How You Will Play
How you decide to play includes such considerations as the size of your neutral wager, the counting system (if any) you will employ, bet-ranging (according to the RC, TC, or flat wagering methods explained in chapter 6), how conservative or aggressive your play will be, or whether you will play every hand regardless of the count. Just as Alice knew, the pleasure derived from a daisy chain sometimes fails to justify the trouble of making it. In other words, simply beating the casinos at blackjack may not be worth the effort involved for some people. There are many factors to consider in determining exactly how you will play the game.
Partners Sometimes you may decide to play with partners. This can be a more conservative and financially “risk-free” proposition, since total winnings are divided equally among the participants at the end of each session. One method involves several players sitting at separate uncrowded tables, playing the shoe minimums while patiently counting. Whenever a TC reaches high indices, a roving player is secretly signaled to the table, where he immediately places large bets, often the table maximums. This way, the regular players at the tables do not betray themselves as counters by ranging their own bets too dramatically, if at all. The big wagers are usually accepted by the dealers and floor people without suspicion, because there is no way that the “big” player could have been counting, having just approached the table.
Problems can arise when playing with partners, however, and this practice is not recommended for nonprofessionals. (See Ken Uston’s The Big Player.) On the other hand, if you know fellow counters that you can trust, team play is a good way to spare yourselves the wild fluctuations often experienced in blackjack. By playing separately during the session, each player can have access to a larger maximum bet (i.e., 2% of your combined bankrolls) and therefore enjoy the advantage of this extra leverage whenever conditions may warrant.
Pick the style of play (conservative, aggressive, or somewhere in between) that is best suited to a particular casino, or simply your individual preference. Make sure that you feel comfortable playing whatever method you choose to employ. Carefully consider and decide upon what sort of play you will use before you arrive in the casino. There is more than enough to think about once you are at the table; you don’t need the additional pressure at that time of deciding which playing style you will adopt.
Conservative Style The following represents how a very conservative player might decide to play: Making sure the casino allowed doubling on any two cards even after splitting, and surrender was available, he might decide to play only in double-deck games where the dealers stand on all 17s. Never playing under negative or neutral counts, he would place a minimum wager (no more than $2) only if the TC were + 3 or better, and increase subsequent bets upward $1 for each odd number the TC rose above 3. His betting range would never exceed four units (or 1% of his bankroll), no matter how high the TC rose. While making sure there was seldom more than one other player at the table (never more than two), always sitting at the first-base spot, and playing his hands according to proper MBS only, this type of overcautious player would likely not get to play more than a half-dozen hands per hour, and therefore could not expect to win much. However, there is virtually no chance of his losing money playing this way. A conservative-style player must be content with correspondingly modest winnings, but he has virtually taken the gamble out of the game.
Wonging Although not as conservative as the above hypothetical individual, Stanford Wong practiced a mildly conservative approach, by playing only in positive games. He would stand behind tables while counting the cards until the count turned positive. Only then would he slide in a medium-sized bet. He would continue to play there as long as the count remained steady or increased, raising his bets accordingly, but he would immediately leave the table once the count dropped to zero. This “in and out” style of play, which involves a lot of back-counting from behind the tables, has come to be known as “Wonging,” after the master blackjack player-writer who originated it. Wonging is physically exhausting, because you are on your feet so much; however, never playing a single hand under negative conditions is often a profitable undertaking that is worth the effort. Unfortunately, more and more casinos are implementing “no midshoe entry” policies to defeat the practice of Wonging.
It is not always possible for conservative players to play safely in a given casino at any specific time. For example, if table minimums are too high, all the tables are crowded, and only eight-deck shoe games are offered, a conservative player would be wiser not to play at all under such conditions. Even an experienced counter could not be guaranteed enough profit to justify his time in such a game. A truly conservative player would scout out more favorable playing conditions.
Aggressive Style Aggressive players’ winnings fluctuate more, but they will generally make more money in the long run since they play more hands per hour. Aggressive players are not as concerned about minor rule variations. They realize that they will not necessarily make money every time they play. Nevertheless, they do know that by playing a larger number of hands when they have an advantage (and consequently they have more chips on the table), abiding by the appropriate MBS, and ranging their bets more widely (according to the Aggressive TC Wagering Chart from chapter 6), more significant net winnings will certainly accrue to them over time.
The truly aggressive blackjack player is more of a gambler in the traditional sense of the word, since he is comfortable not winning every hand, every session, every day, or even every trip. Although he risks much larger sums of money, he normally takes home much more than the conservative player. The aggressive style is not to be confused with foolhardy play. A competent and prudent player can choose to play aggressively just as well as conservatively. An aggressive player is bolder in his approach to the game, primarily regarding the size and range of bets, but he must also be psychologically able to bear the inevitable “ups and downs” that accompany this type of ride. The larger benefits that fall to these often flamboyant players are their just desserts. To them, the financial roller coaster they experience is definitely worth more than the price of the ticket.
