Originally Posted by kewlJ View Post
Originally Posted by Dan Druff View Post
Regarding sitting out negative counts, kewlj, what is your technique in doing so?

Occasionally I'll use the tried-and-true "bathroom trick", but clearly you can't do that repeatedly.

I usually feign a cell phone call, step away from the table, have some fake argument on the phone (usually with my wife trying to get me to go to dinner, or with a friend who is trying to find me but can't), and then return when the shoe is over. Sometimes, if I've lost a few hands in a row (or more than a few), and if the count is negative, I'll stand up and announce, "I can't win at this table. I'm gonna try over there", and then frustratedly grab my chips, stand up, and move.
Yep, that's basically the drill. I have actually gotten away from using "bathroom breaks" and "phone calls" too much. Only time I resort to that is if it is a very small local type casino with only one or two tables open. Otherwise I just jump to the next table....or next casino. There are just too many table and casinos in Vegas to waste time playing through negative shoes hoping the next one is better.

Jumping to the next table is a big part of my game, because I usually try to track a second table, as I am playing one. If that second table goes or is even heading positive and the table I am playing is going south, I am jumping. I say something about the dealer being too hot or I won with this other dealer last week. I use the "your too hot" line, the second I lose a hand and the count is going south. Sometimes I lost that last hand but won 3 or 4 before it and I still say "you are too hot" after the lost hand. Sometimes the dealer looks at my like I'm nuts. What do I care?
When I was on a BJ team, I remember one time specifically when I got called in to a table. The spotter was giving me the verbal signals for the count as I'm sitting down (which was something like, "Omg, the dealer keeps getting 20's and 21's, I can't win a damn hand" [it was something different, but to the same effect]). In a huff, he gets up and leaves. BTW, since we'd been on the trip for a few days, he had a full on homeless-type beard. The dealer says something like, "Wow....that crazy guy just won a bunch of money and now he's yelling he lost...??." I said he's probably a homeless guy or something. Dealer agreed with me.



As far as saying weird shit that's not true or may seem out of the ordinary -- nothing is out of the ordinary in a casino. When I dealt, I saw plenty of people talking to themselves -- like crazy people mumbling gibberish to themselves. On craps, I've seen people be on a pretty good roll, pressing up their bets, etc. then they randomly take all their bets down, all their money in the rack, and plop it down in the field. One guy who always set the dice and was very methodical in his throws....one time he's on a decent roll, and as the dice are being passed to him from the stick, he practically charges toward the dice, grabs them mid-run, and chucks 'em toward the other side of the table, like he was suddenly possessed by a demon. Plenty of people will complain about "cold dice" during a 25+ minute roll. Seen people flat betting $5 or $10 minimum on BJ for hours, then randomly bet all their money on one hand. Lose it, then continue betting $5 or $10 min, as if nothing happened.