I was at a casino last night. At all of the blackjack tables there was a little sign that said something like “No entry midshoe”. I thought that could not mean what it sounded like so I sat down at a table to play. However, the dealer said that I could not bet until after the next time she shuffled.
Does anyone know why they would do this? I have never been to a casino where I was urged to not bet.
If any of these facts help: it was at a New Mexico Indian casino. It was pretty crowded, but there were still some $5 tables.
The traditional counting system requires a bettor to alter the size of his bets: when the count is in the counter’s favor, you bet hard; when the count is in the house’s favor, you bet soft.
However, most casinos are pretty hep to card-counting behavior such as this, and might send the pit bosses down to check on you if they spot it.
So, another method involving a couple in collusion developed. One player would be the counter, and just bet steadily throughout the game. When the count was in the players’ favor, he would send out a signal, and a second player would join the game mid-shoe and start betting hard.
There’s a famous team assembled by some businessmen and students from MIT that made millions of dollars this way.
I actually saw one of these whizzes play on GSN last night, and it was amazing how accurate he was. At one time, he had two queens, against a dealer low card. Instinct says to stand, right? He split, and recieved something like a Jack and a King (something the announcers said is a dead give away to a casino that someone is counting). He didn’t end up winning the game, another guy topped him by a few thousand, but he still did extremely well.
This is exactly correct. Usually it’s more than just one extra player who joins the game too. A good friend of mine makes a good living doing this world wide.