From: hall@kronos.arc.nasa.gov (Michael Hall)
Subject: Re: How/Where to play DD in LV
Organization: NASA/ARC Information Sciences Division
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 7 Oct 1992 19:44:17 GMT

In article <1992Oct7.140922.599@fibers> mbuck@fibers (Michael D. Buck) writes:

>In DD, to get a 1-8 or 1-16 spread without raising attention, you'd
>have to go progressively from 1->4->8->16, or something similar,
>right?

Yep, though an alternative is to be a total lunatic, bouncing from
table minimum to table maximum.  Uston prided himself on his ability
to get away with insane spreads like this, but from reading
"Uston on Blackjack" it sounds like he got barred in at least 25%
of the sessions he did this.

>(I'd think that even *that* sequence would warrant attention. 
>Or am I paranoid?)

Well, insert a 2 unit bet in there, 1->2->4->8->16, and it's a bit
better.  I've gotten away with spreads much bigger than this on double
deck, though I can't say I never got attention for it.  One trick
is to vary the number of hands you play - say instead of an 8 unit
bet, 2 hands of 4 units.  However, varying the number of hands
sometimes draws intention in and of itself.  Another trick is to
make small adjustments to your bet the *opposite* of the direction
the count just moved, and then catch up by doubling (or halving)
your bet the next round if necessary.  Yet another trick is to
"mix colors", betting so many different chip denominations in so
many different combinations and numbers that the pit and sky critters
become totally confused as to whether you are increasing or decreasing
your bet.

>So, only head-on play can be made profitable at
>average DD games, since you can't get more than about 4-5 rounds at a
>full table.  Is that right?

Yes, as a general rule, with lots of exceptions. (One other spot in play
wouldn't be bad, though.)

>I have trouble finding a SD game at less-than-full tables (at minimum
>bets I can afford).  In such a situation, how can you (profitably)
>size your bet when there are only two rounds per shuffle, and not get
>barred?  If you start with one unit for the first round, and the count
>goes way up, you can't more than triple your bet to 3 units for round
>#2, or the automatic-shuffle flag goes up, and you don't get your
>potentially profitable second round.  Isn't that how most places
>handle it?  If so, how can a full SD table ever really be profitable?
>How can I ever do more than a 1-3 spread at a 2x7 table?

Bet 2 units on each of two hands (at third base!) on the first round,
and go up to 4 units or down to 1 unit on the second round.  I feel
damn obvious when I do this, because again the critters can count the
first round just fine, and there's not much room for cover, but I've
never been barred for it.  Sometimes you can get away with a bit more
of a spread, perhaps starting at 3 units and going up to 6, or tripling
your bet, or dropping to one hand on the second round in bad counts...
but this is usually being a bit too greedy.  Even when playing two
hands, this game still moves a bit too slow to generate a "competitive"
profit per hour, though the profit per round will actually exceed most
other single and double deck games (with respect to the spreads you can
get away with on those.)  I like to play this game when my bankroll is
wounded, because I can carefully, if not quickly, nurse it back to health.
Because 50% of your bets are off the top, good rules are critically
important for a 2 rounds situation - and do not tolerate a dealer who
does not consistently deal the second round (except on the rare cases
when you would concede that the dealer really could have easily run
out of cards if another round had been dealt.)

-- 
Michael Hall            \ If you don't get barred occasionally,
NASA Ames Research Center\ you're not playing aggressively enough.
hall@ptolemy.arc.nasa.gov \ - paraphrased from BJ Forum