Become a Clever Blackjack Player

Suppose you are playing blackjack in a casino that cannot bar you. Can you then be open about being a card counter? Usually, no. Even if you cannot be barred, there might be countermeasures taken against you. For example, if you are identified as a card counter you might find the cut card moved up at every blackjack table you play. So it pays to hide your ability at blackjack.

Talking at the Table

Try to interact with the other players at the table. This is particularly true when you are playing for long hours at the same table. When you are engaged in conversation with other blackjack players, the bosses seem to ignore you as if you could not possibly be playing a winning game. One time a player asked me to stop talking so he could think. And he was not even a card counter. He just had to add his fifteen points and decide whether to hit or stand. I wonder if he would have believed me if I told him that while I was talking with him I was counting cards and playing my own hand according to the count. I do not talk to a pit boss unless I am spoken to first. I do not want to make myself any more memorable than I need to. But then, I seldom seek comps.

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Masking Your Intelligence

Chances are, you are way above average in intelligence. Most card counters are. So work on looking smart enough to have made the money you bring to the table, but not smart enough to know how to make money at blackjack. An example is eye contact. Though you can see things at a glance, when you play blackjack you may want to look at everything twice as long as you need to. You want to give the impression you are thinking half as fast as you are. And though you may know in an instant how you want to play a particular hand, pause as if you are thinking about every decision. Also, you might consider masking your intenseness and your competitive nature.

Masking Your Experience

One problem with having played thousands of hours of blackjack is you become adept at handling cards and chips. Picking up your cards quickly helps speed up the game, but it also marks you as a person who has spent a good deal of time with cards in your hand. So try to fumble a bit when picking up your cards. Same with chips. Keep them in stacks, but not neat stacks.

I am trying to break myself of the habit of nonchalantly playing with small stacks of chips. If my fingers playfully interweave two stacks of six chips each to make one stack of twelve chips, anyone who is watching me knows I have had chips in my hands a lot. To that, Don Schlesinger says:
You cannot always look as if you are playing blackjack for the first time. Some experienced junket players have played, handled cards and chips for 30 years, and still do not have a clue about the game itself. If bosses would not suspect a chip-interweaving crapshooter, why should they be more suspicious of his counterpart at the blackjack table?

Using an Alias

I used to use my own real name in casinos. One negative thing I personally have noticed about using my real name in casinos is: When I wanted to write a book about blackjack, I had to select a pen name. If I could do it over again I would have used a false name in casinos so I could use my real name on my books.

One problem you might have in using an alias is forgetting who you said you were. And even when you remember who you are supposed to be, you sometimes might be slow in responding to someone calling you by name. A person ought to know his or her name well enough to be able to recognize it immediately if someone uses it.

A solution is to use only names of relatives and good friends. You can use the same few names over and over. Generally I use the name of my grandfather on my mother's side, a brother-in-law, or a neighbor. Now I never forget who I am supposed to be.
There is not much communication between casinos. You can use a different name in each casino if you want. If you do, you should keep track of which name you have given to whom, so you can be consistent. The only problem you might run into is there is some movement of pit bosses from casino to casino. It might be awkward if two pit bosses in your pit each know you by a different name.

Sometimes I am two different people in the same casino. I use different names for day shift and swing shift. During the time of shift change when both sets of pit bosses are present together, I will not be there. I will be eating a meal and changing clothes. If I wear out my welcome on one shift it will not automatically carry over to the other shift.

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