moderate loss (it was only moderate because my stakes were so low then). I stand behind the table and watch the low cards continue until the end of that shoe, and backcount the next shoe, which again has a constantly rising count. I hadnt yet figured out the odds of five consecutive shoes with constantly rising counts, ending over 20, but I told my wife I didnt think they were dealing an honest game. Later, I figure out that this is a one-in-a-million phenomenon in an honest, random game. Three months later I discover the blackjack publications, and read reports about casinos that have removed many high cards from their shoe games. I guess you do need to know more than just how to count cards. A little knowledge is a profitable thing. Double deck, morning hit-and-run in downtown LV. Play until count is strong, spread real large, and boogie. Im going to hit six or seven casinos in about an hour and a half, and am at a 10 double-deck table at the Fremont. Im spreading from the 10 minimum, hoping to get to a top bet of 120 or even 150. Playing for about 20 minutes with another guy who is betting 100 a hand, and hes losing big time. Soon he starts steaming and bets 200 loses two consecutive hands. Dealer shuffles. I notice the yellow fingernails on the other guy, the three half cigarettes in the ash tray, and the one live cigarette. Still, he lights another cigarette. After the shuffle, the steamer comes out with 300 cash. quotMoney plays, quot and he loses. Three hundred in cash again, and he loses that hand. Four hundred cash and he loses, then another 400 loss. Then two more losses at 500 each. Finally he empties his wallet of the last 600 and puts it in the betting square. At this point, there is about one deck left, a plus count of 4 or 5, probably the last hand before the shuffle. I put out a bet of 125. The steamer gets a pair of aces, I get two small cards, and the dealer has a 5 up. He looks at his pair of aces, looks at the dealers 5, and asks to go to get some more money. quotWherequot asks the dealer. quotAt my hotel, quot the steamer says, quotits just across the street. quot The dealer says, quotThat will take too long, and I cant wait. Youll have to play the hand. quot My mind is racing. Splitting aces against a 5 has an advantage of over 60 under normal circumstances. At a count of 5, that has to be close to70. quotWAITquot I scream in a voice that feels like they can hear it in the Horseshoe, Golden Nugget, and Four Queens at the other three corners of this intersection. I turn to the Steamer, and say, quotYou dont want to hit that 2 you need it to be an eleven. Split the aces and I I will buy one of them. quot He looks at the dealer and the pit boss, who came running over when she heard me shouting. The dealer shrugs his shoulder, the pit boss winces, and I take 600 out of my wallet and put it next to the Steamers 600. Time slows down in my mind. The dealer splits the Aces, and kisses each one with paint. I play out my hand, and the dealer busts. 725 profit on one hand. I love this town Abbot Avarissa: Once upon a Time, the good Sister Statistica and I made a Pilgrimage to the Shrines of Fortune in the Land of Tunica. At one Point I went into the High-Stakes Chapel at Ballseys to prey. I knew the Sister was in the Casino, but our Plans had been rather vague as to just what we would do there. As I was initially the only Preyer in the whole Chapel, the Pit Viper. Thou knowest the one who looketh as though he doeth naught but lift weights when he is not leaning against the Offering Table. was scrutinizing my every card as I preyed at DD. Needless to say, there was not much I could do to play to Advantage. Suddenly, the Sister appeared and approached the Single Deck Game right behind his Back. She portrayed the very Image of Imbecility, calling the Cards beforehand, babbling constantly etc. The Pit Vipers Attention was focused entirely on me, however, and I could tell that this most admirable Nun perceived this Fact also. Consequently, as I could see out of the Corner of Mine Eye, she proceeded to start spreading multiple Green on Multiple Hands, collected her Reward of about 400 in five minutes, and left, as I did also shortly thereafter when some Ploppies arrived.9I had always suspected that the Church had established Sexism for some good Reason. Now I know why.9 Bill Haywood: Choosing my most memorable win is easy its the one that launched my career as an online gambler. Like most land-based counters, I had heard of Internet casinos but remained highly suspicious. Then one day on impulse, I surfed a wave by the name of Omni Casino, which offered a 20 cash bonus for a 20 deposit. Coming to terms with the likelihood of loss, I whipped out a credit card and gave them the number. The first few hands were wins, so I increased the bets. Rather quickly, five dollar bets became ten, then quarters, and soon even a few hundred dollar bets. A 20 experiment suddenly involved real money. The balance ran up to more than 1,000, then I cashed out after dropping back to 900. Well that was amusing, but money does not drop from the sky. Not expecting to ever see such a huge sum, I kept no vigil at the mailbox. But lo, about two weeks later, an envelope from some place called Cryptologic in Canada