Quote from: Rolex-Watch on September 19, 2014, 03:45:06 AM
Do you people actually step foot into a B&M casino frequently?  Do you have any idea what it is like to see your buyin dwindle to less than 50%.  Know how that feels?

How does it feel to get battered at a table game, when all your expectations fly out the window and you wonder "what did I do to deserve this", "what signal did I miss not to venture to the casino tonight".  It can be sickening, especially if you have been winning good and your confidence is sky high, only to be beaten up by the other side pulling naturals, your mind starts wondering, what has the casino done?  Did they review tapes, orchestrate the deck?  Is this the session were I give back my hard fought for gains in one session, which normally happens (and cursing is not allowed, are we all gentlemen and expected to take our beating with a degree of decorum?).

Thankfully I turned things around and walked 10u shy of 100% of my buyin, and your concerned by a humorous cartoon that may or may not carry some hidden message.    Excuse me, just winding down after a somewhat difficult session.

Hey RW, I hope you don't mind me starting a new thread with your quoted post, but esoito did ask not to hijack the other thread.

RW, I don't agree with you at all that casino games are a battle arena. My interpretation is that these games are encounters, nothing more. More like sitting on a park bench in the morning sun watching all the girls walk by. Going to the table with war paint on is not advisable; the aggressive state of mind needed to enter into battle has no place in pro gaming. We need to maintain a calm and relaxed persona. Battle leads to fear and fear leads to errors, and errors above all else are costly, and irretrievable.

The first thing people should do to improve their gaming experience is to drop all expectations. Expectation leads to disappointment, which leads to anger, which throws you into battle mode, and we don't want that.

If the encounter is amiable then it should be easy to maintain decorum, if the encounter is disagreeable, then it will be more difficult to maintain decorum, but that is what we must do. So decorum is part of the pro gamer's strategy to rise above judgemental attitudes. In short, don't judge the wheel, or the deck, or the dealers. Let it all walk on by.

I do actually play roulette at my local casino, and have been on the receiving end of disagreeable encounters as much as anyone, so I feel your pain, but my way of addressing these difficult times enables me to drift along with the game cool calm and collected no matter what.

Just the other night my encounter was long and drawn out. It went quickly at first with my bankroll diving into a hole about $4000 deep. I could have left after that first few hours and returned another day to recover, but being a stubborn old goat, I dug my heels in and decided to play on and see where it goes.


I maintained my calm, and six and a half hours later I walked out of there with a profit of $10, yes $10, but my smile upon exiting probably looked like I'd won a million! Very satisfying indeed.

Anyway, I would be interested to hear what other's think about casino games being a battleground?

What is your philosophical interpretation?

OMG,

When anybody wins consistently a decent amount, say playing 6 nights per week, let's say $1000 per night, watch the demeanour of dealers and manager change. I've seen it both down-under and in the UK.  Dealers get jealous, slam down pay-outs, get their noses out of joint.  It is a struggle for me to get managers to open the table for me, anybody else, not a problem, because they know from them they should take their money, when I ask, "it is we are short staffed, maybe in an hour".

Expectation?  I always without fail expect to win, success breeds confidence, I know I am an exceptional player, I have to be, because I play for a living not recreation.  I know I am good because many that have shared tables with have come over afterwards and told me.  If I ventured to a casino thinking who knows what might happen, I simply wouldn't go.

Anger, frustration, swearing, cursing and all that is not a problem for me,, part and parcel of any casino environment, because all those emotions do not impact on my bet amount or which side I bet next, you see I can get very rattled, but it has no impact on my bet amount, that is 99% of the time fully in control, I may quit a table, but that has cost me nothing.  Maybe you are playing a level that is of no concern to any casino, and don't win often enough, so have no idea what physiological games that take place.  I would have to think hard and long if I could be bothered crossing the street for $10 and by the time I decided it would be gone. 

Casino is definitely a battleground but I take it as battle on chess board where strategy is the most important thing. This battle needs a calm and calculative brain and aggression or worries will only have negative impact.

Well RW,  I must say it seems like you would be a very unpleasant fellow to be around when things don't go your way. With all that barking and cursing and foot stomping I'm not surprised casino staff serve you up a hard time. Besides, casinos are completely justified in the application of whatever countermeasures they see fit, and any experienced gambler should be aware of that and accept it as part of the job.

You're probably right about me being too small a fish for them to be concerned about though. I normally front up with 5k in the pocket, play for 1 to 2 hours, get anywhere from $300 to $1000 profit then leave or stop and socialise with friends. That's good enough for me for now.

...Oh and yeah, when I play, I'm as quiet as a mouse and drift through like a shadow. They probably don't even know I'm there.

Never really thought of the casino as a battleground, although sometimes a session does turn out that way. I do start with an expectation that I'm going to win, but try not to have any expectations as to how the cards/spins are going fall, if that's not a contradiction. Of course I have tough sessions, like anyone else, and it's kind of satisfying when I come through, even if it's a break-even result.

@ RW,

Do you ever think that maybe you're putting yourself under too much stress in attempting to make 100% of your buy-in per session? it's inevitable that there will be emotional roller coasters with such an ambitious target. I aim for between 5-10% and try to keep the sessions short, not because I think there's any validity to "hit & run", but simply because I don't enjoy protracted sessions.

