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Friday, May 23, 2003
Blackjack story from excellent bulletin board
2 Guys and 1/4 million $s: Introduction
INTRODUCTION:
I had been counting for several years, and had my share of positive and negative swings. Won some money betting at a moderate level, and was looking for some way to enhance my blackjack income. I had some previous team experience, but it was shortlived. The two other members of the team were fundamentally good counters, but were kind of young and inexperienced. They were a little too interested in the CWs, and too inclined to order a drink while counting. There were other concerns, and even though we won some money I disbanded the team and went back to solo play. Still, it was apparent that a team of competent counters was the way to go, so I kept my options open in the hopes of one day meeting up with other experienced, mature players.
Falco was a full time solo player, coming off of a bad year, but still in action. We met thru a mutual friend and began to share information on opportunities in common venues. We came from different parts of the country, different stations in life, different backgrounds, with very little in common in the way of life experience. The only common ground we shared was blackjack. Between the two of us we had significant card counting experience, and had both individually seen the best and the worst of it. Sometime during the initial months of exchanging emails, I forget when, the subject of playing as a team came up. We decided to enter into discussions of the two of us forming a team, and the dialogue began.
We exchanged emails for what must have been months. There was much to be addressed and agreed upon. We had to establish a bankroll, risk of ruin, and acceptable spread for various games and playing conditions. Game selection was a major topic, as was the formula for distributing winnings. I think we both learned a great deal during this process. We ran sims on different programs, exchanged results, discussed how to treat expenses, and engaged in much technical dialogue concerning issues I had never given much thought to. Finally we reached an agreement and understanding on what seemed to be all the relevant points, and we each committed to beginning our joint effort. First, we had to schedule a live meeting to formally finalize everything, shake hands, and go to work. The first meeting fell thru due to a snowstorm causing hazardous driving conditions. We rescheduled, and met a few weeks later at an airport convenient to both of us. It was interesting to me that this was only the second or third time we had actually met in person, yet we were both committed to going into business together, and risking serious money on each others' action. Still, I never had a doubt this was the right thing to do, and it was really kind of exciting.
We met at the airport, had some coffee, and finalized our understanding of just what we were going to do. We actually talked for some time about all kinds of topics, not always blackjack related. Emails are a great way to communicate, but it doesn't come close to face to face conversation. We exchanged cell phone numbers, as this is how we would stay in touch on playing trips, shook hands, and went to work. Our team relationship had begun. We were in for a wild ride. This marked the beginning
THE BEGINNING
We left the airport separately, and by that afternoon Falco was in action, quickly losing what was 5% of our starting bankroll. The next day I was in town, winning, with no knowledge of my teammate's beginning loss. Our paths crossed later that day, and after sharing results we realized we were only down a few units. No big deal. This was all relatively insignificant, considering our goal was to double our bankroll. A few hours didn't matter. We continued playing, and I left town after a dew days with a nice win for the team. Falco stayed and continued playing, and called me frequently with his results. I came to dread those calls. He was in a downward spiral that seemed to never end. Since we had increased our betting levels by teaming up, the dollar amount of losses was much greater than what we were used to from our previous solo play, but we kept on. My wins were more than offsetting Falco's losses, but we weren't getting anywhere. After several months we were still not much better than even. I reflected on my teammates play, and recognized that I had had losses just as steep and prolonged as he was experiencing. I didn't doubt his abilities, and was confident the cards would turn for him, but when?
A couple of weeks later I got a call from Falco. He was in Northern Nevada, and had been backed off all over town. He was sitting in a comped suite in one of the nicer resorts, calling to tell me about his incredible run. Up until this trip his losses equated to almost 40% of our starting bankroll. Now he was in the black for the team. The call came while I was wonging a slot in a small casino down south. It was good to hear of his recovery. This put us over halfway to doubling our first bank. After we hung up, I went back to spinning the reels on the slot, and on the next spin hit the top payout on the pay schedule. I called Falco back immediately, and told him of our windfall (as part of our team relationship we had an agreement to share in jackpots like this as an incidental profit outside of our table play). Life was good.
Over the next couple of months our combined wins continued, and finally, after more that six months of play we doubled our bankroll. Falco had dug out of a hole, and contributed over 1/3 of the double. We met up at a mututally convenient location, had dinner, and distributed the win. It was a glorious moment. We had scored, what to us, and to most people for that matter, some serious money. The dinner was something of a celebration. It was a real high for me, and I could tell Falco was enjoying the experience. This was to be the first of many such meetings.
We each had a nice payday, and agreed to reinvest enough winnings to increase our playing bankroll by 1/3. This would allow some increase in bet size, and a decrease in our risk of ruin. We left the restaurant that nite. Falco headed west, and I drove east back to my home. It was a really nice drive. We had doubled our first bankroll. In my mind, this was the end of the beginning. We had proven ourselves as a team. Everything after this was just one big effort.
THE EFFORT
After our first double, casino life became one big blur of green felt and chips. I often had to stop and remember just where in the world I was. While I was playing I could be anywhere. It was all the same until I walked outside. During a session I couldn't tell you right away whether I was at the Ballagio or the Beau Rivage, the Monte Carlo or the Gold Strike. I was just counting cards and sizing bets. It was hard work, but I still loved it.
The money was good. Problems I used to have weren't problems any more. I paid off all my credit cards. My cash position was stronger than it had ever been, and I was living well. To share my good fortune with my wife and kids I would take them on trips. Non-gambling trips. All over the country. Fill my wallet with hundred dollar bills and fly to New York, Orlando, a summer vacation in New England, fine hotels and restaurants in New Orleans. All made possible in large part because of blackjack. I gave money away. Friends having tough times, or family members in need. I'd like to think I did good with my winnings. It felt right to share. Falco seemed to be enjoying his success, too. He often spoke of things that he did for his children, and grandchildren. Sometimes this just seemed to be too much of a good thing. The casinos had all the money in the world. All we had to do was bet big when we had an edge, and the money flowed our way, eventually.