showed up, and in it was a 900 check that did not bounce. Hmmm. From there, I began seriously pursuing bonuses offered on the Internet and regularly found offers of 20 on a 1,000 deposit, and even more. A basic strategy blackjack player can last a long time before using up a 20 edge. As long as one can stop playing before going broke, it was genuinely easy money. I eventually raked in tens of thousands of dollars and got a book out of it. A pretty good win My worst gambling experience also involved the Internet, but it was truly surreal. Based on the exposure of my book, I was solicited to join an online sports betting team headed by a person I will call Cabron (a Spanish word). I had previously heard of the individual and some material written by him revealed a very mathematically oriented mind, hopefully interested in long-term gain through collaboration rather than quickie ripoffs. The team made money from the bonuses offered by sports books, and from arbitrage betting. Arbitrage bets are placed when two sportsbooks offer different odds on the same game betting both sides can gain a modest profit. The more sportsbooks with deposits, the more opportunities there are for comparing lines, hence it lends itself to team play. Another source of team profits was referral bonuses. Books routinely give you a 10 bonus on the deposits of friends you refer. An important implication of this is that team members became known as associates of Cabron. Anyway, I took the plunge and joined up. Coordination required a great deal of time on the phone, but things moved along. Team members money quickly became intermingled, my money going through Cabrons account, his coming through mine or another teammate. I received and cashed checks. After a time, we began having trouble getting paid by a couple of places, Ill call them book Red and book Yellow. As luck would have it, the wind blew lots of the arbitrage money into my account in Yellow Book. There was 14,000 of team money in the account, 10,000 was my share. We believed the books simply had cash flow problems, so whomever squeaked the loudest would get a partial payment from time to time. Requesting withdrawals became a chore, requiring real inventiveness to get past the phone answerers, and even then it was just a variation of quotI promise the check really will go out this time. quot A disaster, but also something that comes with the territory. Before moving further into this Byzantine tale, you must know that different online sportsbooks often get their software from the same developer. Our slow-paying sports books Red and Yellow were such an example. They had entirely different owners, but they were both beholden to the same software firm, and it held the plug. The software company also handled the sportsbooks cash processing. More time and phone calls passed into the void. The next development was that Red Book was bought up by a bigger company. This was good news. Books usually slow-pay because they are broke, so a new owner would hopefully pay off the scores of people stuck in Red. Meanwhile, Yellow Book still wasnt paying. After weeks of our bothering them, Cabron up and called one day to say that Yellow had flatly told him they would never pay. That was odd. Not that theyd rip us off, but that theyd say so. According to Cabron, the software company had ordered Yellow not to pay us. quotWhat was the reason they gavequot says I. Cabron mumbled something about chargebacks and changed the subject. This set my antennae tingling. Chargebacks are the bane of online gambling mdash its when a customer tells the credit card company not to pay a merchant, for one reason or another. Banks routinely agree to do this on transactions that do not have hard-copy signatures, i. e. phone and net. This is probably the single biggest expense to online gambling houses. I recalled that some time previously, Cabron had mentioned that Red Book (before it was sold) was so hopeless, hed have to do chargebacks. (This wasnt an option in Yellow Book. Western Union.) Suspicious about what was going on, I began asking Cabron a series of questions. These queries came days apart, popping up one-at-a-time in the middle of other subjects. It went something like this: Blah, blah, blah, quotoh by the way, how much were the chargebacks to Red Bookquot 26,000 was the answer. That was all the deposits he had made in a year-and-a-half, possibly understandable under the circumstances, but still far more than what he was owed. After a time, another nonchalant question, quothow did that Red Book business end up, did they ever payquot He said yes, the new owners paid in full. A couple weeks later, the clincher: quotdid you stop those chargebacks to Red Bookquot quotNo. quot Now it was out. The reason the software company demanded that Yellow Book freeze the funds was because Red Book had been ripped off for an astounding 26,000. Yellow Book was holding 10,000 of mine because Cabron never reversed the chargebacks. I was a known associate of Cabron and they assumed it was all his money and I was just a beard. As an old-time Tammany boss of Manhattan once said, quottheres honest graft, and theres dishonest graft, quot and this was definitely the latter. He made a 26,000 score, screwed up the rest