Casino

I don't have a big enough bankroll to play at the casino yet. In other words, if I lose my $200-$600 buy in playing no-limit Texas Hold'Em, I won't be able to pay my credit card bills or rent or buy groceries. So I played bingo for less than $20, and played exactly three hands of blackjack costing me $20. (I only played blackjack because Melissa was egging me on. She contributed $5 of the amount lost.)

So at home I decided to practice counting cards. On one episode of "Breaking Vegas" I heard a professional blackjack player say, "if we could count down a deck in less than 30 seconds, then we knew we were ready." I've practiced counting cards before, and its hard. I'm not sure if its that I think high cards should be +1 and low cards should be -1 instead of the opposite, or what. But I practiced, and I got a little better. Still, when I timed myself, I never broke a minute. In other words, I'm way too slow to count cards like a pro.

I seriously need to learn the basic strategy, and then how the strategy changes with the count, if I'm going to play at the casino. Even if it is just $5 a hand, like I said before, I don't have a big bankroll. I only played 3 hands because I split on two 8s, at the dealer's advice. Which was weird, because she had just said earlier, "I'm not allowed to give advice. I can't tell player's what to do." Then she proceeded to tell me to split 8s against her ace. Nice job dealer. I didn't get her name, even though she was wearing it on her shirt like a good casino employee.

Together there were six of us that went to the casino. I considered it a favor to Carly for her birthday next week. I've never played bingo with them before, and they love to play bingo. Out of the six of us, I think we spent close to $160, and not one of us won a thing. Oh well, that's poker. Err, um life. ;)