Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

Sometimes when I'm leaving a casino, if I'm stuck for the day after a long session, I take what I'm stuck and put it on one hand of blackjack.

I figure it's a pretty close to neutral EV bet, and when I'm stuck 2k I sort of feel the same crappy feeling as when I'm stuck 4k. But if I'm even instead of stuck 2k, I'm much much much happier. So I sacrifice a tiny bit of actual EV and gain a ton of emotional EV.

I happen to be 0/4 on these bets and down almost 10k but I'm pretty sure it's a winning strategy.

Discuss.

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

well if doubling your loss is disproportionally negative emotional EV then in theory theres something to even discuss. I would actually feel much closer to twice as bad though...so I can't relate.

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

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Sometimes when I'm leaving a casino, if I'm stuck for the day after a long session, I take what I'm stuck and put it on one hand of blackjack.

I figure it's a pretty close to neutral EV bet, and when I'm stuck 2k I sort of feel the same crappy feeling as when I'm stuck 4k. But if I'm even instead of stuck 2k, I'm much much much happier. So I sacrifice a tiny bit of actual EV and gain a ton of emotional EV.

I happen to be 0/4 on these bets and down almost 10k but I'm pretty sure it's a winning strategy.

Discuss.

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so bet 4k when you lose the first one, obv

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

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Sometimes when I'm leaving a casino, if I'm stuck for the day after a long session, I take what I'm stuck and put it on one hand of blackjack.

I figure it's a pretty close to neutral EV bet, and when I'm stuck 2k I sort of feel the same crappy feeling as when I'm stuck 4k. But if I'm even instead of stuck 2k, I'm much much much happier. So I sacrifice a tiny bit of actual EV and gain a ton of emotional EV.

I happen to be 0/4 on these bets and down almost 10k but I'm pretty sure it's a winning strategy.

Discuss.

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so bet 4k when you lose the first one, obv

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I think we may be on to something here.

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

And if you're doing BJ, you really need to plan to be able to split and double down. So $2K ain't enough. Don't wager $2K at BJ if you don't have another $2K ready to plop down beside it.

Pass line. Or maybe Bacarrat.

Or better just announce to the poker room "$2K flipaments, anyone?" Keep the money in the poker room and avoid the 1% to 2% house edge.

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

I used to do this all the time but I finally forced myself to quit, despite running very well in my attempts.

Think about it logically. Why would anyone in their right mind bet 2k every few days on a losing game? You lose ~$50 every time you do this depending on the casino's rules. If that price is worth the thrill and the emotional +EV to you, then so be it, but it's probably only a matter of time before you are in a really bad state of mind and try to go double or nothing after losing your first BJ bet. It's a downward slope.

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

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I used to do this all the time but I finally forced myself to quit, despite running very well in my attempts.

Think about it logically. Why would anyone in their right mind bet 2k every few days on a losing game? You lose ~$50 every time you do this depending on the casino's rules. If that price is worth the thrill and the emotional +EV to you, then so be it, but it's probably only a matter of time before you are in a really bad state of mind and try to go double or nothing after losing your first BJ bet. It's a downward slope.

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Good Lord, you'd have to be an awful blackjack player to expect to lose 2.5% of your wager. However, I agree this is a terrible approach to attempt to recoup a loss from a poker session--for many reasons.

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

go to roulette and bet red or black

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

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go to roulette and bet your life savings on red or black

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Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

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go to roulette and bet black

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Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

lol bj

2k hard eight pls.

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

You need to come out and hang with me again soon so I can get you to stop making ridiculously large BJ bets. Obviously you should be playing a single hand of Casino War instead.

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

Sounds to me like a great way to go busto in a hurry.

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

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I happen to be 0/4 on these bets and down almost 10k

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Easily remedied in one 10k hand.

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

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Sounds to me like a great way to go give up a little value for increased varience

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Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

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Sometimes when I'm leaving a casino, if I'm stuck for the day after a long session, I take what I'm stuck and put it on one hand of blackjack.

I figure it's a pretty close to neutral EV bet, and when I'm stuck 2k I sort of feel the same crappy feeling as when I'm stuck 4k. But if I'm even instead of stuck 2k, I'm much much much happier. So I sacrifice a tiny bit of actual EV and gain a ton of emotional EV.

I happen to be 0/4 on these bets and down almost 10k but I'm pretty sure it's a winning strategy.

Discuss.

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I know this is likely tongue in cheek, but Mike Caro discusses this in a few of his books, and it has to do with threshold of pain, where once you go past a certain point, losing more all feels the same. Obviously, this is a VERY dangerous leak. Try thinking of your losses vs your average hourly win rate, and then instead of thinking, " I lost 2k what's 2k more" maybe you will think "It will take me 15 hours to make up 2k, do I want to risk 15 more hours of free work on essentially a coinflip?"

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

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I used to do this all the time but I finally forced myself to quit, despite running very well in my attempts.

Think about it logically. Why would anyone in their right mind bet 2k every few days on a losing game? You lose ~$50 every time you do this depending on the casino's rules. If that price is worth the thrill and the emotional +EV to you, then so be it, but it's probably only a matter of time before you are in a really bad state of mind and try to go double or nothing after losing your first BJ bet. It's a downward slope.

