Originally posted by: Kevin Lewis
I think my timing was beneficial, though accidental. I got on the BJ/AP train kind of late in the game. My eight years during which it was my primary game were marked by the publication of LOTS of blackjack books, many of which were written by former APs for whom the environment had gotten too "hot." Thus, in reading those books (and I read them all), I learned probably more about "cover" than I did about systems and strategy.
Thus, I adhered to a fairly primitive 1-level count (with a side Ace count for betting decisions) and focused my efforts on never getting detected, never mind kicked out. I decided to adopt a happy-go-lucky "drunk" tourist attitude, talking and joking constantly with the other players, the dealer, the floorman, the cocktail waitresses--whomever. The play itself, once I got warmed up, was trivially easy--I could do it with one brain tied behind my back. I asked for, and gave sincere thanks when I got, meal comps from the pit. And I actually toked the dealers (which of course lowered my win rate, but got me a TON of breaks, such as preferential shuffling IN MY FAVOR).
So in eight years, I never got kicked out. Like you, Jerry, I finally just got tired of it. But I put two nieces and one nephew through college with the money :)
(Cue nostalgic music, a single-deck game dealt 80% through before shuffling, a 1-75 betting spread, and a pit boss who told me, "I know you're counting, and I don't give a crap." and went back to fondling the cocktail waitress's butt. Those were the days...)
My bad was I was fresh out of college and I looked like a college finance guy not drinking, obviously counting and probably getting a little too irritated when others got the good cards or the dealer did. Plus we were stupid as my buddies and I played a lot of the same tables. We never got kicked out rudely or anything but more like "here are some buffet tickets, you guys look hungry and oh btw, BJ is closed to you for the rest of the night here." But as the years went by, other people just started to drive me crazy on the tables when we did what we knew was right. Hitting 12s sometimes in terrible counts. Aggressively doubling in the correct situations and getting belittled for it when it didn't work out and Cowboy Bob had something to say to us. I remember getting 85% on double decks at many many places.
Then onto to VP where I did real well at the old Palms. 10/7 $1 Double bonus with .25% slot club back and on many days where we could use a couple or they had a drawing for 2-3x points. Stations even had good mailers for me and good games. Now that was fun! But as stated thousands of times on this forum, we all know the state of VP. At this point I'm not sure I even enjoy it any longer. I basically play it maybe 10 hours a trip just to generate comps. My wife or buddy will play with me but I really don't enjoy playing alone anymore.
To me, poker now is where I spend most of my time. I enjoy it socially (most of the time) and I'm just a better player than 95% of the players. It is a slow win rate but I'm not sure I've had a losing trip to Vegas in maybe last 15-20 trips with poker. To me, they are just super cheap vacations. I eat at all the quality "bargain" places left. And I know a ton of good local places too. I like it still but I'm certainly not planning on any big wins like in the 90s to early 2010s.