Myself and a couple others decided to do something a bit out of the ordinary today. 

We pulled out before 5a.m., and went to a nice spot down by a lake on a road we can continue down for the casino we eventually desire to wind up at later today.

We brought our breakfast and will discuss our thoughts and ideas as well for the sessions we will be engaging in.  Watch the sunrise and make some 'good time' life observations. 

Here are some pictures from a little bit ago. 

Will post pictures of the score boards if possible after the play.

A few of us (that regularly play baccarat together) met for dinner at a steak house tonight and we got talking about weird and strange autos that were produced a while back. 

It was actually a nice change for us, as we didn't talk a word about baccarat or the casinos.  We all had steaks with those huge old school shrimp cocktails.  We all enjoyed a superb glass or two of some great cognac as well.

Here the are with some pictures attached for your reference. 

Ford Pinto
Chevrolet Vega
VW Bus
AMC Pacer
AMC Gremlin
AMC Rambler
AMC Concord
1974 Ford Mustang II
Yugo
Chevy Citation
Chevy Chevette
Chevy Corvair

And the Baker's Dozen special stupidity award goes to Cadillac for their, "rebadging of a Chevrolet Cavalier" into a CADILLAC CIMARRON!

From Motor Trend: "The compact Caddy was touted as "a new kind of Cadillac for a new kind of Cadillac owner" in its day. Certainly. Cimarron by Cadillac was built on GM's J platform at plants in South Gate, California, Lordstown, Ohio, and Janesville, Wisconsin between 1981 and 1988. Depending on the model year, Cimarrons were powered by 1.8- or 2.0-liter four-cylinder engines good for 86-88 horsepower. But if you were really livin' large—as one did in the Eighties—there was a 125-hp 2.8-liter V-6 available. Transmission options included a sad three-speed automatic for the V-6 and a sweet four- or five-speed manual for fours. Not impressed yet? Have you seen the Cimarron's thirteen-inch wheels and seriously classy hubcaps?

The Cimarron, introduced for the 1982 model year, became an instant icon of badge-engineered mediocrity, a mean stew of cynicism and desperation tinged with the sour stench of wheezy four-bangers and cheap velour," is howAutomobilesang its praises, adding, "In the early '80s, Cadillac still stood for a certain large-scale American bombast, but the Cimarron drove an 88-hp, four-cylinder stake straight through the heart of Cadillac's brand identity.

Inside, the front-wheel-drive sedan came standard with a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a tachometer, perforated leather bucket seats, hand lever parking brake (sporty!), air conditioning, Trianon deep-pile carpeting, and an AM/FM radio—with four whole speakers! The cabin offered 89 cubic feet of passenger volume, per the EPA, which also pegged the Caddy's mileage at a decent 26 mpg city, 42 mpg highway."

DO NOT THINK ABOUT IT, JUST FRIGGEN DO IT!!!

Last night it was simply beautiful!  Simply amazing, flawless and a touch of stomach wrenching, even thou I wasn't technically playing.

Here's what happened.  I went to the casino to pick up H-Money my buddy. He was dropped off there by a family member and we were going to go out to eat, after I picked up and then give him a ride home. I get to the casino and I'm standing there with H-Money, he is into the place for about $3,400. Asks me how much cash I have on me. I go in my pocket and I have $820 plus a folded up $450 that I had to drop off to somebody on the way home. I tell him $1,270. He asks for it and I give him $1,200 even.

Understand what was going on, as I was standing there watching for about 10 hands. Everybody was losing.  No matter what side they were wagering on the majority of the people were losing. There were hands such as the following ones I will write out.

P=2/face B 10/7 and P pulls a 6. Everyone on bankers.
P=4/9 B face/6 and P pulls a 4.  Everyone on bankers.

Everyone switched to players. 
P=10/8 (of course quick hi-5s) B turns over 10/9.

Most all the serious bettors switched back to bankers.
P=9/8. B=5/A.

Most stayed bankers.  P=9/9. B=9/8.

Then hands such as: P=face/4. B=face/face. P pulls a 6 and bankers pulls a 10.  Most were on bankers and that, "darn can't even beat a zero" was said out loud in frustration.

Everyone on players with large wagers. 
P=5/9. B=2/10. Players turn over a 7.  Bankers turn over a face card.  Another frustrating hand for most.

H-Money says, "let's do this" pretty loud.  Throws in the $1,200 I gave him and he had a few hundred left in chips.  He was attempting to get some camaraderie going, but most were down in their buy-ins and multiple re-buys. You know heads in their hands type of aura going on. 

It is a $2,000 max table. H-Money puts $800 on the bankers side and slaps the table. Most follow with a couple being on the players side.  Players open an 8 and a 2, Bankers open a 9 and a 10 for the win.  H-Money quickly parlays it all and adds the other $400 he had for the table max.  Dealer says table max out loud, the pit person sitting down with her back to the baccarat table turns her head and says OK, because she saw all the regular players.  One other person is near table max and the others on bankers are probably $50 to $200-ish.  Cards dealt, players total of 6 and bankers had a two card total of 7.  H-Money lets out a loud "Sweet Whispering Geronimo" and lots of laughter and happy faces. 

Understand this is an EZ Bac table, no bankers commission and most are regular patrons and friends anyway.  H-Money is staying at table Max and I will make sure he colors up and leaves if his winning streak continues or whatever he is feeling. Lots play for the cut or doubles and then the cut as we all know. 

Well a good 15 minutes later if not 20 minutes or so, seven more winning IAR bankers were made for a total streak of 9.  H-Money stuck at table max on every single one, from the 2nd one on, with lots of fanfare from numerous people playing.  Of course he lost the last one.  By the way, the hand that fell off was, P=N9 and B=N8. 

H-Money got his $3,400 back, gave me my $1,200 and walks with $10K plus a few hundred.  Nice dinner off casino property paid for as well as a gas fill up, both courtesy of H-Money. 

Side Note:  Lots of people playing cannot capitalize handsomely on streaks, extended chop chop, extended doubles or countless other events because of the drummed in belief of, "it can't or shouldn't happen" so they wager continuously for the cut and then when the cut comes, they go for the IAR, etc.  Or, they stop wagering all together. 

But H-Money hit it hard, stuck with it and I made sure he colored up and cashed out.  I can't say what he would have done if I was not there.  But I do know, wins like that give unhealthy beliefs that a continuation of winning has to happen and quick winnings are very quickly given right back and additional buy-ins are attempted to win again.   

I wrote about it before and I think it's just simply amazing how Fred Smith kept this company alive for one more week to cover his fuel bills, that led him to $5.8 billion dollars net worth as of this year. Which included taking $5,000.00 to Caesars palace in Las Vegas and winning $27,000.00 to cover a week's extra business life!

Quote from a magazine; "I asked Fred where the funds had come from, and he responded, 'The meeting with the General Dynamics board was a bust and I knew we needed money for Monday, so I took a plane to Las Vegas and won $27,000.' I said, 'You mean you took our last $5,000-- how could you do that?' He shrugged his shoulders and said, 'What difference does it make? Without the funds for the fuel companies, we couldn't have flown anyway.' Fred's luck held again. It was not much, but it came at a critical time and kept us in business for another week."

FROM WIKI:

In 1970, Smith purchased the controlling interest in an aircraft maintenance company, Ark Aviation Sales,[5] and by 1971 turned its focus to trading used jets. On June 18, 1971, Smith founded Federal Express with his $4 million inheritance (approximately $29.8 million in 2023 dollars)[17] and raised $91 million (approximately $690 million in 2023 dollars)[17] in venture capital. In 1973, the company began offering service to 25 cities, and it began with small packages and documents and a fleet of 14 Falcon 20 (DA-20) jets. His focus was on developing an integrated air-ground system. Smith developed FedEx on the business idea of a shipment version of a bank clearing house where one bank clearing house was located in the middle of the representative banks and all their representatives would be sent to the central location to exchange materials.[5]

In the early days of FedEx, Smith had to go to great lengths to keep the company afloat. In one instance, after a crucial business loan was denied, he took the company's last $5,000 to Las Vegas and won $27,000 gambling on blackjack to cover the company's $24,000 fuel bill. It kept FedEx alive for one more week.[18]

In 2003 Smith, along with Robert Rothman and Dwight Schar, purchased a minority share of the Washington Commanders, an American football franchise belonging to the National Football League. The three owned a total of 40% of the team until 2021, when they sold their stake to majority owner Dan Snyder following discontentment with Snyder.[19][20] Smith also owns or co-owns several other entertainment companies, such as Alcon Entertainment.

