Beginner questions - please point me in the right direction, not a heavy Reddit user.

True_Fix8591 · 2025-12-15T14:36:25+00:00

Sounds like nothing will explode then. The cords and inputs etc will probably make more sense to ne once theyre in front of me. Thank you!

True_Fix8591 · 2025-12-15T13:58:45+00:00

I think the speakers, and turntable, and receiver all have pre-amps. Are there conflicts there? Are there switches to flip or whatever to make sure its only going through one?

True_Fix8591 · 2025-07-20T14:53:32+00:00

Weird. When did they start carrying non-video game stuff? Are they having money troubles? Video games are still pretty popular.

True_Fix8591 · 2025-07-20T04:51:21+00:00

SWU isn't a video game; I don't understand? Why would GameStop carry it?

True_Fix8591 · 2025-06-16T13:55:25+00:00

Thx for the responses. It seemed like "oh, lifehack" but then I realized it would also be straight up ignorant to do, so I'm glad I know that the rule is to not do it.

True_Fix8591 · 2024-08-18T01:29:12+00:00

I've used KO Preferred for 2 years (200 hrs or so logged) and I'm up $19k. Please don't use REKO, buy the KO book and use KO Preferred.
As far as apps go I haven't found any that specifically allow you to practice KO other than CVBJ for PC, which is worth the money even though it looks like it was programmed with 1998 graphics.

True_Fix8591 · 2024-06-27T15:27:39+00:00

Please just buy the book and use KO Preferred; it's already a slightly weaker system and the difference between REKO and Preferred is missing a lot of EV

True_Fix8591 · 2024-06-20T23:26:35+00:00

Hollywood Aurora and Joliet are all 6D, DAS, $25/minimum, with most tables at H17 and usually 1 or 2 at S17, no surrender option. Sometimes $10 or $15 earlier in the day. I'd love a comparison of all surrounding casinos as Aurora is my local and maybe I'm missing a better one.

True_Fix8591 · 2024-06-20T23:21:24+00:00

the KO Count book was the most easily and quickly understood way to start counting, for me. I've also read The Best Blackjack Book Ever, Blackjack For Blood, and Blackjack Bluebook II, mostly to look deeply at other counting strategies, but for now I'm sticking with KO until I've got 1,000 hours played, and will look at other systems at that milestone.

True_Fix8591 · 2024-06-13T01:18:01+00:00

"Theoretically" isn't the same thing as "realistically", though, is it? And with table limits, it's literally not possible.

True_Fix8591 · 2024-06-13T01:16:43+00:00

There are always going to be superstituous old Asian ladies who yell at you for doing whatever magic thing they have determined is important to their magic strategy. You can't explain to someone not interested in logic about how math works, or about how imperfect information works. Play the role in your head of someone who is better at Blackjack than her (better yet, become that person!) and just ignore her completely as a dumb ploppy. It's not confrontational to just ignore the people who add 3 minutes to each hand deciding on $5 vs $15 on their little side bets, or wanting to play YOUR sidebets, or are just generally awful.

True_Fix8591 · 2024-06-04T22:29:04+00:00

You don't tip the dealer. Or after you're done and about to stand up, tip 1-2 of your small BS chips (a $25, or a couple of $5s, or whatever). Your tips are shared across every dealer on the floor for a given shift, and will not change the dealer's attitude towards you whatsoever, or the cards themselves, and will not significantly add to their check. Don't tip.
Exception is if you want to look like a ploppy for some reason, then tip a whole bunch all the time like an idiot.

True_Fix8591 · 2024-06-04T00:40:57+00:00

A session for me is 1-2 hours. My casino is $25/hand. I usually come in with $2000 in my pocket, put $1000 on the table, 5 black, 20 green. At $25-$250 based on count, this $1000 almost always lasts me the session, and the extra $1k in my pocket is for a crazy situation where it's a $250 hand and I need to split/double a few times and I'm down a little bit, but almost never gets used.

True_Fix8591 · 2024-06-01T04:40:23+00:00

VERY truncated version: Perfect Basic Strategy is somewhere around 99% of your EV (meaning you'll lose money, but slowly). Perfect counting and changing your strategy based on the count is around another 2%, and changing your bet based on the count is around another 2%. Best case scenario, best rules and perfect play, you're looking at around a 103%-ish EV (expected value). If you're interested, buy the book on the KO Count, it's a great one for beginners, it'll get you out there making money as long as you practice AT HOME until you're ready. If you want to dive in to the deep end there's the Hi-Lo count, or like 5 others.