of the team, and was refusing to take responsibility for it. On top of that, I was now thoroughly blacklisted casinos refused my deposits and it was all Cabrons fault. quotI know, quot he said, quotand Im deeply, deeply sorry. quot Well, that certainly clarified the situation. The only alternative was militant action, which wasnt worth it, and might not work. (The one upside was that my household got a new catch-phrase: quotWhat My dishes have gone so long that they stink Im deeply, deeply, sorry. quot) But the weird part is still coming. A few weeks later, the software company that froze my funds was sold. The new management told Yellow Book that its accounts were its own, and it could make its own decision on seizing money for Red Book. Ting, magic. Yellow began taking my calls again and cheerfully worked out a process for paying. Their finances were tough and the money did not come all at once, in fact it took awhile. But amazingly enough, I eventually got back the entire 10k. So much for the chargebacks being an excuse to steal funds. In the end, I did not lose a cent in the whole project, in fact, I came out 1k ahead. The only costs were the hours and hours of my life span and a pound of flesh. And I am still blacklisted. Me, Bill Haywood, the guy who literally wrote the book on Internet gambling, has been almost completely driven from his chosen sub-profession. There you have it, two tales of winning and losing, neatly bookending the rise and collapse of an Internet gambling career. Although this involved the Internet, not land blackjack, it has a lot to say about team play in general. The same issues of trust, honor, and bizarre mishaps come into play in a blackjack team. The problem is not that an associate may disappear out the back exit presumably anyone who can count can avoid the crudest thieves. Whats needed are partners who remain trustworthy during disasters. Honesty is easy when everyones making money, the real test of character is how a person reacts when the unpredictable calamity strikes, and it is certain to. Team gambling presents an odd irony. The whole activity is devoted to grubbing as much filthy lucre as possible, but comity requires members who value their connection to other human beings far more than money. When a meteor strikes, are your colleagues likely to remain open and free of artifice, or will they turn inward, submerging themselves in a monologue of self-serving rationalizations Some character flaws do not show up right away. Watch for tells, and fold early. Anthony Curtis Biggest Win: Ive had a number of big single-day wins due to my heavy participation in tournaments in the 80s and 90s. Tournaments are very high-variance endeavors, which lead to lots of small - and medium-range losses, while you wait for a few gonzo wins that make up for them. The biggest of those wins, for me, came in a crap tournament at Caesars Palace in Atlantic City. I believe the entry-fee was 2,500, and live-money buy-ins were 1,500 per round. This wasnt one of those tournaments during which I felt particularly in control of the situation. I played relatively non-spectacularly through the qualifying rounds, and barely squeaked through the semis for a spot on the final table. The buy-in at the last table was 2,500 and there were 12 players. To throw a little wrinkle into things, a Caesars boss came up to me minutes before the start of the final. He told me theyd just realized that I was a professional tournament player (not one of the high-roller suckers they actually hope to attract to these things), and that thered been discussion of disqualifying me. As it was, I would be allowed to play, but I would be watched closely for potential rules infractions. No real problem, since I had no intention but to play by the rules. The more worrisome matter was that another pro whod made the finals had drawn a very favorable (for him) position two to my left, a positional advantage that is enormous in this game. It turned out to be one of the most ramming sessions Ive ever been involved in. This was my first dice final with honest-to-goodness high-rolling dice shooters. While I had the minimum 50 on the line, six or seven of the others were betting 500-1,200 per roll. Bankrolls skyed and plunged, and I just hung around waiting for the end to make a decisive move. But something I hadnt counted on occurred: As we got closer to the end, the betting actually escalated. I was behind nine or ten players, and everyone was betting, everywhere. There was no way to get money onto the table where it wouldnt correlate with at least one person who already had more than I. We reached the end of the tournament it would continue only until the next seven-out. I was sweating hard, trying to concoct a way to have a chance. Chips were everywhereplace bets in front on the numbers, bets behind the numbers looking for the seven-out. I was amazed at this point to see that one small escape hatch had materialized: There was almost nothing on the 8. I took everything in my rack and loaded up on the 8 alone. The 8 came. I now had one shot to win by betting my entire bankroll against the 7. The pro to my left had more money and could have mimicked me. He paused, then went the other directiona correct move on his part, in