In 2000, Smith made an appearance as himself in the Tom Hanks movie Cast Away, when Hanks's character is welcomed back, which was filmed on location at FedEx's home facilities in Memphis, Tennessee. A DKE Fraternity Brother of George W. Bush while at Yale, after Bush's 2000 election, there was some speculation that Smith might be appointed to the Bush Cabinet as Defense Secretary.[21] While Smith was Bush's first choice for the position, he declined for medical reasons — Donald Rumsfeld was named instead.[22] Although Smith was friends with both 2004 major candidates, John Kerry and George W. Bush, Smith chose to endorse Bush's re-election in 2004. When Bush decided to replace Rumsfeld, Smith was offered the position again, but he declined in order to spend time with his terminally ill daughter.[23]

Smith was a supporter of Senator John McCain's 2008 Presidential bid, and had been named McCain's national co-chairman of his campaign committee.

Smith was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame and also awarded the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 1998.[24] He was inducted into the SMEI Sales & Marketing Hall of Fame in 2000. His other awards include "CEO of the Year 2004" by Chief Executive Magazine[25] and the 2008 Kellogg Award for Distinguished Leadership, presented by the Kellogg School of Management on May 29, 2008.[26] He was also awarded the 2008 Bower Award for Business Leadership from The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[27] He is the 2011 recipient of the Tony Jannus Award for distinguished contributions to commercial aviation.[28]

While CEO of FedEx in 2008, Smith earned a total compensation of $10,434,589, which included a base salary of $1,430,466, a cash bonus of $2,705,000, stocks granted of $0, and options granted of $5,461,575.[29] In June 2009, Smith expressed interest in purchasing the controlling share (60%) of the St. Louis Rams from Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez.[30] In 2009, Smith earned a total compensation of $7,740,658, which included a base salary of $1,355,028, a cash bonus of $0, stocks granted of $0, options granted of $5,079,191, and other compensation totaling $1,306,439.[31]

In March 2014, Fortune Magazine ranked him 26th among the list of the "World's 50 Greatest Leaders".[32]

In March 2022, Smith announced that he would step down as CEO and become executive chairman. He named long-time FedEx executive Raj Subramaniam as his successor.

Let's cut the chase and understand the power of influence. Bad influences will affect your wagering and profitability.

1).  Expectations that will prevent you from winning and might increase your losses greatly. There are plenty of expectations that players believe in, for example, believing that statistical averages will appear in their favor during the few shoes they play within a session. But there are plenty of other unrealistic expectations and you better define what they are and get rid of them;

2).  Oblivious states of mind, where as you convince yourself you can win and buy-in past initial risk capital buy-in over and over. You better come to grips with what the initial risk capital and your buy-in should be and look at it as your chance to win or call it an attempt to win and walk away;

3).  Continuously telling yourself excuses for losing hands or not wagering larger amounts on your winning hands. Very dangerous influences that will put you into a completely wrong state of mind you don't want to be in;

4).  Senseless play that only leads to grinding you down. There's no way I could define them all because we all have different expectations we believe in, therefore you better think about what grinds you down and how to avoid falling into senseless play.  If you think it doesn't happen to you, you are not ready to define it and improve your game yet;

5).  Have some type of MMM/PLAN, that you strictly adhere to, with 100% belief.

When winning, never walk away unless you used up the allocation for additional play within your MMM.

One thing I repeatedly tell myself when I get to my personal win amount and my MMM kicks in is that; "If I held onto my winnings with a plan as well as controlled my losses, I would have a hell of a lot of money that I gave back in reckless pursuit of winning more". I consciously say that during most all sessions when I get into the win status, when I do. 

Remember, you are responding to what you cannot control. Meaning you're facing a shoe that will produce anything and everything and not adhere to anything you believe in or not and in random order. Therefore results will affect your inner thoughts, with or without your conscious permission. Remember that while at the table!

MMM is not bet selection, such as 1-1-1-2-2-3, or wagering on any number of triggers, etc., etc. Those are bet selection and wagering beliefs. not MMM.

A true MMM Plan, is a solid concrete method that will dictate what to do with your winnings as well as limiting your play when you lose. Period. It also can allocate larger clump wagering with a certain portion of your winnings giving you an advantage, especially with positive progressions allowing you quick profitability in much larger amounts, that most do not engage in or find it difficult to. 

Think and think hard about what I am bringing forward here.

Here it is from the government.  And I will tell you, it is no game.  The casinos enforce it.  The world of the SAR is very strong and goes into play between $2,000.00 and $3,500.00 if the player is not a regular known ID on file player, etc.

https://www.fincen.gov/sites/default/files/shared/sar_guidance_casino.pdf

Just thought some of you would like to know (as if we already all did not) where the majority of the new members signing on, first or second posts, attempting to insert their Links, Phishing, Spamming and everything related to those 'low-life' computer journey livelihood ventures people originate from.

Pakistan
India
Africa

There are others, but those are the top 3, that I catch, when I run their IP Locations.  Yes, some do use USA or other country 'Proxy' servers, but there are ways to catch those as well. 

And to reiterate myself and my policies here, I am not against well known and regular posting members inserting links to their posts.  However as far as links to online gambling websites, I rather those are not inserted for various reasons. 

One of those reasons is that I feel most of them are not honest in their business practices.  I tried to deal with a couple of them that are on other forums as well.  I have proven their business practices to be dishonest in many ways.  If they are dishonest in their business practices, I can only imagine what they engage in with their players. 

As far as someone that is honest coming on board here, posting and promoting honest and reputable gaming sites, I am open to that.  But, I want to know who the member is beyond an anonymous, by proxy, email contact only, as well as whom the gambling site is with references and certifications, etc., etc.  Then the person can sponsor our forum and promote business in a real and open way. 

Most likely won't happen because the way I look at those attempting to Link, Spam, Phish, etc., is the same as those that call our cell phones with their robot or off-shore call centers trying to sell after market car warranties, house warranties, burial insurance policies, etc., etc., etc.  And if you attempt to redial and call 99% of them back, your cell phone carrier will tell you, the number you reached has been disconnected and is out of service.  The more creative ones actually have started using your own area code and first three digits as their originating business number, and it is not.  Others have found computer programs to actually show call back numbers of real live businesses and others, that are in no way connected to them.  Oh yeah, I almost forgot.  Right along with those texting they are from the USPS or UPS and there is a package waiting, etc.,etc., just click the link to get it delivered.  Oh yeah one more.  The one about the $1,537.17 charge to Walmart or Amazon and if we made it there is no action required, but if we did not click the link to stop the pending credit card charge, etc., etc.

So, I have nothing against someone that desires to promote honest and reputable online gaming, but I want to know who the person is as well as the business.   

ADulay gave me the idea for this thread.

I do like sunrises, sunsets, rainbows and unique sky colors.  Here are a few.  Could not resist to capture them.

First one was about 20-25 minutes earlier than the second one.  It was a fantastic coloring of the sky with a gradual relief of the dark black cluster of clouds.

KungFuBac's pick is the 49'ers.

My pick is the Chiefs.

I have to go with Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes to get it done.

Any thoughts?

No matter what you use to guide you through playing Baccarat, will ever repeatedly work and allow you to win with consistency. Nothing at all!

