Catchy title eh?

Since the day I started counting, I have come across three other counters. 3 times more than I expected and in such a short period of time too! I know there are lots of counters out there, but honestly, I never expected to come across any in my back water town. But I did.

Encounter 1 - And I would have gotten away with it too if wasn't for those rotten kids!
My first encounter was within weeks of starting my counting career. I was playing at one of my favourite properties, playing very low limits and barely spreading at all (I was still a novice at this time). I noticed a couple of kids hanging around too.
They were barely 18, or probably younger. Wasting their time before they took off to Uni. One was playing some poker game against the house, the other joined me at the table when I sat down and opened a new table. I thought little of it at the time, but soon realised the little rat was wonging on me! Whenever I raised my bets in accordance with the TC, he would open a new box. I wouldn't have minded so much, but the little shit was hitting easy doubles and blackjacks, while I was losing. Then when the count dropped, he would wong out and wait.
Well, too bad for me. He was wonging like you're supposed too, leaving me to see every hand, but when he signaled his friend over to join him ... that was too much for me.
I started to wong too, quicker then them. As soon as the count dropped to TC 0, I quickly removed my chips and left them to tough out the -EV hands. Unfortunately for them, their bankroll was too small to support a spread of any kind and they quickly lost all their money. Tough luck kids, but I don't want your sloppy play getting me noticed. It's way too obvious when we raise our bets together.

Encounter 1 - The Doctor
The following month, I was playing at another property (the one I got burned out of in my last post). I was doing okay, and up about 40 units. A young, professional looking gentleman come up to the table and introduced himself as Dr. Raj, visiting from another city. Would I mind if joined me. No problem.
Within the first few hands the TC rose to +2 and we both spread from 1 to 4 on multiple hands. I made some weak comment about 'if the Dr has a feeling, I'm going with him' to take the attention off me. We won all the hands. He said - 'Did you see all those fives? That meant it was a good time to bet big!'. What the hell? Was this guy a counter or just some guy who knew small cards bad, big cards good. The count fell, we reduced our bets and then he wonged out until the next shoe.
Yep, he was a counter. Beyond his fake identity, he was using no cover, and with the two of us at the table I was taking no chances at being made at one of my favourite properties. So I left and let him get on with it.

Encounter 3 - The Old Lady
Early Feb 2009, and I visited my low limits property in town. To my surprise, I found an old lady already playing blackjack (instead of pontoon which is what they usually play). She was terrible, but playing the bottom table limit, so not losing a fortune. I watched her hit a 14 against a 16 and complain when she bust, split tens and all other basic strategy no-no's.
I joined in on the next shoe and began the counters waltz. Waiting for high counts to throw down some big bets. The count rose, my bets did, and so did hers! Not only that, she was no longer making Basic Strategy mistakes. What was going on here?
The count soared to TC +5, we both had some big bets down and proceeded to lose solid hands against an unlucky dealer 6 turning into a 21.
'That shouldn't have happened you know' - she commented to me.
We continued to play, whilst she dropped subtle hints that we were using the same system. Her play wasn't as sharp as mine. She was making a few small basic strategy mistakes and did not have a clue how to use indices. On top of that, she was barely spreading. Using a measly 1:2 spread at TC+2 and a 1:5 spread at high TCs. Not a winning game. However, she was varying from 1 hand to multiple hands, and this was making up for her weak spread. Barely.
Also, she didn't realise I was doing a little shuffle tracking on the side.
Very soon we were backing eachothers hands as a way to get money on the table. I was pretending to follow her psychic powers to avert attention from myself, and betting big when ever I saw her place some chips behind my hand.
As other players joined the table, it turned she was fairly well known at this property, and that she apparently never lost.
I ended the night when I was up 140 units, having had a lot of fun and made a new blackjack buddy.

Lessons Learned
1. There are other counters out there, and they're all better wongers than me.
2. As I've read in other places, never play with other counters - you are going to bring down heat. Best to call it a night. (With the exception of last story where I was able to turn it around and take advantage of it, pretending to be a ploppy who had found a good luck charm).
3. Never, NEVER discuss counting in the casino. The old lady from encounter 3 was very excited to meet another counter and was dying to swap notes with me, but I shut her down quickly at every turn until she got the hint. Best not to let the casino know you've got a system that's beating them.
4. It is easy to spot a counter. If I can do it so quickly, why can't pit bosses?
This means that either casinos have no clue how to spot a counter since they don't count themselves, or like me, they saw that some players might be able to count, but were unable to implement it sufficiently to beat the casino.
The old lady in encounter 3 played a break even game at best. Not something the casinos would bother too much about as she kept the table open for other players to join in.
The kids in encounter 1 were still profitable customers as they were unable to spread at all, and would lose money at other table games.

One of the problems with being one of only a few players playing blackjack in my area is that casinos quickly start to notice that the tables are not making them as much money as they were expecting. When the tables actually start to lose them money, they really start to pay attention and there's only one person to look at, me!

One of the first casinos that I chose to display my skills at offers a single blackjack table, $5-$50 limits, 4 deck and a 75% penetration. A good place to develop my blackjack advantage player skills as the limits were in my range, I could play heads-up and I didn't mind getting backed off from there if I was caught.

In my first month of play, my bankroll went up and down, but stayed pretty much at the same level. I was still developing my skills and was yet to turn them profitable. But with some free comps it was time well spent.
By my third month playing, things were a lot more serious and I was starting to show some decent profit. Over $5,000 in a single month (although I was actually down at other casinos during this same period so net profit was still within an expected range).

I was actually surprised at how little heat I was getting. The Pit Bosses were pretty much dozing off at my play even though I was spreading like a madman. I guess they knew little about card counting, only that the house always wins in the end.

But, one evening when I turned up for play as usual, I was confronted with 6 decks of cards instead of the usual 4. What's worse, only 50% penetration. That's 3 out of 6 decks cut off every shoe. Unacceptable for any card counter. With half the shoe gone every time, high true counts necessary to beat the game become very rare indeed. Even shuffle tracking or any other skills become less effective with half a blind shoe every shuffle.

In effect, they had secured their game against all card counters. Their game is now unbeatable (at least to a regular card counter like me).

But why change their rules? Why not just bar me if they suspected me of counting?

Maybe it had merely been a corporate decision to change the rules and nothing to do with me (although I doubt that), or maybe my camoflauge had partially worked. There was no way a dumb gambler like me could beat their game. By slyly changing factors out of my control, maybe they thought I wouldn't realise that my strategy was no longer effective against their game and continue to play, except for this time, they would have the advantage.

I think not. I've done my research and I know that a 50% penetration is not a beatable game for a regular card counter like myself. So I took notice of the polite invitation to take my game elsewhere and left.