that any non-seven would have given him multiple chances to win on subsequent rolls. Me I was left with my one chance and it came through when the 7 rolled. I had needed the 8 then 7, in precisely that ordera 1 in 30 shot. It happened, and I took down the prize of 125,000, my biggest single-day win (to date). Just an aside. The Caesars exec turned the color of a rotting grapefruit and ran up to me yelling about reviewing the tapes or something. I fired back with something equally foolish, Im sure. The guy who played next to me didnt have a clue about what was happening, and couldnt figure out what I was so upset about. quotChill out, man, quot he said. quotYou just wonquot Biggest Loss: This also occurred in the tournament arena, and also in Atlantic City. I had been pulled out of tournament semi-retirement to play a particularly juicy baccarat tournament with a 1 million first prize. Those doing the pulling were my tournament teammates of earlier years. As always, we would each enter and play separately, but pool results at the end. This, of course, greatly smooths the fluctuations in this very risky mode of gambling investment. I played well in this one, but an unlikely result bumped me from the finals on the last hand of the semis. I wasnt too demoralized, as teammates had made the final. Baccarat-tournament finals are long-running affairs, but it appeared to be over. One of my teammates had a lead that seemed insurmountable. For one of the few times in my career, I was ready to celebrate before the last hand. After all, there is a certain point at which probability provides the sort of cushion that allows you to feel safe in projecting a result. This was one of those times. A co-investor and I left the area for a nearby bar to toast what looked like a six-figure day for us both. We banged a few Heinekens and partied it up out of sight of the tournament gathering. When we decided to return, we were surprised to see a huge crowd surrounding the playing area. That was a bad sign, and sure enough, our player had been caught. I dont remember what I was later told, but the opponent had won something like 12 out of 14 bets. And since he was seated directly to the left of our player, his bets were all placed on an opposing side, resulting in max-bet gains (one sides win coupled with the others loss). What was amazing was that this player still had to win his last three bets to win the tournament. I watched in amazement as he did that. The sure million dollars turned into the 100,000 second place prize, and even though I still profited, my win came to less than 2,000. Having already pocketed the winners share in my head, it was a turn of events that seemed every bit the same as an actual loss of more than 100,000. I arrive in Las Vegas about 11:00 pm from the East and am pretty tired. On the agenda for tonight is to meet a team mate to pick up some cash and hit the sack. I take a taxi to his hotel, we talk for a while and its well after midnight (3:00 AM eastern) when I leave his room. Problem is Im kind of itching to play. As I am walking through the casino and talking myself into going to bed I spot a fresh shoe with a true count of 2. Its crowded but I squeeze into the last two spots and sit down. The shoe goes very positive and soon Im betting my max bet 2x1000. Happily two other players leave. This identity is only one trip old and has little play. This seems good to the bosses as I start winning steadily and they seem cool and send in a host. I really start winning and laying on the act. A small crowd gathers at this 5 table. The bosses love me too. Luckily there is now only one other player, a nice older Asian woman who is losing steadily but seems to be enjoying my winning. A couple others try to jump in but I ask them to wait and they acquiesce. Boom, boom, boom it goes and I win the last round with two blackjacks. The crowd goes wild. I walk with 17,000 plus on a 600 buy-in. Not a bad way to start a trip. Back in 1999 my buddy Calvin in Chicago was watching the Sting one night, and saw the famous past post scene. He lost track of time, and frantically phoned in a bet to his offshore. He got down on his over on the Lakers, and as they were confirming his over 201 bet, to his horror he turned the game on to see a 0-0 score 1:10 into the game. You guessed it 101-99 final. Calvin had seen the light. No more handicapping was going to occur It was past post city. For the next three weeks, every night Calvin was on the Internet pounding on the refresh button at Yahoo sports. He also was frantically switching channels on his NBA package. All to get a game with 2 missed shots to start the game (UNDER) or 2 shots made (OVER). He expected to hit around 54 with this strategy. And 54 he hit, with wild fluctuations. But storm clouds appeared. Calvin was talking slower and slower on the phone, stalling right as the games tip off. Also, he would start cursing if a foul was called right after tipoff robbing him of any information. Calvin would even past post while driving by listening to the game. Every now and then he would get confused and bet the wrong team while handling a conversation, the road, and two games on the radio switching back and forth Really, it was his driving that suffered. This place does not let Calvin bet anymore nor do they let people bet after the game starts. How much did Calvin win Just enough to pay for his extensive car bills after wrecking his car while confirming a Bulls under bet. Most devastating losses for Cizef: 1. 