Ride the Coattails
by Rob McGarvey
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When I began counting, I noticed this one older gentleman that was changing his bet very methodically, looked at all the cards, didn't talk much, and was what appeared to me to be a card counter. He kept showing up at all the places I went to and preferred the same tables as I, the ones where you can vary your bet up and down by the largest amounts, $1 minimum and $10 maximum. He looked to me like a machinist, someone who knew mathematics very well and worked with his hands and his mind all day long. I was right. Since I was a new counter, I was not as fast as I would have liked to be, and at times when the dealer would change and a fast dealer would take his place, I would lose my count. When this happened, I began to "ride the coattails" of this other counter. Whatever he bet, I did as well. It got to the point that when I came into a casino I looked for him first, and if he wasn't there, I would sit down and do my own thing.
It is possible if you know how to play basic strategy perfectly and can find someone who counts, either by watching them play very carefully, or finding someone through friends or family, to sit at the same table as they do and bet just like they do.
There is such a thing as team play where counters sit at a bunch of different tables in a casino and signal to big players that come into the game when the count is very positive and bet what the counter is betting in different colours. For example, I am sitting at a table and betting red $5 chips, one for each count the deck is positive. I scratch the back of my neck and signal the big player to join the game, only he is betting black $100 chips. He stays until he sees my stack go back down to one chip and leaves, hopefully to another table where he is getting the signal to join. At the end of the evening the big player can reward the counters with their pay and make arrangements for the next time they will get together. Just make sure you are never seen together inside or outside the casino.
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