Your wins will be the result of a proper Money Management Method, that gives you advantages with concrete buffers (which include buffers to cut down, increase safely as well as stop), if you have the wherewithal to follow it-without thinking it will turn around losses or allow you to continue Wagering shoe after shoe after shoe.

Even when you are winning and you have multiplied your buy-in numerous times, mistakes are unavoidable. Do not blame yourself, if you do you will allow disadvantages to enter your play very quickly. Then you will be off track and you are certain to lose, or give back large portions of your win money.

I will tell you something, from years of baccarat play reference mistakes. It is not a problem to make them. The only problem is, if you never learn from them. And learning from them is not figuring out the placement of a wager after a trigger occurred. It is a bit more complex than that. It is actually reading randomness, capturing what is being presented and being guided by a real Money Management Method. Call me out on that, but I don't really see any other way one can make money at the game Baccarat. At least on a continuous basis.

I witness players actually fear failure at the tables all the time. I know if you are afraid of failure, you cannot win at the game Baccarat and do what needs to be done with wagering.

It took me a while to figure out the difference between a successful master and a beginner at the game of baccarat. And that is not always measured by the years of play. But I do know for sure, that a Baccarat Master has failed more times than the Beginner has even tried.

If you are a beginner, drum it into yourself you will fail. If you can recognize that and use that, you will add valuable pieces to the puzzle of baccarat most all people can never ever recognize, let alone use.

There is no rock-solid way, trigger system, or scheduling of wagering to continuously win, or even win small hit and run sessions with 51% +, as so many seem to believe. The same goes with triggers and scheduling that wins a few hands, but every person playing that way will lose far in excess of what he has won attempting to re-capture the wins with the beliefs subconsciously adopted for all the wrong reasons.

But, just because it is not happening at a certain time, one shoe, three shoes, eight shoes, a few weeks here or there, in no way means it never will. You have to learn the way while you are playing. Some things will be wrong at varying and unknown times, mistakes and losses must occur before you will have the confidence and be able to tackle the shoe challenges, doing it all with sheer passion and purpose along with a way to consciously understand randomness, employ a good GREAT M.M.M., and leave your emotions/frustrations at the door. 

FINAL THOUGHTS:  1) To myself, success is being able to win greater amounts monthly than I lose.  2) Being able to maintain my true passion and purpose when I play. 3) Maintaining my bankroll with occasional increases from wins.  4) Using my win money (cashed out win) for other things than gambling.  5) And most importantly, accepting both mistakes and losses with a Baccarat Masters frame-of-mind and attempt to learn from those.

(Taking advantage of presentments you understand, with a M.M.M., you follow results in the attachment I posted here).

What so many people do not, or will never recognize is the minimum and maximum numbers versus real numbers.

For the math freaks there is something called 'Set Theory'.  But, that can only apply if there are no 'real/reality numbers'. 

In mathematical analysis, the maximum and minimums of a function are, respectively, the largest and smallest value taken by the function. Known generically as extremum, they may be defined either within a given range (the local or relative extrema) or on the entire domain (the global or absolute extrema) of a function. >>>But not how each hand, or the order of each hand will be presented from any shoe.<<<

As defined in set theory, the maximum and minimum of a set are the greatest and least elements in the set, respectively. Unbounded infinite sets, such as the set of real numbers, have no minimum or maximum.

In statistics, the corresponding concept is the sample maximum and minimum.  Please Note:  Statistics are a theoretical sampling of 80 hands of Baccarat, played out approximately 1,000,000 times. 80,000,000 hands and then each minimum and maximum result figured out for whatever valued defined, etc. 

So in reality and more importantly, in relationship to wagering at the game, you can have maximum and minimum in statistical analysis.  However............But............in the game of baccarat and how each and every shoe will present its presentments, 80 + - times a shoe, will be 'real numbers'. 

And 'Real Numbers' have zero corresponding adherence to statistical results the highest of the highest amount of times.  And more likely, IMO the relationships, if any, can safely be classified as coincidental rather than statistical presentment.

Get rid of your False Hopes-False Confidence and Blindness within your baccarat play.

Put the time and trouble into improving yourself/your play.  I read it takes an average of 60-90 days for self improvement change to begin.  As far as application of change to gaming, I am not sure, but it's worth a try IMO.

1) Begin with a ritual of REFLECTION on your play. Please see my thread:  https://betselection.cc/index.php?topic=11679.msg71756;topicseen#msg71756.

2) Push the fallacy out!  Misleading and deceptive data, stats, methods and beliefs are super dangerous to your play. Be careful whom you listen to and trust.

3) Do not get hung up on certain triggers as a wagering point. You must learn and deeply understand randomness and how it is presented with or without any clue from a shoe.

4) Dedicate time each and every day to learn about the game.

5) Engage in a real Money Management Method (MMM) that benefits yourself, your play and control with the  sessions you engage in. But engaging in it with a solemn adherence.

6) When Frustration, Emotions and Stress sets in at the table note it and write about it later on. Find the reason so you can ultimately reverse it. It is more than a lost wager, I promise you.

7) Concentrate on yourself, as in You-Vs-You at the table. It is all about you and only you. Do not let yourself be distracted with all the verbal and physical doings at a table.

-8- Allow your Money Management Method to have the last words at a session. Win, Lose or Draw. This is different than engaging in the MMM, (#5 above), this is the faith, grace and priority of applying a session closure, which is vital and the most important.

9) Do not have expectations when you sit down. Learn how to center yourself with extreme and dedicated focus.

10) Engage yourself in the reversing of negative actions you learned you have in regards to playing Baccarat.

Recognize and Practice.  Learn what real consciousness, focus and neutrality mean and how you can possess them and apply them at the table with your decision making ability.

Do not hold yourself down with anything you cannot control. But you MUST be totally conscious of the fact every wager and  decision you make, you can control.

Well guys, it's almost here! Hope to meet with a few forum members, once and for all.  Although we are not a heavily trafficked forum, mostly because I refuse to have/allow the drama, spam, systems solicitation and posting all types of nefarious links, etc., we do have some great members here and lots of readership.

Wishing everyone a fantastic year filled with love, laughter, along with all your favorite things and lots of $$$ from gambling! May this year be your best one yet, full of amazing surprises and great moments of all types.

For all of you to have a wonderful year filled with good health and success!

Alrelax
Administrator & Forum Owner

QUESTION TO ME:

"Say you target streaks of 3s and 4s (or 2s and 3s or anything like that): when a superior streak happens (that is a 5+ streak) you have to reset the plan then waiting for new streak classes in the hope they'll come clustered (obviously singles and streaks of inferior lenght do not count).

Long streaks are relatively rare to happen, so it's likely that inferior streaks will come out clustered; sometimes (often) an entire shoe is formed by streaks not surpassing the 4 value.

Now we'll play with a 'sky's the limit' approach because the number of shoe rich of low value streaks overcome those rich of long streaks.
Sections!!!

It's a plan derived from what you've written in your posts."

MY ANSWER:

You say target. I do not 'generally' target in anything-except what the shoe is doing when presentments are forming with something I can detect and/or just plain feel good about placing a wager on. 

Streaks.  Yes-5/6 iar begins the streak, 1s, 2s, singles-chop, doubles, triples, quadruples are absolutely the most common with/within every shoe. Anyway, with that said......

I have a written about it before. I like to reiterate-as reiterating, reinforces!

Here Goes:

Long streaks 9-10-12-14, and more.  Certainly do happen. Posted many of them when I can snap a picture.  True not every session. But they certainly do. 7-8-9 iar, is almost common, not every shoe, but again not rare by any means at all.

I have adopted the, "It Is What It Is", play persona-protocol. Might not mean much to most, but helps on the frustration and emotions end with myself.

'Skys the limit'.  That has to be based/applied around your MMM and wagering win/risk chips already in your possession, or a small piece of your buy-in, etc.  But..........and However, when it happens you do want to be right there, on it, with a few positive progressive wins prior to the take off and then just pull down each win, only losing the last one when it does cut to the other side. 