1996 USC 7.5 vs. Arizona State. I had gotten a bizarre mistake line from a Casino and bombed it in all weekend. I was looking at winning over 10k on this game. Imagine my pleasure at seeing the game had gone to overtime. Now, in the back of my mind I new the College game had just gone to a new OT format, but so what if it didnt end in a tie I had 7.5 points for God sakes. Circle the winner I remember seeing a Az St 42-35 OT score on the news, and laughing at all the guys who went down with USC at 6 to 6.5, and I had 7.5. OH YEAH On sports center that night I saw 48-35 OT final score on the ticker, and laughed at it. Those idiots They couldnt run bingo night at the Senior Citizen Center. You cannot win by 13 in OT Oh yes, you can. In college each team gets the ball once in OT. ASU got their TD and extra point, and then USC got their chance. The 42-35 OT score I had seen was an OT score, NOT a final OT score Flushed in the pocket the USC QB heaved the ball downfield. Incomplete pass. Except a Sun Devil (aptly named mascot) picked it up and ran 70 yards. And amazingly the zebras ruled it a fumble for the 6 point play the other way. Good bye winnings. Deal with the loss instead 2. 1998. Buffalo 3.5 NE (another outlaw line). Buffalo got hit with about 3 questionable late calls but was still up 4 with 1 minute to play. I HAD IT Except on the LAST PLAY of the game with time expired, NE got into the endzone. NE 23-Buf 21. Final. Final By rule, even with time expired an NFL team must line up for the extra point. Big deal I think. Kick that ball out of the stadium, it only counts 1 point. But I start worrying when I see ONLY the NE players coming out of the locker room. The beaten Billies are not going to show. What the heck is going to happen. The snap goes to the holder who is confused. He flips the ball to the kicker who will obviously take a knee. No, he is running parallel to the goal line and is just going out of bounds. YESSSSSSSS. NO. He turns at the last minute and goes in unmolested (there wasnt a Bill within 200 yards after all). 2 point conversion. New England 25. Buff 21. LOSER. amazingly the next year at home vs. Buff NE was a 3 point favorite. I searched that weekend and could not find a 3.5 or -2.5. NE won by 3 exactly. The most I ever won in a single session was 60,000 at Caesars Tahoe, on a two hour break from the slopes, in the early 90s. Of course, that was on the heels of a 50,000 bad run the night before, but the net for the weekend was still 10K. And, as luck would have it, I got barred the next time I stayed there, not for my blackjack skills, but for being a total hog with comps. I was flying into Reno, ready to catch a limo to the lake, when I saw an old chum on the plane. We were frat bros from UNLV whod shared many a not-so-rememberable evening together in our youths and we hadnt partied with each other for a couple decades, so I invited him up for a night of revelry. We decided that wed just hang in the top-of-the-tower suitecomplete with roman columns, toilets nicer than most peoples homes, twelve TVs, the worksand had a champagne tasting festival. The two of us, count em two, had five bottles of the best they had, including Crystal Pink, Dom, and other stuff that wed never heard of that cost 500 a bottle, along with several platters of cracked crab claws, cold lobster and such and ran up an FampB bill over 2,500, which they tacked on top of the 1,250 suite. He left the next morning and I was in no shape to test my luck on the tables so I waited to dry out and got a call from a nephew in Reno who told me hed gotten married the night before. So I invited him and his bride up for dinner at Le Posh (no kidding, that was the real name of their Gucci gourmet room). We strolled in and were met by the Maitre D, who knew me well. I told him that my nephew (a 23 year-old blue collar kid, by the way) was on his honeymoon and we wanted quotone of everything and dont worry about the cost. quot He smiled as I slipped him a mallard and the waiters started to bring it on. The sommelier brought a bottle of Crystal and asked us if wed like to sample the Louis XIV brandy, which in those days was going for 75 a pop. I nodded and he cracked open a new bottle and slowly poured an ounce into a Baccarat crystal snifter, warmed it with his hands and presented to the youngster. He tossed it down in one gulp and exclaimed quotright tasty, quot so I had them leave the bottle, which we polished off between two more bottles of champagne. Im not sure what the bill was, or what we did the rest of the night, but the next morning my host called and said quotMr. R, were going to have to see some play before you can have any more comps. quot quotNo problem, quot I said. quotJust let me sober up a bit and Ill be right down. quot About five minutes later the shift boss called me and said, quotWeve been looking at you account, and wed prefer that you not play blackjack here anymore. Of course, youre welcome to play. yada, yada, yada. quot (My lifetime win on their