STREETWISE Blackjack

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

Tom Petty had it right. You can teach many aspects of the finer points of blackjack‹table procedures and etiquette, the rules of the game, basic strategy, a multitude of card counting methods, money management and betting methods, all types of advantage play but there's one item on the agenda that is the most difficult to absorb. Simply put, it's called discipline or patience.

By it's nature, blackjack is a game of movement, full circle, perpetual motion at the table. It requires your undivided concentration and is not for those with attention disorders. Knowing this, casinos present a wide variety of distractions design to divert you from the business at hand‹free alcohol, scantily-clad attractive cocktail waitresses, loud music, noisy slot machines chattering nearbyŠMost casinos also employ rules demanding customers play each hand rather than allowing selective participation. They do this to insure knowledgeable customers don't choose more opportune times -- like plus counts -- to bet, staying out on the negative or minus counts.

Many casinos allow you to beg off a hand but then insist you remain out until after the next shuffle. This also discourages people who float around casinos jumping in and out of various tables, a practice known as "Wonging." Named after advocate and legendary blackjack theoretician and player, Stanford Wong, adherents linger unobtrusively behind tables to "back-count" the cards on a particular game. When the count reaches a favorable or plus point, they casually saunter over to a betting spot and put their money into action, remaining there only as long as the count is positive. Then they move on to repeat this action at another table, trying to avoid playing from a position of negative expectation.

These days casinos recognize this behavior and do their best to discourage it. Wonging has long been part of the arsenal of card counters, around for several decades. And while some older management level staff in the casino industry first scoffed at card counting as a viable activity in the 1960s and 70s, few who run casinos currently laugh. Most are aware of the hazards and potentials and if anything, overcompensate, backing off any player even slightly suspected of counting, the theory being it's better to lose the customer than risk a big hit.

A player who attempts to practice Wonging will find he/she draws immediate attention and will usually be asked to depart the premises. If you can't play selective hands at any one blackjack table, nor can you roam the range, Wonging to your heart's content, you must adopt a comfortable middle-ground strategy. This means playing the game with a great deal of discipline, not forcing bets. The waiting can be the hardest part.

Realizing there are more opportune times than others, instances when the odds are more favorable, the patient player will seize those times, betting more. Most players are hasty and unconscious. They will tell you they have hunches or "feelings" about a certain hand or time to kick up their bets. I'm not denying the possibility of intuition. It's just that reliance on this factor is unpredictable., nothing on which you'd want to hang your hat or bankroll.

Often these feelings are wrong, then where does that leave you? Next, there is the issue of bet spread. We can define this as the percentage or amount of variance from your usual bet to a greater amount. For instance, if you are a $10 bettor, and you detect a favorable position and raise your bet to $50, that is a 1-5 spread, or a bet that is five times the amount you have customarily been wagering.

Do this on favorable counts on a regular basis, and you might be asked to vacate the premises. Most contemporary casino surveillance departments have software allowing them to track individual play and tabulate a blackjack player's bet spreads versus the count. If they determine you are raising your bet significantly on positive counts only, you won't be welcome to stay or return and will be entered into the casino's database of known counters.

Ultimately, the modern game of blackjack has been reduced to a waiting game‹one which requires a mix of moderation and patience. If you wait for and then recognize positive betting situations and get greedy, expect the whip to crack. Flat betting won't work. The houses edge will insure that. But overbetting will provoke floor supervisors into action. Generally speaking, holding to a table minimum accompanied by small increases or spreads of 2-1 and 3-1 will not raise anyone's eyebrows except in the most paranoid of places. Understanding this method won't make you fabulously wealthy, it will preserve your place at the table and help insure you don't go down in flames.

Stanford Wong's monthly Current Blackjack News and Arnold Snyder's quarterly, Blackjack Forum are fine resources for locating the most up-to-date information on individual casinos, both available at Gambler's Book Shop in Las Vegas. There are geographical breakdowns of casinos by region, state, and city, playing changes and conditions rated for each casino. Before you enter a "burn joint" you should know it!

Isn't it better to pass on the bad games and wait the good ones out? Pass the bad situations awaiting better times?