Here is an example just below.  (I have attached 8 B&M score board pictures to reinforce what I am trying to get across).

P-BB-P-B-PP-BB-P-BBB

Then:  P-BB-P-B-PP-BB-P-BBBB

When it's like that or anything similar and you see one more two more iar forming, I sure want to be on it!  So many will risk wagering on/for the 'cut' again and again and get sucked into-the 'cut' has to come, etc. But......shoes do not operate that way. Shoes do everything  and anything, at anytime. Shoes are weak, clump strong, stay strong, weak and strong in distinct patterns, as well as spread out although-out the entire shoe, etc. Take that into consideration and being conscious of that, onward.

I have caught so many great longer streaks 7/8-10/15 + iar because of being on it when it went one more and then just continued iar repetitiously.  Then after a few positive progressions, I just enjoy pulling down each win and gladly surrendering the last one in the streak.

Ref 'One More' Mentioned In The Above Paragraph:

One More, as what I described above are 1s, 2s and 3s, and then a 4th was made. Or 1s and 2s, 3s and 4s and then a 5th was made, etc.  Just throwing a written explained picture out there.

You have to remember, you cannot control what the shoe is producing, but you can control the way you respond to what is happening, if you are conscious of it. So many players fail to practice what I just said the the previous sentence.  Why do I say that?  Because everything comes and goes in the game of baccarat and thus, confuses the highest of the highest amount of players.  What the shoe is producing, what the shoe has not produced, what the player desires, what they player believes in, what the reaction is by others present, etc., etc., etc., and many more. 

And you truly want to know something? When I have two really good options to choose from, I challenge myself to wager with the one that scares me the most.  (And I am not just referring to a B or P wager, might be a small or large wager, a flat Vs a pos progressive, a series of wagers, etc.  Because seriously, that is likely the one(s) that is/are going to help me grow. Re-read the paragraph I just wrote, think about it in detail!

I do not know, probably our methods of play are different, but I generally 'look for/wager with' whatever is happening.  Doesn't matter chop-chop, doubles, streaks, triples, 1s and 2s, etc. But I do look for those traditional streaks which are long repetitious iar Bankers followed by repetitious iar Players.

With all that said/laid out, let's go back to the above example:

P-BB-P-B-PP-BB-P-BBBB

Now let's say one of those 9 iar Bankers came along.  It would look something like this:

P-BB-P-B-PP-BB-P-BBBBBBBBB-P

(For example purposes, I was wagering $250.00 as a base risk wager)

Banker bet 1) $250 win $250. ($250 back to buy-in)

Banker bet 2) $250 From win. 

Banker bet 3) $500 Full parlay press from #2.

Banker bet 4) $1,000 Full parlay press from #3.
              $1k win pulled down.

Banker bet 5) $1,000 Pull down the $1k win.
             
Banker bet 6) $1,000 Win pressed to bet #7.         
Banker bet 7) $2,000 Pull down the $2k win.

Banker bet -8- $2,000 Pull down the $2k win.

Banker bet 9) $2,000 Pull down the $2k win.

Banker bet 10) $2,000 Lose as Cut to Players.

$8,000 won.  Initial $250 recouped after first wager. 

My reasoning is, if I was at least ahead the win of $250 after hand 1, hands 2 and 3 are on the casino, not affecting my buy-in at all. 

My reasoning regarding hand 4, pulling down the $1,000 all win money, I would have a complimentary 4 additional attempts on the casino to build out 4 wagers of $250 each.  That is playing a bit conservatively, we all agree it's tough after hand 4.  But a lot of the times, not all, I would stick with that wager amount. 

If that happened, I would set my buy-in sideways for hold. The $8,000 won, I would dedicate $2,000 to 8 additional $250 attempts. I would put $1,000 additional into my original buy-in (of $1,800-$2,500)and lock up, no double thoughts whatsoever, the $5,000 remaining from the win money.

Once again my 1/3rd, 1/3rd, 1/3rd (about) with win money. That is what I call a M.M.M.  It has to govern you. Not maybe, not possibly, but has to 100%.

Conclusion:

Adjust. Be totally conscious. Be super careful of desires, but don't forgo a trend-pattern-happening, etc., that is flowing and you see it or are capturing it easily. Most will say those are intangible events to be involved with, but they are not. To myself, they are tangible, but we just do not know when they will begin and end while we are in play at the table in front of a live shoe.

Eight attachments posted below from previous brick and mortar live shoes.

4th one down.  Note the 5B and the 5P next to each other in the beginning.  Then the 7 iar B, 6 iar B, the 5 iar B, the 4 iar B.  No one basically believed, most saying, "no way, players coming out next strong", over and over.  I did extra handsomely on all those  bankers!  Then the 4 players right next to the last 4 iar Bankers to match their 5 iar side-by-side in the beginning.  Note the extreme weakness for the rest of the shoe, all 1s and 2s. 

6th one down.  Classic and exactly what I was attempting to convey to you above.  WOW-O-WOW!  Beautiful!!!  Bang it on the 3rd winning one down with a nice parlay to the 4th hand. Then just pull down each winning payout. Stack one more time at least around the 7th or 8th hand and 'happily' lose the last one, when it cuts to the players. What's the problem?

7th one down.  The 9 iar Bankers, I gave in the example above, I have regularly experienced 8-12 iar, not rare at all IMO.  Yes, said countless times, not every shoe, but not in the rare department at all.  Anyways, here is a 9 iar with 3 5-iar Bs as well.  One players with 7 iar, but otherwise players 3 or less.

Insights From My Experience:

BECOMING CONSCIOUS OF YOUR EXPERIENCE

Now, IMO, comes the hardest things to become habitual doing.

You have to break the habit of allowing yourself to automatically interpret every experience by believing, what happened-happened for a reason, (because within the game of baccarat, it simply does not). That is what turns off so many so quick and so ruthfully off. Period. Plain and Simple!

Interpret every experience by practicing anchoring your attention, your attention solidly within the instant experience.  Notice any physical sensations and emotions that are rising from yourself and observe the state of your mind. Is it racing, agitated, fuzzy, becoming emotional, or is it perfectly clear?

Become conscious of what you are feeling, because your feelings will not keep you consistent solid and profitable play.

RECOGNIZE YOUR GAME

Your conduct produces the result of your decisions. Those decisions will either generate losses or wins, simple. You have to remember you are the one that makes the decision if you win or lose.

Majority of baccarat players fall prey to what the game represents and how it is presented by most all casinos. Players become senseless, callous and outright stupid. There are no rhymes or reasons that could make sense for doing things that seemingly could never work.

Realize you cannot change what is going to happen with any shoe. When you genuinely do, then you accomplished what the highest majority of players take a very long time, as well as cost to realize. 

Look at the scoreboard and see what has happened, do not believe it will reappear or continue.  Dive much deeper into the possibilities of presentments happening for continued and upcoming hands. 

The bottom line is, being able to clearly see and focus using the game presentments and your recognition of the flow and outcomes that are being formed.

BRICKS YOU PLACE IN FRONT OF YOURSELF

Every single brick that you place on the wall in front of you-makes it harder to penetrate-makes it harder to profit-makes it harder to stay with the shoe presentments.

Information that is worthless and absolutely false in many senses, will be a brick YOU ALLOW to be inset into a wall in front of you-directly between you and every hand, every group of hands and every shoe you play itself.

When those bricks are there-they are there. No matter what, no matter how strange, weird, not ordinary, against all odds or how much you believe in them and how great they seem; They are bricks and will be there as well as remaining there.

Bricks are intangible. Same as systems, counts, data, mechanical wagering based on anything, charting, etc., etc.  Because none of it will allow guaranteed hand after hand wins. None.  In fact, none of it can even guarantee one for sure win. 

You know, but you really do not know. That's what you have to remember and be totally conscious of.

Think about it. 

If you do not play, you cannot win.

If you play, you will not always win.