single decks was pretty strong and my comps were beyond outrageous, even for me). I said, quotNo problem, can I get a limo back to the airportquot and he said quotNo. quot So I packed up, took a taxi back to Reno and flew home, somewhat worse for the wear, but still pretty happy with the weekend. I got a bill for the whole schmear about a week later (I wont even tell you how much, because you wouldnt believe me) and immediately didnt pay it. I called my host, reread the personal invitation hed sent me telling me that I could have quotthe run of the housequot any time I played there and threatened to take him and his bosses to the Nevada Gaming Control Board for false advertising, mail fraud and everything else I could think of if they didnt honor my comp. They did and I never played there again. James Grosjean Summer 1999. I am in Vegas with my buddy, Andy R. He has played with me before, but because he has been spending so much time on a quotlife, quot he is not an experienced enough card player to help me take down this good blackjack game I have downtown. Because the dealer rotation is quotrubberbanded, quot we will have only an hour to crack the game. Fredo is in town playing with Mike R. so on Friday, Fredo and I hit the game for 13,500. Because everyone knows about this game, there is pressure to hit it again soon, while it is still there. Since I have never had heat at this joint, I am still clean as a spotter. We need a new bettor, though. Mike assures me that he is clean as a Big Player there, so the plan is for me to meet Mike at the joint when the graveyard dealers start at 4 a. m. Though we played until about 1 a. m. the night before, Andy and I show up on time at 4 a. m. I see no signs of Mike, so Andy and I sit at the bar to wait and take in the atmosphere. The place is dark, as always. The volume is turned down on the slot machines. As I point out things to Andy, it is as if we are watching a black-and-white movie that we have seen before. The lifeless characters on the screen cannot hear as we discuss their scripted destinies: quotSee that dealer Thats our girl. Shes giving it up to the center seat. See that guy sitting at her table Thats The Acrobat. Hes the first spotter I ever met. quot With that The Acrobat looks over and smiles at me across the casino floor. He is a truly charming man, and the only character in color in this unfolding drama. quotSee the old man sitting by the slot machine over there He knows whats going on he likes to watch. quot The Acrobat looks at me again. He has vacated the center seat, the quotluckyquot seat at this table. He is offering the seat to me. I am honored by his generosity and respect. I shake my head to indicate that I am not going to play, and he slides back to the middle to go to work. I know he isnt going to bet enough to kill the game, so I stick to the plan, which is to wait for Mike to bet this game. After the dealers hour ends, The Acrobat leaves the table, and talks to another player I dont recognize. I see Mike has entered the joint, so I know our game will be on in about fifteen minutes when the dealer returns from break. I walk by The Acrobat, and he says, quotJames, come to the coffee shop. Meet my friend. quot We chat in the bathroom next to the coffee shop. I tell him that I cant join him, because I am going to play the next set. I invite him to come play with us: quotIn about fifteen minutes its going to get really hot in here, but youre welcome to join us. You know the signalsquot He nods, but he doesnt look interested. I think his partner wants to make a run at it, but I sense that The Acrobat wants no part of it. I go back upstairs to the gaming floor. Counting The Acrobat, his friend, Andy, Mike, Old Man, and me, there are six people in this hole in the world, at almost 6 a. m. in the morning, because a dealer is flashing her hole card. The gamblers go about their business of losing money. The bosses go about their business of standing around pretending to know it all. The brooding ambiance is, I think, one of the reasons that counters wax nostalgic about this place. But why anyone would count here is a mystery to me. 6 a. m. Game time. The dealer walks up to a dead 5 table. I immediately take the lucky seat in the center. With military precision, Mike materializes out of nowhere and plops two gray 500 chips in the third-base betting circle. We have the chips from yesterday, so no time is wasted buying in. Immediately, Mike moves to lock down the game: quotCan we make this a 25 tablequot The boss changes the sign. An unknown man sits down to my left in spot 5. He is apparently also registered in the hole-carding convention. A civilian sits down in spot 1, and leaves after a few hands. With an hour or less to work, we cant afford these slowdowns. This is where experience is critical. Mike knows exactly what to do: quotCan we make this a 100 tablequot Again the limit is raised. I am grandfathered in at 5, and Unknown Man is betting 25, his grandfathered level. Andy is standing behind me to the right, and Old Man is standing behind me to the left, so my backside is fully protected. The boss knows Mike on sight, and believes him to be a counter, but we arent afraid of being ratted out, because we have something on this