Quote from: greenguy on September 20, 2014, 08:27:19 AM
Well RW,  I must say it seems like you would be a very unpleasant fellow to be around when things don't go your way. With all that barking and cursing and foot stomping

I don't stomp my feet, the Chinese are constantly swearing like troopers, you start learning the choice words after a few years.  You can't bark and shout to much because you won't be allowed back in, so you are getting the wrong end of the stick, nothing wrong being on an 8 and the other side beats that hand by reaching 9 and you say the four letter word that begins with F___ .   I'm a very good player to be around, I helped a (at the time) a stranger out and let him mirror my bets.  We became good friends and when I left one city he was positive over the casino as we never lost a session in two weeks. 

We went through the usual draw-downs, every things was fine.  Obviously you have no idea what it is like to lose a few hands in a row due to naturals being pulled on the other side, every  man and his dog curses, I suppose you really are a greenguy.

Quote from: greenguy on September 20, 2014, 08:27:19 AM...Oh and yeah, when I play, I'm as quiet as a mouse and drift through like a shadow. They probably don't even know I'm there.

Sure.  Every casino knows exactly how much people make, everybody is known.     

Quote from: Slacker on September 20, 2014, 12:54:01 PM

Do you ever think that maybe you're putting yourself under too much stress in attempting to make 100% of your buy-in per session? it's inevitable that there will be emotional roller coasters with such an ambitious target. I aim for between 5-10% and try to keep the sessions short, not because I think there's any validity to "hit & run", but simply because I don't enjoy protracted sessions.

The 100% profit margins usually just happen, I normally aim for 60~80% of my base-unit buyin.  If I am that close early, I press on.  Regarding the 5-10%.  Sure if you had an edge.  But in Baccarat there is never any edge, it is a money game.  Therefore you have to deploy your money management prowess to the best of your ability.  So let say you want to make a few hundred per night, so you go the casino with how much exactly?  You only need to make what 3 chips or maybe 12 ponies.  What happens if you run into a run of losses as soon as you sit down.  I lost my first six placed bets on Thursday.  How stressful would that be if I came in betting pinks? How much in total bankroll would one need just to make a minimum three hundred?  Remembering a lot of provincial casinos in the UK have low table limits of £2k.

I've been around the block too many times and have learnt a lot from watching others players behaviour.  As an example, a low roller usually bets $10 ~ $15, rarely betting $25.  Obviously on this day was desperate to make $500.  So he slapped down a $500 chip as his first bet, which lost.  Then proceeded to spend the next few hour trying to get that back via $10 + $15 bets.  He didn't succeed and whatever problems he had prior, had now just increased.  You learn from watching stuff like this.  If I want / need $500, I'll sit there all day and grind things out, slowly but surely, I won't buyin for a 1k either.   

We all have our different approaches to betting, so if my target goal is a minimum £500, I will grind that out as safe as I possibly can via reds and blacks, should the need arise to bet pinks, I will do so.  But I prefer the safe, lazy time consuming manner of reaching my goal, hopefully before you know it, I'm at 60~80% profit margin of my buyin.  If my first bet is £5 and later in the shoe I'm betting ponies or later in the session betting pinks, it is not too hard to it go beyond 100% of the initial first base bet.  Because I have various things going on money management~wise (which you are privy to), I look at profit as a percentage of my total buyin, not the betting level that was used to achieved that.   

Quote from: Rolex-Watch on September 20, 2014, 02:28:52 PM
But in Baccarat there is never any edge, it is a money game. 

LOL.



as.

Not much you can do about severe drawdowns, except try very hard to make sure they don't happen in the first place. I don't so much aim to win as to not lose. The trouble is, if you lose 50% of your bank you then have to effectively make 100% just to get even again.

I guess I'm not a "real" gambler because I play online, partly because I live out in the sticks but mostly because I use software to help me track and look for opportunities, and I find it much easier to regain my composure at home rather than in a B & M casino; I've nothing but admiration for you guys who do it. Too much hard work for me (Slacker by name, slacker by nature).

I don't find the game a battleground, I find the people there the battleground.

When I worked in Greece, the office overlooked a Horse racing venue. I asked if anyone fancied going after work. They looked at me like I had asked to go joy riding in stolen cars. You are a bum in Greece if you gamble.

Although not as bad, the casinos I have gone in around UK are not far off that. Desperate bums who haven't a clue what they have bet, why they have bet it, and bet until their bankroll is gone. A win means more time in the casino.

They just play until its time to go and tell the wife they had a very quiet night on the Taxis....or the Triad leader that they didn't launder his money.

Being leant on and having to put up with compulsive gamblers pushing and shoving, not to mention the smell (Deodorant costs 3 chips, so prioritize)

that's the battleground for me. I find the game very enjoyable.

I much prefer Dublin Bet (well View Casino, but is from Dublin and Isle of Man) No smell there...and RX up at the side.

Quote from: Turner on September 21, 2014, 11:24:11 AM(Deodorant costs 3 chips, so prioritize)

Friend, late at night a very common motif in casinos around here is a man with a plain shirt that turns into two colors: 1. the color of the shirt. 2. the color of sweat under the armpits, neck and back.

Pressure to win makes it a battle ground.  It's all relative. The more you press risk and aggressive play given the size of your bank roll, the more it becomes like a battle.  That is why it must be completely awesome to have a substantial bank roll and have relatively conservative goals that still are meaningful in terms of our economy.

For example, someone who has 10 racks of $100's to really play with just shooting for a few thousand of win a session.  Last session a 9-9 tie when I was very much pressed for a win, and I stated F$$$ twice around to my right and power walked - lol to a different part of the house.