If you play, you also have to lose. 

If you claim you do not lose and/or you always recover and walk even or with a little win, I say you are lying. 

Simple and Period. 

Thought I would go ahead and post what pump number I got gas at this morning on the way to the casino in Kansas City. Is there any other pump number but this one that's appropriate?

My buddy is with me and he's got all the songs programmed in for the ride and it starts something like this; Twilight Zone, Radar Love, Funkytown, I want a new drug, The Pusher, Cocaine, Another one bites the dust, Dude looks like a lady, Money, Walk this way, and lots more should get us over to the casino.

You know it's just after 2 AM and he's got the Twilight Zone song playing, how appropriate. If you know the words to the song, you would understand what that means.

Later.

I was Kansas City the other night and I must say, I had been involved in a couple of shoes, that were absolutely incredible! The vibe was way north of infectious, 100% bad a*ss show of passion for the game by several of the players. The back-and-forth was ridiculous in every way, every shape and every form!

The table was Macau/Midi style. The limits were $50-$10,000. It was a 5 Treasures bac game, so there was a Panda 8, the Fortune 7, the Blazing 777s (three card seven ties both sides 200:1 or two card 7 ties both sides 50:1, and the Heavenly 9s (three card nine ties 75:1 or three card one side build out 10:1, as well as a 6:1 coverall wager which covers all for the side bets.  Also the standard tie bet 8:1. 

Sat down at one of the numerous active bac tables.  It was probably around hand 70 with about 10 hands to go. Won a few, lost a few, upped my bet to about 10 times what I was wagering. I think it was like 35P, 30B and 5 ties.  I placed my wager on player because it was 1s in 2s and there were 2 Bs showing. I turned over and 8 and then an Ace and B responded with a face card and a friggin 9.  I said out loud, "Fu*k can't even win with a Natural 9"!  I increased my wager again and kept it on the P. I turned over a pair of fives and the B responded with a total of 6. I got the Ps third card and upon looking at it, said out loud it was a 3 line card. 

There were two other very large wagering players that were also on the P side. They didn't desire to handle the cards because they were losing, as they so stated to me. So I did. I turned the card and saw there was not a dot in the middle and said, we either got a 6 or 7. I turned the card to the opposite side and those two guys are now standing up and calling for a 7.  I saw it was a 6 and threw it down. Banker drew and returned a face card. Tie hand again.

Both of those guys increased their wagers to table max. I increased my wager again considerably. Once again I got the cards. First one was an Ace and the second one was another Ace. Banker returned a 7. I got the third card and saw it was another 3 line card. I tell everyone, 6, 7 or 8. Of course they were saying no snowman-no snowman then started yelling, no snowman. I peek at one end of it. There is a dot. I see now I either have a 7 or an 8.  I say I have a 7 or an 8, they are both repeatedly saying 7 extremely loud. It was a 7 for a beautiful total of 9, high-fives happened! 

They asked me join them down a few tables and not play the last few hands where we were at. I did and we all moved, sat down and got the other table opened. 

We start the shoe. The camaraderie is starting to be in the air which I absolutely love.

I am trying to lineup in my mind everything I write about on the forum, not easy. With my win I am nicely  ahead.  And I've just taken 1/3rd of my win and locked it up.  Put 2/3rds of my win in a separate stack for my play money and my buy-in, off in separate stacks as well.  So I employed my 1/3rd, 1/3rd, 1/3rd MMM. 

Staying conscious of too much time playing is what I was trying to really focus on. I even wrote on my scorecard off on the side, TIME-TIME-TIME, three times and kept outlining it with my pen.  The other things I was focusing on was not going overboard with negative  progressions if losing started, hand after hand. As well, several other things were bouncing around in my mind-frame. However, I am also conscious of the powerful win possibilities and hitting it hard and fast if it is being presented.

It was late at night and the casino floor had a large amount of people on it.  This was in Kansas City and it was one of three largest casinos there out of all the gaming properties in the metro area. 

We were all wagering heavy on the P, as we were all in agreement that P frequently dominates the beginning of the shoes.  At the table there are the 3 of us plus one other person that walked up and sat down.  The 'outsider' places a small wager on the B side.  The other guy opens the cards and a beautiful Natural 9 is slammed down.  All 3 of us high five.  The other guy on B had a face card and a 2 or a 3. 

Both of the guys increase their wagers to table max.  I am not there yet for some reason I can't define.  Mine is increased, although not anywhere near table max, still heavy though.  We return a 4 and an 8 for the Players side.  B returns a 7.  Our third card after much peeking and peeling, was a 7.  Once again we are all high-fiving and standing up now.  Interestingly to note the music overhead was by The Talking Heads, Burning Down The House.  So appropriate in every sense!  The aura was building in a real physical manner. 

Now, we all agreed just to leave our wagers on the P and pull down the wins.  We kinda prayed for one of those 8-10-12-14 P streaks in the beginning.  Next hand was a Face and a 6 for our P side.  The B side had a 10 and a 5.  All of us and the outsider were on the P side.  The dealer flips an 8 for the B side.  Again beautiful!  Feeling good.  Floor supervisor joins the pit manager close to our table behind the dealer.  Watching without doubt. 

Once again,  we all agreed to leave on the P in hopes of a streak.  Visions of really stacking it up and with no real risk of my buy-in was flashing in neon lights in front of me! 

All of us are on the P side.  We get the cards and a 4 and a 7 is flipped over.  The B side got a Face and a 4.  We got our third card and it was a 6.  Of course a total hand of 7 against a 4 was in our favor.  The Dealer flips a friggin 4 for the B!!!!!  WTF! 

Now the board is looking like this:

P-P-P-B

So we discuss and all agree on the Player to continue. One of us mentions the B to even out or streak, but we decided to stay with P mostly because of the stigma following the board and following the shoe, as well as changing up on initial decisions, etc. We all stick on P. We return a 7 and a 10 for the P.  B returns a pair of 9s and we lose once again! 2 out of 3 of our wins now go right back to the rack!!! Damn! Slipping a little bit and we could physically feel it.

We all look at each other. Once again we agree on the P side. Not heavy wagers, but considerable amounts nonetheless.  We turn over a face card and a 5. The B side has a 9 and a 10. We lose a third time. We look at each other all quiet, just shaking our heads.  Won 3 in a row, lost 3 in a row, gave it all back. Embarrassing!

We all agreed once again, 3P and 3B. Once again we stick on the P. We all increased our wagers with a negative progression Martingale.  We turn over an 8 and a 7. The B turns over a face and a 4. We are all saying monkey out loud of course. We turn over a 5.  We are saying, "WTF", "Really" and "Oh Come On", etc.  The B turns over a 7 for that 100% insulting nasty 1 to Zero win. Now I lost like the others, four in a row. Keep giving it back. 

Almost all the win money except for a very small amount from the other table, and the previous three hands as well, was given back to the house.  Those wins totaled up to be sizable!  Gone back!  I was seriously considering leaving with a small amount of my win money. Both of the other guys were just about wiped out. Their wives or girlfriends were standing behind them. They held her hands out and moved their fingers, as if saying give me more cash. One did and the other one said no.  An outlandish verbal confrontation happened right there at the table, when the player stood up and demanded more money to play. It wasn't pretty. I was really going to pack it in and leave with my little win and get the hell out of there.

Seriously again, I was just about ready to pack it in because the aura turned totally against the game. I started to get up and the guy next to me says, stay—it is coming I promise. I've been around this well known block way too many times and it was nothing new. But for some reason undefinable to me I stayed. Call it getting sucked in, call it being a fool, but I stayed right there.

The guy's wife or girlfriend eventually gave in after a few minutes and slammed down a stack of cash in his hand.

The board looked like this now.

P-P-P-B-B-B-B

The lyrics from Golden Earrings song, 'The Twilight Zone', are repeating themselves in my head over and over, "I'm falling down a spiral, destination unknown.  Can't get no connection, can't get through".  At times it is wrong to play every hand, but without thinking I was and there was no turning back.  I was hell bent on some kind of sizable win.  The emotions, frustrations and those well known 'I Want It'(s) were building up inside of me.