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As long as she has ANY clue about BJ, and doesn't play those retarded 6-5 games, about the bigggest edge against her will only be 1%, but most likely, .5%, so basically, she's tossing away a sawbuck or two each time.

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

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go to roulette and bet your life savings on red or black

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like this guy...

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1727202

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

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As long as she has ANY clue about BJ, and doesn't play those retarded 6-5 games, about the bigggest edge against her will only be 1%, but most likely, .5%, so basically, she's tossing away a sawbuck or two each time.

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What're the odds in BJ if you're doing an all-or-nothing single bet? So you aren't going to be able to split or double down? I imagine you're giving up two or three percent.

Bacarrat may be the best even-money all-or-nothing bet with a 1% house edge. Pass line without odds is 1.4%. Both are WAY better than red/black/even/odd.

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

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As long as she has ANY clue about BJ, and doesn't play those retarded 6-5 games, about the bigggest edge against her will only be 1%, but most likely, .5%, so basically, she's tossing away a sawbuck or two each time.

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What're the odds in BJ if you're doing an all-or-nothing single bet? So you aren't going to be able to split or double down? I imagine you're giving up two or three percent.

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What is the probability of winning any given hand in blackjack?

Under Atlantic City rules the probability of a net win is 43.31%, a tie is 8.80%, and a loss is 47.89%.

as per the wizard. There is no data available that I could find if you cannot split or double down, but I did ask the Wizard so we might learn soon enough.

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

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As long as she has ANY clue about BJ, and doesn't play those retarded 6-5 games, about the bigggest edge against her will only be 1%, but most likely, .5%, so basically, she's tossing away a sawbuck or two each time.

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What're the odds in BJ if you're doing an all-or-nothing single bet? So you aren't going to be able to split or double down? I imagine you're giving up two or three percent.

[/ QUOTE ]

What is the probability of winning any given hand in blackjack?

Under Atlantic City rules the probability of a net win is 43.31%, a tie is 8.80%, and a loss is 47.89%.

as per the wizard. There is no data available that I could find if you cannot split or double down, but I did ask the Wizard so we might learn soon enough.

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If you don't intend to split and/or double, it elevates this tactic from terrible to horrific.

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

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Sometimes when I'm leaving a casino, if I'm stuck for the day after a long session, I take what I'm stuck and put it on one hand of blackjack.

I figure it's a pretty close to neutral EV bet, and when I'm stuck 2k I sort of feel the same crappy feeling as when I'm stuck 4k. But if I'm even instead of stuck 2k, I'm much much much happier. So I sacrifice a tiny bit of actual EV and gain a ton of emotional EV.

I happen to be 0/4 on these bets and down almost 10k but I'm pretty sure it's a winning strategy.

Discuss.

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It seems to me that you're saying that
1) you're not sure if your poker playing is +$EV and
2) you're a gambler willing to take a big risk on a straight-up coin-flip or worse.

Isn't the point of getting good at poker to put yourself in +EV situations. Instead of depending on chance, you expect to do better than chance.

Your title dealt with trying to maximize emotional EV. You lower your long term emotional EV every time you reinforce the idea and emotional memory that you're not yet ready to play long term winning poker, plus you're ready to take even or less than even coin-flips.

It's giving up on the idea of putting yourself in +$EV situations and reinforcing that brain pattern of giving up and doing the opposite of your goal.

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

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It seems to me that you're saying that
1) you're not sure if your poker playing is +$EV and
2) you're a gambler willing to take a big risk on a straight-up coin-flip or worse.

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3) she is joking.

Wanna know more about fslexcduck? See last years WSOP coverage on ESPN - Vanessa gets lots of airtime.

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

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As long as she has ANY clue about BJ, and doesn't play those retarded 6-5 games, about the bigggest edge against her will only be 1%, but most likely, .5%, so basically, she's tossing away a sawbuck or two each time.

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What're the odds in BJ if you're doing an all-or-nothing single bet? So you aren't going to be able to split or double down? I imagine you're giving up two or three percent.

[/ QUOTE ]

What is the probability of winning any given hand in blackjack?

Under Atlantic City rules the probability of a net win is 43.31%, a tie is 8.80%, and a loss is 47.89%.

as per the wizard. There is no data available that I could find if you cannot split or double down, but I did ask the Wizard so we might learn soon enough.

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But is it different if you slipped the floorman a redbird when you arrived at the pokerroom?

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

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But is it different if you slipped the floorman a redbird when you arrived at the pokerroom?

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Boy. You people like to live life on the edge. Don't mess with the bull...

Re: Good way to maximize emotional EV
 

When I'm stuck big after a long session my self imposed "punishment" is to review all the major leaks in my game I can find and re-read at least one book that I respect a lot. On one occasion I created a one page spreadsheet of starting hands I should play (from two books) and made myself abide by it literally, for one week of on-line play. Recently I ammended that spreadsheet using SSHE after a particularly brutal live session.
The result is that I don't minimize the stupidity that led to the huge bad session - and I end up feeling that I have improved my game which does wonders to my self confidence.

When I'm stuck small after a session getting back to even for the day doesn't matter. I no longer play black jack, roulette, or any other games of pure chance because its clearly -EV and I don't need the rush.