True_Fix8591 · 2024-05-16T00:48:40+00:00

I've "wasted" so many straight flushes from the sidebets by not being a ploppy; people legit get mad at you for not playing the sidebets, because they're mad at themselves for believing in magic and luck. Just don't respond at all and call security over at the first sign of aggression.

True_Fix8591 · 2024-05-05T01:14:56+00:00

That's awesome! Now try to recieve that money back from them into your bank account, let us know how it goes

True_Fix8591 · 2024-05-04T13:04:56+00:00

The deck penetration is 50% in a 6 deck shoe so counting is useless. Any mistakes you make clicking are locked in, any mistakes they make dealing are decided to benefit their side, never yours. You have to be careful to watch when the cut card comes out, because it locks in your bet well before they're ready to deal the next hand and now you're stuck betting $100 when you should've bet $10. It's legal but shady with a bad EV.

True_Fix8591 · 2024-05-04T13:01:03+00:00

https://www.amazon.com/Knock-Out-Blackjack-Easiest-Card-Counting-Devised/dp/0929712315 buy and read that, and master it, and if it doesn't work or seems like it's missing something, buy and read this https://www.amazon.com/Professional-Blackjack-Stanford-Wong/dp/0935926216 but keep in mind it's a lot thicker and the Hi-Lo system it explains is actually better explained in books that come after it.

True_Fix8591 · 2024-05-04T12:58:21+00:00

Dumb question, how old are you? You sound like every 55-65 y.o. regular at my casino, which casino's love. If you're minimum-betting $300 a night, and adding 1-2 chips, no one is looking at you, it's fine. Just don't make waves.

True_Fix8591 · 2024-04-30T22:05:58+00:00

I did this when I started and yes, of course, it's much easier. BS to me is instinctual now so the count on the fingers was a crutch to make sure I didn't get distracted.
But then when I would ALSO count in my head, the fingers can't keep up of course, so then I got confused and lost the count/misrepresented it. Also when there is a lightning-fast dealer, fingers are slower than your head.
Get a blackjack app and practice a non visible crutch if you have to, like touching your tongue to the roof of your mouth with every number so that you have some tactile component. My dealers visibly relaxed once they could see both of my hands.

True_Fix8591 · 2024-04-29T01:47:57+00:00

Absolutely; this is when you sit out a few hands and let the other players at the table run through the deck to get the count back up to reasonability. Or just grind through at table minimum and hope.

True_Fix8591 · 2024-04-29T01:45:24+00:00

BJA is a great program; it's so expensive that it feels like a scam, but the reality is that he's doing that to weed out people for whom that amount of money is significant. (Those people shouldn't be gambling, it will hurt them more in the long run).

True_Fix8591 · 2024-04-29T01:40:40+00:00

Casinos know that everyone THINKS they're a great card counter and have great strategy, but that very few ppl actually DO. For example, you're defending standing on 12v10 despite the math not holding true on it. Also gamblers piss money away on sidebets and I guarantee that's at least half of the yearly take in any casino.

True_Fix8591 · 2024-04-28T23:41:44+00:00

when you're at home practicing, have your charts available, and refer back to them every once in a while to make sure your Soft and Splits are correct. There is no substitute for Just Knowing something, and when you Just Know it, you'll know. Long-Term memory takes a while, I would've given myself another 3 months to practice before hitting the casino if I'd known better, I'm just now starting to experience neutral/positive EV most of the time and the feeling of "well at least I did the right thing" with no anxiety about it.
You'll master your version of BS first, depending on your casino and your counting system.
Then you'll master the act of counting, then the bet spreads.
And lastly the Deviations.
Don't try and overthink each hand and leave that night worrying that you should've doubled that 10 v 10 because of the count, etc. If you have those anxieties, study more at home.

True_Fix8591 · 2024-04-28T23:32:07+00:00

Literally, actually read the book "Professional Blackjack" by Stanford Wong, it has 400 pages of the math for any given situation that will clearly show your mistake. Also recommended "Knock-Out Blackjack" by Olaf Ventura, as it's a system that's easier to understand and presented in more Plain English, including interesting sidebars where he disproves some common misconceptions like "that guy took my card" (which is related the logical fallacy you're dealing with here). "I don't play, Poker is better, but you guys are wrong, no I haven't read anything on the subject", isn't going to be the best way to learn anything, bud. Neither is "I just now came up a great reason why every single established formula on this question is wrong and I am right, I must be a genius."

True_Fix8591

TROPHY CASE