Backoffs became more and more common. Places that used to welcome my action regularly were showing me the door. Falco would call and lament the loss of a favorite casino. Most backoffs were fairly civil, but some were downright rude. Security escorted me out of the Lady Luck in LV. Another voided my players card and alerted other casinos in town. At first I was alarmed, but I got to where I didn't really care. Like Falco, I would just play other casinos until enough time had passed, and go back to ones that backed me off and play under a different name. It was easier than I thought it would be.
One of the big problems we both faced was talking about this with family and friends. Any mention of making money in a casino is frowned upon by many people. Some just see you as a problem gambler with dillusions of winning. Falco often commented on people in his family saying that he wasn't "normal", whatever normal is. I made the mistake of opening up to some family friends, and telling them in some detail what I was doing part time. The husband was a deacon in a local church. Before long I began to receive literature in the mail from this church on gambling addictions, and available treatment programs. I guess they really didn't understand exactly what I was doing, and I never brought it up again.
One problem we didn't have was trust. Many teams fall apart when one member loses heavily, and the others don't accept the losses as a natural short term outcome. Some suspect theft. On one trip to LV I got to town mid morning, and before noon the next day I had lost almost my entire trip stake, roughly forty big bets. It happened in just a very few hours of play. I was disgusted, and contacted Falco. I told him of my losses, and said I was just gonna quit playing for the rest of the trip, and spend my remaining days in town scouting games and opportunities. I would resume play on my next trip, but for now I was sick of losing. Falco said he understood how I felt, but that his advice to me was to get back in the game and keep putting the money on the tables. I thought this was testimony to our team relationship. He didn't question my game, or worry that I was overbetting our bankroll. I considered his advice, and the next morning I recapitalized and started playing again. I didn't have a winning trip, but I cut my losses substantially.
One day I was in New Orleans on business. I had some free time the day I was to leave, and decided to drive over to Biloxi to see if I could find a game. I figured I could get in a couple of hours. Checking my voice mail en route, Falco had left me a message that he was winning on his current trip. Music to my ears. I had been struggling thru a negative swing, and it was nice to get news from a winning teammate. Walking thru the parking lot into the casino a stranger stopped long enough to tell me that someone had flown a plane into a skyscraper in New York. He was kind of drunk, and that was pretty much all he said. I went on inside and bought into a game at an empty table. Got some big bet opportunities right from the start, and began losing, as had been the case lately. I noticed that everyone was looking at the TV in the high limit room, and turned around to see what they were watching, just in time to see the World Trade Center collapse. The dealer was waiting for me, and asked me if I was gonna bet. I said no, and colored up what chips I had remaining, and left. I didn't play any more that day.
A couple of weeks later we played a big money tournament. The field of entrants was pretty lite due to fewer people travelling since the events of 9/11. I was driving distance to the casino, so I decided to go ahead and play. This was to be my biggest payday ever. After advancing to the semis, and then to the finals, I scored a very nice five figure win. Far from first place, but still very satisfying. As this was a team effort I took great satisfaction in paying the other members their share. Lots of live action play between rounds, and relatively big wins everywhere. Life was good, again, but not the same.
We kept playing, and kept winning. On one attempt we doubled our bankroll in less than ten weeks. It was amazing. Two distributions of winnings in that ten week period was more money than I took home in a year with some of the jobs I used to have.
After doubling our starting bankroll six times I did some quick calculations. Between our table action, tournament wins, and incidentals, we had won over $250,000. This seemed remarkable, particularly at our betting level. This wasn't a goal, or a stopping point, but I looked at it as something of a milestone.
It made me wonder just how far we could go, and where it would all end.
THE END
The end of this experience is probably the most difficult to relate. It hasn't happened yet, but it is inevitable. The natural consequence of the passage of time brings all events to termination or completion. We're just not there yet. I hope we have several more years. I hope we have ten years, or even more. Maybe we'll win 1/2 million dollars. Maybe we'll win a million. I don't know. Again, time will tell. We'll certainly remain teammates as long as we have a bankroll, opportunity, and the ability to play. For the time being, all these elements are comfortably in place.
The end of this journey, whenever that occurs, will be bittersweet. We'll have a great adventure to look back upon. I'll have something fascinating to tell my grandkids. Something to smile about when I look back at the years and comtemplate time spent. There'll also be an empty place in my world. I'll miss having money in Falco's betting circle, the phone calls and emails sharing results, playing conditions, and opportunities, the overall team experience, as it were. Good, honest, competent, long term teammates are few and far between. The bar has been set for me. At least I have the standard for considering future team associates, should that day ever come.
For two people as close as we are, we're remarkably distant. We've never been to each others home, never met the others' wife, and have virtually no knowledge of the significant dates in each others lives. I don't have enough information to send my teammate a birthday or Christmans card. I'm not really sure how old Falco is. But none of this really matters. Our common ground is beating the casinos for serious money. This activity, by its very nature, is somehow set aside from the everyday world. It's where we exist when we're not somewhere else.
But for now, we're still in action, and still winning money. Falco's somewhere in Nevada, I forget where. I leave in the morning for Tunica. We'll call, email, exchange results, and information on dealers and opportunities back and forth, and one day, hopefully one day soon, we'll break another bank, and another bank, and another....
Life's good.
hdouble 12:51 PM
Thursday, May 22, 2003
Byrd disses Bushies:
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=512&e=1&u=/ap/iraq_byrd
hdouble 3:55 PM
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