NOTE:  Bear in mind while all this is going on, I am a heavier Bankers side person then Players side. And I also love that equalization and the last four hands that drained my win money, really messed with me. Bear that in mind so you understand where I'm coming from at this point.  The win was taken away from me just as fast as I won it. 

So the buy-ins were completed for the other two gentleman and I am back using the last of my win money and some of my original buy-in is back at risk.  We quickly discussed P or B wagers. We all agreed on P once again. At this point if we lost, I highly doubt we would have jumped on the B that was forming. We all been there and done that way too many times!  Playing for something to happen and changing up and jumping on something different after losing numerous hands, such as we just did almost always is the path to greater loss almost every time. 

The other guy that bet on B three times with a small wager, pushes out a large wager greater than 5K on the B now. We are all wagering between 2K and 5K on P once again. We return a natural and win. Smiles and high-fives start once again. The three of us are now once again on the P and the other guy is at table max and throws it on the P instead of the B.  So now all four of us are in concert and on the P. 

Another few people quickly come over from the other tables and wagers are placed on both P and B by them.  We get the cards and we have two face cards and the banker turns over a black jack. Our third card is a 10 and we're sitting with a total of a miserable zero. The banker gets its third card and the guy is turning it and turning and turning it and finally peels it back and flops over a 9 and we got our first tie hand. LOL! 

So now after the tie, I dedicated myself to $225 a hand on some side bets which was going to be $100 on the Fortune 7 and $100 on the Golden 8 which is also known as the Panda 8 and $25 on the Blazing 7s which is either a three card seven tie for both sides for 200:1 or a two card seven tie for both sides for 50:1.

NOTE:  I want to stress how I was feeling for the experienced players that read these threads. What was running through my mind, extremely consciously was hit and run and I was kind of passed that point, but also was this one of those elusive great shoes that I can really rack up six figures plus?  I've done it in the past although not common, but can happen especially with the $10,000 table max limits. There was good camaraderie and that is a key point for myself to really stack up the wagers.  What happened earlier before things turned around, whereas I gave back everything I won plus I was using my original buy-in a second time, was really haunting me. 

FOR REFERENCE WE ARE AT:

P-P-P-B-B-B-B-P-T

Now, we all stacked it up with the win and had a total positive progression on the P side.  We got the cards and had a total of 6. The B returns less than a 6 (my notes are messed up I can't read what they had) and gets its third card. The guy peaks at it who's wagering on B and quickly turned over face card after seeing the black line I guess. Again we all high five and are verbally boasting ourselves and the P side.

We all have extremely heavy bets on the P side. Two people had small bets on the B side I think one had $75 and the other one had $100. The guy next to me, that had table max was asking the two people to pull their bets down and he placed a black chip at each one on the rail side to cover them, if the banker won and we lost. He didn't want their money up on the banker for them to handle the cards and they both agreed. Pure superstition but it is all good. 

We noticed the music once again overhead and it is Rod Stewart with that song, Da Ya Think I'm Sexy begins.  We got our cards and the guy flipped over two 10s after much ado thinking one was a 9 or they both were. The dealer flips over an ace and a 5 for the B.  We get the third card for the P and the guy is working it and says it's a three line card when he looks at it horizontally. We all have money on the Fortune 7 and the Golden 8.  Although if it was a 6, it would've cost us all our side bets probably but the bank would have had to draw to see if it was a tie or possibly a bank win with another Ace, 2 or 3.  Anyway he turns it vertically and says, it's a 7 or an 8 and of course we want that snowman for the P side to win plus a Golden 8 win.  This is no exaggeration; I'm telling you the guy starts singing, come on sugar let me know, come on honey tell me so, just let me know, just reach out and touch me and his wife is behind him hugging him and singing along with the music. The guy still has the card face down, but we all know it's a snowman. The guy  reaches over and grabs the $75 and $100 the other were going to bet on B, along with his two black chips and throws it up to the dealer and says that's for you. Guy slams down the snowman and says, "do you think that snowman is sexy"?  We're all happier than a pig in poo!  $2.500.00 plus the P base wager won.  The game is getting real! 


















***NOT FINISHED YET***






>>>STILL TYPING—NOT FINISHED<<<

Link to article.

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/foreign-syndicate-taiwan-malaysia-baccarat-formula-mbs-casino-3938776

Best Wishes to all on my forum here, members that contribute, those that continuously browse and all the people coming on to read without signing-up as well!

Happy Thanksgiving 2023! 

Alrelax
Administrator and Forum Owner

I wish to spell it out.  Plain, simple and clear.

There is to be NO posting Links or Advertisement(s) of anything/any kind on my forum without the following:

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2). You become a sponsor of my forum;

3). The links and/or advertisements are verified and certified by myself as well.

If you are legit, responsible and care about your fellow forum member/potential customers, you would have zero problem with this.

If you post without contacting me the way many attempt with links and advertisements, I will immediately delete them and ban you in several ways.

This is my policy and it is never going to change.

I am open to sponsors and sponsorships if you wish to venture down that road.  So, that leaves out all the spammers, phishers, scamsters, drama link posters, etc., etc., etc.

Sincerely,
Alrelax
Administrator and Forum Owner

The following will be a continuing series of posting.

Long and hard research here. Analyzing countless past play with why I did what I did, textbook study and a lot more. Now I will start this thread with the goal to allow you to change your response to what you cannot control, which is the presentments of the shoe.  But you can allow yourself to grow stronger and understand your decision making, which affects your buy-in, bankroll and producing a higher profit.

Know what is really happening at the game of baccarat, relying on your experience; is it a negative advantage? But truly using interpretation can be to your advantage.  You must know what the differences are and how they both affect the decision making process. 

Sit down and seriously measure yourself against your wins, losses and the decisions you made with the reasons you did. Interpretation of your experience is what will clearly give you real advantage with your decision making process in the game of baccarat. 

Interpretation occurs as the result of a combination of several factors. The mind has an automatic tendency to interpret an experience and create a story/a fallacy about it based on your memory, past realizations, and situations you have encountered yourself or with others when you were present. Your mind then selectively gathers data from within the experience(s) to support its interpretation. It may seem to you that your mind is simply trying to figure out your experiences, but really it's screening for evidence to support the decisions you are making from your story it is clinging to. However, your story is delusion because your mind is being clouded by extremely strong emotions brought on positively or negatively with each hand presented from the shoe.

Therefore, a crucial skill for minimizing emotional chaos and sustaining clarity in your baccarat game is the ability to distinguish between your experiences and your interpretation of your experiences. Your experiences are simply whatever is happening at the moment; the hand, the wager won or lost, the camaraderie, high-fives or fist bumps, the long faces and the banged chips against the table, etc. etc.

Your interpretation is your minds reaction to those  experiences. One way to understand this difference is to picture that when you are directly experiencing a moment similar and you are within it. When you are truly interpreting it, you will put yourself outside of it and give yourself a true advantage.

You must become committed to a particular and interpretation regime to the point that it becomes a habit, a story that you repeat in related circumstances. For example, your interpretation generated by your reactive mind usually will become your primary experience which will usually be opposed to whatever is actually happening in the game of baccarat that needs your full attention and be considered advantaged response. Then what normally happens is we continue on with the shoe, but our attention is split and far less than complete. That causes us to allow frustration, emotion and disarray to sit in fast which will add poor decision making forcing us to revert back to our experiences having no direct correlation to the shoe we are playing.

The shoe is not your battle ground! Your mind is your sole battle ground you face at the table. It is the place where the conflict resides, the place where we develop habits that put us in direct opposition with the reality of the shoe being played. It's where the things we figured would happen, never happen; or were the things we believed and desired to happen actually happen. But we fell prey to our own train of thought because of direct opposition with reality. Therefore, if we were right we tend to repeat and we all know the game of baccarat will never repeat itself over and over the same way we want it to. And on the other hand, if we were wrong then we correct ourselves and the shoe reverts back to producing what we believed was wrong. 

