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Philosophy of gambling, part 2

Ok, so here is what I would expect some gambling sessions look like, if you are using your powers of observation and the correct mind set to influence your money management and exit strategy.

  • Losing session. Lets start with the bad. Lets say you start with 100 units and you decide to set a stop loss for your self of 60 units. So you buy in for $100 at a Five dollar minimum, single deck table.  Its you and two other people at the table, you sit at third base. At the top of deck you bet 5 units, a lot of small cards come out during the hand, and you win. At a plus 4 with no aces out, you decide to double up, so you bet 10 units. You draw two face cards, but the dealer has a BJ and you lose.  Now the count is minus 1 with 2 aces out, so you drop back down to 5 units and lose again. Shuffle.  You've lost two in a row, so, even though its top of deck, you bet 10. Again, you draw two face cards, but the dealer gets a four card draw to a twenty one. Lose. At minus 4 with 1 ace out, you drop back down to 5, get a six and five and double down against the dealers seven. You draw a three and lose as dealer has seventeen. You lose again and you're down 30 units after just a few hands.  Only now, as he shuffles for the third time do you take a look at the dealer. She is mid-forties, slim, with perfect hair and make up, and a crisply pressed shirt und3er her vest. She handles the cards perfectly, riffle, strip, riffle, riffle, the cards perfectly interlaced each time, no clumps. You remember how quick and accurate she has been doing the take and pay and you realize that you've lost 30 units before the cocktail waitress has even brought you the bottled water you asked for.  Its time for a strategic retreat. 
  • Winning session.  This time you walk around the pit first, looking at the dealers. Then you spot one! He's a twenty-something guy, longer hair, unpressed shirt, crooked bow tie. His shuffle is amazingly bad. Clumpy and messy He actually strips the deck from the bottom and most of the time doesn't take a third off the bottom and place it on the top before riffling! And he only riffles once after the strip. His tray is mess, too, and you've noticed that he takes his time on the take and pay, sometimes because he is looking around the casino for that cute cocktail waitress, sometimes because he seems to be adding up the cards.His lips move slightly while doing so. This is a new dealer, and not a very good one. You move in. It's a hand held single deck game and this time you are at first base, again buying in for 100 units. First bet,  5 units, you win with a 16 when the dealer busts. A plus 3 count and you double up and win again. You settle in to playing, mostly flat betting 10 units because the count never goes much higher than plus 2 or lower than minus 2.  After about 15 minutes you are up 35 units. Then it happens. Three aces come out on the final hand of the deck and they all get scooped up together within just a few cards. You follow them through the clumpy shuffle, useless strip and Holy Shit! He hands the cut card to you! You know that the aces are near the top of the deck, so you cut the deck real low, too low really, and a more experienced dealer wouldn't allow it , but this guy does! You now know that there is about 8 or 9 or 10 cards on top of a clump of aces.  The first round goes off with just you and one other player. You win a 5 unit bet with a 9 and 8 when the dealer busts. 8 cards played. Your pretty sure an ace is coming out next, so you split to two hands at 25 each. The dealer barely notices. Just as you hoped, you draw aces on each hand, getting a blackjack on the first and A plus 9 on the second. You just won 37.50 and 25 units, just by paying attention! This brings you to plus 85 units or so. You pocket three green chips and keep playing, mostly flat betting 10. Ten minutes later and you are up another 50 units, and you only raised your bet once over 10. The pit boss has been keeping one bloodshot eye on the table but hasn't even noticed that you ever raised your bet once, let alone when you spread to two hands at 25. After the dealer leaves for his break you stay at the table a few more hands, betting 5 units only, then head for the cage, up 145 units in less than an hour. As you walk out you make a mental note of the dealers name, Chad and his face. You're going to look for him again.
 Up next, the conclusion (kind of): How to develop your own gambling philosophy

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