pit critter. The dealers English is weak, so her ability to communicate with her superiors is limited. Unknown Man is apparently unable to intercept my signals to Mike. The table is locked down. It is a perfect game. Mike receives many pat hands, and catches some lucky breaks, and starts pressing his bets. A fill of 4000 in black is brought quickly, but is obviously insufficient to cover our action. Old Man mutters in my ear: quotMake them bring the gray. Theres no limit to how much you can win. This dealer she hates seeing players win. quot The second fill includes the gray 500 chips. As the session nears the end, Mikes bet has reached 4000. The dealer gets tapped out, and we play a few minutes with the new dealer. Mike bets 500 per hand as cover, and is fortunate to receive several pat 20s and a blackjack. When Mike finally loses a hand, he quits, ahead 27,000 after 50 minutes of play. This is the most efficient play I have ever experienced. In 90 minutes over two sessions, we have taken 40,500 off the game. (Mike isnt thrilled to cut Fredo in on the 27,000, but that is the agreement, so we each receive a third of the 40,500. I dont think Mike realizes that if we chop each session half-half, he still would receive 13,500, Fredo would receive 6750, while I would receive 20,250.) I still have some of the chips from that session, just in case. Fall 1999. I am about to embark on a trip overseas for a family get-together. I figure therell be enough time to stop off in Vegas. Theres always enough time. I arrange to meet up with Andy R. a lifelong friend from home. I give him the standard last-minute instruction: quotIf Im not at the airport when you arrive, you know where to find me. quot I hit the Strip a bit before noon and go straight to the table. Sure enough, the game is there. Boy, is it there. I plop my travel bag on the floor and settle in. With a bit of luck, Ill have expenses covered by the time Andy arrives in an hour. Andy would allow me to exceed the table maximum of 500 by adding another spot. Or, if I want to bet less than 500, it will lower my variance to have the action spread over two spots. Andy would also make the play look goodtwo buddies out gambling. In return, he gets a free roll on my bankroll and experience. The real benefit to Andy is the dream vacation in Vegas16 hours a day walking around with me. I have done well at this game in the previous months, and have accumulated 24,00048 white chipsfor this session. My bankroll has grown enough that I am ready to make a run at it. I start slow, feeling out the dealer and the pit with some 100 bets, and creeping up to 200. No problem. I am ahead 1000-1500, but getting anxious, as Andy has not yet arrived. I cant afford to leave the table. To spend an hour picking him up would cost a few hundred dollars in expected earnings, and more importantly, Id probably lose the quotluckyquot seat that I need to spot the hole card. As competence would have it, Andy walks up to the table with his bag. I give him the signal to follow me away from the table, so we can review the game plan: quotOur edge is about 3.48286, but this is a risky game. We can get hurt. Its probably better if I take the risk. quot He agrees that if we lose, I will stomach the entire amount. I dont specify what will happen if we win. At the end of the play, I will give him whatever I consider fair. I am not about to waste time on hypothetical scenarios right now. Enough talk. I slip him four chips to start. I start betting 500 per hand, and he bets 300 per hand for me. We have no cash buy-in, and no player-rating cards. Even with our higher bet level, the dealers style is unchanged. This game is as soft as they come. The boss watches casually from a distance. It is a perfect game. Except that we are losing. And losing. And losing. I keep funneling chips to Andy, and pulling more white ones out of my pocket. After about two hours, the guy in the third-base seat, who has been betting 50-100 per hand, notices that the dealer is handling my payoffs from the center column of the chip rack. He looks over and tells me, quotYoure betting 500 per hand I thought you were betting 5.quot Its no wonder civilians never notice hole-card games. A special host comes to offer us whatever it is that hosts offer. I take her business card, but ignore her otherwise. The shift boss comes through the pit. I can tell from the look in his eyes that he knows nothing about the game. I dont think he even knows whether this is normal or not, but he is more puzzled than concerned. After all, the rack now has an entire extra stack of 10,000 in white chips. But the game is not over. The chips keep flowing into the rack. There is nothing that can be done. The information is perfect. I have had sessions where I have won over 80 bets in this game (but betting only 100). Why couldnt I get that monster session now, when I am betting 800 per roundI dont know what is going through Andys mind. Im sure he is relieved that he agreed to let me take the risk. Im sure he feels some sympathy as he watches my blood flow into the rack. Perhaps he feels the bite of reality. He has heard about some of my losses, but has never witnessed anything other than success at the tables. (Profits from cards should be added to the