That is what you call direct opposition with reality in the game of baccarat.

It is where our expectations get the best of us and we fall victim to our own trains of thought, again and again and again. It is our own fault within our own mind, not the shoes fault, or the shuffle, or the cut, or the other players wagering against us, or the dealer, etc. etc.

Truth be told, in the game Baccarat we will receive a unique set of unexpected and unknown limitations and variables within a shoe. The advantaged question is:  How will you think and respond to the hands being presented?  You can either focus on the lack thereof (experience), or empower yourself to play the game resourcefully with full and real advantage, making the very best of each outcome as it is presented (interpretation), even when it's hard to accept with a loss of your wager.

The bottom line here is, that you cannot control what is happening around you and with everything that has already been set. So you challenge yourself to control the way you respond to what is happening to straighten out those habitual, spiraling patterns of thinking that clearly the highest majority of all baccarat players engage in. But that is much easier said than done though, for all of us. Because it is hard to change the habits we engage in mostly at a subconscious level. But we can get better by bringing more awareness to what we are doing through our own experience and proper interpretation of such that will give us viable advantages with our decisions concerning wagering.

Will post again when I finish my next part.

The questions are tough, the questions are ones that most never find the answers to, never really want to deal with, or ones that are quickly dismissed as unanswerable.  But they MUST be!

I desperately struggled for years to engage into finding answers and just thinking about it stressed me out countless times. So I simply avoided the questions and the soul-searching it demanded of me. Until............Recently.

The tangled and the misunderstood realm of the game entered my mind and remained in the forefront at the end of every single session I played. The presentments, the shuffle, the dealer, the amount won or given back, the published and written Q's & A's and stories. All ran through my head on the way out of the casino after each session.

Think about it. The shoe produces presentments that fall within the sphere, the domain within which anything and everything can occur, prevail, sometimes dominates the field, or fails to produce anything recognizable. Other times the presentments are totally recognizable and they match our beliefs, desires and decisions spot on, sometimes even allowing us to win like 7 or 8 times out of 10 leading us to fantastic wins. 

And with that said, onward with what this is really about, decisions and making them while winning.  How would it have been great if we previously left? Think about it, sure we are after anything to protect our buy in and a small or smallish win.  But IMO and experience, the greatest wins and 'great' sessions come after an 'up and down' of my buy in.  Which means, a drawdown of my buy in, evening out and getting a little bit ahead, once even twice, like being on a roller coaster ride. 

Larger wins take a climb, meaning a bit back-and-forth, winning, losing, pushing back-and-forth, etc. Parlay and positive progression wagering really boosts the person's chip stacks, visually and physically which will definitely assist in relieving the person's emotional downturn and stress factor, making it easier for clearer and more focused decision making.  It does for myself every time I get within the event of a nice ongoing winning session. 

IMO there is no magic percentile when to stop or continue play when you are winning. But one thing for 100% certain, if you stop, you cannot win more. And the more you win the more you want to continue playing. I don't care who you are, that applies to each one of us.

One example comes to mind that happened to myself not long ago. I arrived at my regular casino and no one was playing and one of my absolute favorite dealers was sitting there bored to death. We engaged in some quick small talk and I was gonna go get something to eat and kill an hour or so and come back. Anyway I took out only $100 from my buy in risk capital I brought and I laid it out on the table. She said, 'WHAT'?  I said, one hand be nice, just checking you out before the real play when I come back from eating. I put $80 on the banker and $20 on the fortune 7. She gave me a fortune 7 for an $800 win. I played a few more hands, and I won most of them. Not many hands later she gives me a second Fortune seven. A few people sat down at that time. By the end of the shoe I had over a $2,000 profit, got up to well over $3,000 and gave back about $1,000. She is telling me to take it and leave. Not a bad return on the next to nothing investment of my only $100 buy in.

But I felt something and not just because I had a huge return on my $100. So into the following shoe, I reached well over $8,000 of win money and I called it quits once I drop down to $7,000 of pure win. All of it off that next to nothing $100 buy in. 

And I remember her, seriously telling me to take the money and leave when I was at the $2,000-$3,000 mark. Thinking back on that, at least twice I almost did, but the ups and downs were quick and I stalled out at that $1,800-$2,000 mark and again at $2,900-$3,300 mark as well. Then I took off again with winning most all parlays and positive progressions for 1-2 or 3 hands and losing only those when I backed down to my base unit wagers.

So if I left with say $2,500 I never would have reached the $7,000 to $8,000;mark. I was basically doing a 1/3 risk of what I was winning once I reached the $3,000 level which I have written about countless times in my money management method, that I normally use.

Here are three quick examples of what I am talking about here actually was applied and gave me clear advantages.

1)


2)


3)



NOTE:  Reference #3.  I have several pictures of the scoreboard and will post them.

So many believe it is an easy decision to make. I guess it depends on your experience, outlook, desires and goals. For myself, I love the point of working my drawdown, getting a bit of profit, working that into my money management method and looking for the 'takeoff'. And for me that is where the money is really at. At least it is for myself and most of the people that I play with at the casinos. Buy in safe-a but of profit. But I do know playing on all win/won money is what I strive for.  But, it gets confusing at times. How much longer to quit, risk the win money further, leave even if winning fails to continue, etc., etc.

So many repeatedly write/say on the forums, win 1 to 3 units and leave. Lose 3 to 5 units and stop. I can't fathom that and I don't play that way. I don't have those kind of win stop, loss stop rules. I can never see making anything substantial if you play like that. Maybe I'm wrong? However mine are like so many. They want to win sizable amounts and I do, quite often. My loss stop is my buy in money. My buy in is my risk capital for the session. My win stop is unclear without definitive numbers. Once I takeoff, if I do, I govern myself by my 1/3rd, 1/3rd, 1/3rd Money Management Method.  Which works like a rock-solid rule manuscript maintaining success or having further profitability 1,000,000% of the time!

It works extremely well and I know it does, because I have no regrets if I was winning nicely, then gave back 1/3rd win and continued my play with my second 1/3rd of my win as my playing money. If I took off again, great, that is what my 1/3rd sectors are designed to do. If I lost a 1/3rd sector and struggling with my second 1/3rd sector, I am normally done. I have my buy in plus 1/3rd to 2/3rds of my win.  Cash out, leave, done and that emotional, 'I shoulda and coulda' doesn't exist!!!

So many win and see their session as unprecedented and a labored win they so rightfully deserved. They get into a zone, tuning everything out and become their own worst enemy most every single time they win or when the wins are happening for them. But they have nothing to govern themselves with.

It is easier said than accomplished at the table, but the only way to really excel is to focus, be extremely conscious and forget the past and what the shoe has produced or failed to produce in the past hands. Wager with the shoe's presentments and do not wager for your own desires as to what the shoe should produce or what your desires are. 

We talk about it all the time, especially with the ones we actually gamble with. The questions go something like; "How long do you play" or "If you are winning how long do you stay" or "If you are losing, how long will you attempt to come back" or "If you keep winning do you just up and leave at a certain point". And so on and so forth.

Tough, real tough if you soul search. By theory, so simple. If you are winning and start to lose, leave. If you were losing and can't get above your buy in or your buy in is depleting, leave.  But, it is not easy because we all know the presentments can certainly match our decisions and blast us into the positive if we were losing, or if we were winning, can blast us even further ahead. 

There are no easy, simple answers and never will be. However, you will wish you left much more than staying when losing. Because you experience the loss of your funds if you lose them. However, if you win/won or broke even and left, you probably will not really know what would have happened to really come about with a definitive conclusion. 

The 4 things I found that give me advantages into my play.

1). DO NOT ATTEMPT/LIVE to beat the game/session.  You can't and will never do it!  I promise you that;

2). TRULY UNDERSTAND what you are up against;

3). CALM AND PATIENT.  Hard as heck to do with losses, but you must.  Don't dwell and don't have the mind frame to recover and win something; 

4). UNDERSTAND AND REMAIN CONSCIOUS of the following.  Anything and everything can happen in no particular order or protocol whatsoever. 

Well back in Atlantic City prior to the close of the Atlantic City Hilton (previously was Bally's Grand) our casino hosts used to walk around and hand these out for extras, besides all the comp they arranged, etc. 

Sure we had promo chips, which were always play until you lose, unlike todays, one time use style.

We used these primarily at the gift shop or restaurants when we didn't want to get a hold of a host or we could give them to our non-comped friends.  They were valid for any bearer. 

Like I said, unlike today!

Recognizing Suspicious Activity - Red Flags for Casinos and Card Clubs

PDF
fin-2008-g007.pdf    85.46 KB
FIN-2008-G007
Issued Date
August 01, 2008
Guidance Subject:  Recognizing Suspicious Activity - Red Flags for Casinos and Card Clubs

This guidance is intended to assist casinos and card clubs1 with the reporting of suspected money laundering, terrorist financing and related financial crimes. This guidance contains examples of circumstances or "red flags" - based on actual reports, the observations of examiners and the experience of law enforcement - that may indicate the presence of money laundering, terrorist financing, and related financial crimes.

Casinos that are subject to the federal Bank Secrecy Act ("BSA") have an obligation to implement anti-money laundering programs that include procedures for detecting and reporting suspicious transactions.

Casinos are required to implement risk-based anti-money laundering programs that assist with the identification and reporting of suspicious transactions, including employee training and written procedures on recognizing and addressing indicia of suspicious activity and vulnerabilities that may arise in the provision of particular products and services.

Recognizing Suspicious Customer Activity

Casino employees who monitor customer gaming activity or conduct transactions with customers are in a unique position to recognize transactions and activities that appear to have no legitimate purpose, are not usual for a specific player or type of players, or are not consistent with transactions involving wagering. Many casinos routinely obtain a great deal of information about their customers through deposit, credit, check cashing, player rating and slot club accounts. These accounts generally require casinos to obtain basic identification information about the accountholders and to inquire into the kinds of wagering activities in which the customer is likely to engage. Attempts to Evade BSA Reporting or Recordkeeping Requirements

Be alert to customers who try to keep their transactions just below the reporting or recordkeeping thresholds, such as:

Two or more customers each purchase chips with currency in amounts between $3,000 and $10,000, engage in minimal gaming, combine the chips (totaling in excess of $10,000), and one of them redeems the chips for a casino check.

A customer seeks to cash out chips, tickets or tokens in excess of $10,000, but when asked for identification for completing a CTRC, reduces the amount of chips or tokens to be cashed out to less than $10,000.

A customer pays off a large credit debt, such as markers or bad checks, of more than $20,000 over a short period of time (e.g., less than one week), through a series of currency transactions, none of which exceeds $10,000 in a gaming day.

A customer receives a race book or sports pool payout in excess of $10,000 and requests currency of less than $10,000 and the balance paid in chips. The customer then goes to the cage and redeems the remaining chips for currency in an amount that is less than the CTRC reporting threshold.

A customer, who is a big winner, enlists another individual (who is not a partner of the customer in the gaming activity), to cash out a portion of the chips or tokens won to avoid the filing of a CTRC, IRS Form W-2G or other tax forms.

A customer attempts to influence, bribe, corrupt, or conspire with an employee not to file CTRCs.

Using a Cage Solely for Its Banking-Like Financial Services
Be alert to customer activity involving unusual banking-like transactions at the cage, such as:

A customer wires funds derived from non-gaming proceeds, to or through a bank and/or a non-bank financial institution(s) located in a country that is not his/her residence or place of business.

A customer appears to use a casino account primarily as a temporary repository for funds by making frequent deposits into the account and, within a short period of time (e.g., one to two days), requests money transfers of all but a token amount to domestic or foreign-based bank accounts.

Minimal Gaming Activities Without Reasonable Explanations

Be alert to customers conducting large transactions on the floor with little or no related gaming activity and without reasonable explanation, such as:

A customer purchases a large amount of chips with currency at a table, engages in minimal gaming, and then redeems the chips for a casino check.

A customer draws casino markers (e.g., between $5,000 and $10,000) which he/she uses to purchase chips, engages in minimal or no gaming activity, and then pays off the markers in currency and subsequently redeems the chips for a casino check.

A customer makes a large deposit using numerous small denomination bills (e.g., $5s, $10s and $20s); and withdraws it in chips at a table game, engages in minimal gaming, and exchanges remaining chips at a cage for large denomination bills (e.g., $100), a casino check or a money transfer.

While reviewing computerized player rating records, an employee determines that a customer frequently purchases chips with currency between $5,000 and $10,000, engages in minimal gaming, and walks away with the chips.

A customer using a slot club account card inserts $2,990 of paper money (or an amount just below established thresholds) into a bill acceptor on a slot machine or video lottery terminal (e.g., contemporaneously inserting $5s, $10s and $20s), accumulating credits with minimal or no gaming activity, presses the "cash out" button to obtain a ticket. The customer goes to three other machines and conducts the same activity for $2,990 at each machine. Then the customer redeems the tickets for large denomination bills or casino checks with different cage cashiers at different times in a gaming day.

A customer transfers funds to a casino for deposit into a front money account in excess of $5,000; and withdraws it in chips at a table game, engages in minimal or no gaming activity, and exchanges remaining chips at a cage for a casino check.

Unusual Transaction Characteristics or Activities
Be alert to transactions with any unusual characteristics, such as:

A pair of bettors frequently cover between them both sides of an even bet, such as:
- Betting both "red and black" or "odd and even" on roulette;
- Betting both with and against the bank in baccarat/mini-baccarat; or
- Betting the "pass line" or "come line" and the "don't pass line" or "don't come line" in craps; and,
the aggregate amount of both bettors' total wagering is in excess of $5,000.

A customer routinely bets both sides of the same line for sporting events (i.e., betting both teams to win) and thus the amount of overall loss to the customer is minimal (known as hedging).

A customer requests the issuance of casino checks, each less than $3,000, which are made payable to third parties or checks without a specified payee.

A customer furnishes a legitimate type of identification document, in connection with the completion of a CTRC, or the opening of a deposit, credit or check cashing account, which:
- Does not match the customer's appearance (e.g., different age, height, eye color, sex); or
- Is false or altered (e.g., address changed, photograph substituted).

A customer presents information for the completion of CTRCs for different gaming days that contains conflicting identification information, such as:
- Different address or different spelling or numeration in address;
- Different state driver's license number; or
- Different social security number.

A customer makes large deposits or pays off large markers with multiple instruments (e.g., cashier's checks, money orders, traveler's checks, or foreign drafts) in amounts of less than $3,000.

A customer withdraws a large amount of funds (e.g., $30,000 or more) from a deposit account and requests that multiple casino checks be issued each of which is less than $10,000.

A customer arranges large money transfers out of the country which are paid for by multiple cashier's checks from different financial institutions in amounts under $10,000.

Criminal Activities
Be alert to a customer conducting illegal activity, such as:

A customer conducts transactions that the casino believes to be the result of some illegal activity or from an illegal source (e.g., narcotics trafficking).

A customer or a group of individuals forge signatures or use counterfeit business or personal checks to obtain currency, chips or tokens.

Questions or comments regarding the contents of this Guidance should be addressed to the FinCEN Regulatory Helpline at 800-949-2732.

1 See 31 U.S.C. § 5312(a)(2)(X) and 31 C.F.R. § 103.11(n)(5)(i) and (n)(6)(i). In this guidance, the term "casino" is used to refer to casinos, card clubs and other gaming establishments that fall within the BSA and FinCEN's regulations, unless otherwise noted.

Financial Institution
Casinos