list that includes sausages and laws.) For my part, I feel a sense of nonsensical inevitabilitythat the only possible outcome of this game is for me to walk away with nothing. I cant say much about the hands, except that the dealer always edges me out, pulling quotmiraclesquot on the last card. When the dealer has weak hands, I cant capitalize. It is the exact misery that everyone who has ever played this game has experienced. As 7 p. m. approaches, the dealers shift is nearing an end, as is my supply of chips. I finally place my last bet, then throw out my last black chip to complete the hand, and lose. I look at the rack. I have made a run at it. Most big losses are accompanied by large cash buy-ins or markers. The strange thing about this session is that I brought all the chips to the table. The rack now holds 24,000 in extra white chips, a poignant reminder of the devastation of the afternoon. I tell Andy to get a quotfreequot room by giving up his ID, while I remain quotMr. Refusal. quot As we walk away from the table, I tell Andy, quotThats why its better that I take the loss. quot John Brahms In Malaysia, I was busy playing overunder 13. On one particular hand, I gave the signal for quotall in, quot which means cover every betting square, including the four not controlled by me or my friend, with table maximum wagers, in order to wager on the overunder for the table max. We had 3000 at risk on the various blackjack hands and 3600 at risk on the overunder. We had a full-time supervisor hawking our table as well as a gallery of customers behind the table because of the large size of our wagers. All hands at the table were stiffs, including the dealer. The dealer hit to 17, then hit again and busted. A very large cheer rose from our table. Then, with the supervisor looking on, the dealer began cutting into the wagers to pay them off. But by the time the dealer got to the second hand, one girl in the gallery exclaimed, quotbut he hit 17quot The dealer looked down, burned the offending extra card, then began sweeping the chips into the tray. My friend unleashed a barrage of the choicest Hokkien swear words known to exist, and the girl slunk away. I lamented the loss of a 6000 dealer error, which would have ranked as my largest ever, and had to get ready for the next round, another quotall-in. quot OneMoreShoe I arrived at my favorite casino and found a seat at a well cut 50 minimum, 6-deck game. The first shoe was uneventful and when the count went south mid-way through, I took a lamer and a restroom break. I came back in time for the next shoe, which was unproductive with a positive count, causing me to lose hand after hand. I was down about 3,000 when the cards finally turned and while spreading to 2 hands of 600 I turned a profit of 400 by the end of the shoe.9 For the next shoe, I had to make a decision to play or not and if I decided to play, what bet should I place for the beginning of the shoe. Since I was only ahead 400 and I only showed my maximum bet for part of one shoe, I decided to play one more shoe, so I came off the top with one spot of 200.9I couldnt stop winning and soon the count was going up as well so I started parlaying and chipping up. I had to surrender one hand along the way and with about half the shoe to go, the remaining players at the table decided to drop out, leaving a high count shoe all to myself I kept on winning and chipping up. On the 3rd hand from the end, I lost an 800 bet, which was my only total hand loss of the shoe. I pushed out another 800 for the next hand and won. I knew that the next round would be the last of the shoe, so I left 800 on the spot. Then said: quotOh what the hellquot for all to hear and added two black chips for a nice even 1,000 bet (the count was Hi-Lo true of 7). As luck would have it, I was dealt an Ace, 2 against the dealer 5 Without hesitation, I slid another pile of 10 black chips out there for the double, knowing full well that I was probably still not a favorite to win and furthermore, figuring that I would grab a 10 to have 2,000 riding on a stiff hand. Of course, I did receive a 10, but the dealer dutifully broke by flipping a 10 in the hole and drawing another 10 I colored up with a 5,800 win in less than three shoes of play, 5,400 coming in one high count shoe of a lifetime Moe Cash: To survive as a card counter with a limited bankroll its critical not to overbet. Once a small casino ran a bonus hour five times a day. Blackjacks paid double any 21 paid three for two, and every conceivable good rule was in force. They used a single deck with strip rules and dealt a fair game. I lost every bonus hour for three days. Then I wanted to show that I was just a gambler. I flat-bet table max (500) for two hours, never leaving the table. Though the rules were good, I didnt deserve to win 59 bets and yes, I still got kicked out. Fluctuation rules. 9824 To learn how much to bet to limit fluctuations and maximize your win rate, see Blackbelt in Blackjack by Arnold Snyder. To run simulations of different betting strategies, we recommend Casino Verite Blackjack Software . To read more about professional gambling experiences, see the Blackjack Forum Professional Gambling Library
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