What Happens When Card Counters Get Backed Off?

What Is Heat at the Casino?

"Heat" describes a situation where a Pit Boss starts paying close attention to your play. When you feel the Heat, you're feeling the scrutiny of casino personnel while they decide whether you're an advantage player (AP).

If they decide to back you off, they'll have to determine what type of backoff you'll receive. If you're card counting and feel like you're doing something wrong or illegal, you'll start to feel the Heat whenever you're scrutinized by casino personnel.

Whether the Heat is real or imagined depends on your paranoia level. If you have a guilty conscience, it won't take much for the paranoia to set in. Let's say the Pit Boss answers a call and then turns to stare at you while talking on the phone. But is he actually talking about you, or is your paranoia kicking in?

If you are nervous and paranoid, a friendly tap on the shoulder can cause you to jump out of your seat when it's just a host or hostess asking if you want another drink. Thus, if the prospect of getting backed off makes you squirm, then it's only natural to get nervous about Heat coming your way.

Backing Yourself Off

The question is whether you care if there's Heat or not. If you're playing at your favorite local casino and there are no other betting options in your locale, getting backed off can be a big problem, especially if you prefer to avoid traveling. In such cases, you'll need to determine whether the Heat is real or just in your imagination.

If it seems real, it's best to back off, leave, and let the place cool down before you return. On the other hand, if you're at a casino you'll never visit again, should you ever back yourself off? The answer is "no." First of all, your feelings of paranoia may be unfounded. The phone call to the Pit Boss may be unrelated to you. So, if you back yourself off and walk away, you could be leaving EV on the table.

If you don't care, you need to play with fearlessness. Some of the most successful Blackjack teams never backed themselves off, regardless of the Heat coming their way. The founder of Blackjack Apprenticeship told a story about his team backing off prematurely, only to learn later that the particular casino was known for enduring a pain threshold of up to $100k before deciding to back off APs.

In cases where you'll never visit a particular casino again, it's better to play through the Heat and generate more EV and let the casino back you off instead of backing yourself off. If you're afraid of getting caught and put in a database, you can choose not to bring your photo identification.

If the casino insists, they'll put you in a database as an unknown. With the world moving towards digital IDs, facial recognition technology, and AI, the days of playing with anonymity may end. Still, that day isn't here yet, thankfully.

Card Counting - Attitude Adjustment

Although you might hear wild stories about foreign casinos or rogue tribal gaming spots, it's not like the days of old depicted in the film Casino, where cheaters were hauled off to dingy backrooms and subjected to physical beatings. Remember that card counting is legal. Likewise, casinos are private businesses that reserve the right to refuse service to anyone so long as they abide by the constraints of the Civil Rights Act.

So, the old saying, "No shoes, no shirt, no service," applies to casinos dealing with APs—they're not welcome. Card counting will continue to be a game of cat and mouse. Card counters want to count, and casinos want to kick them out before they win too much. So, before you get too nervous, remember it's not illegal. Having said that, Blackjack Apprenticeship has listed the pre-backoff ceremonies to tip you off to the casino's intentions.

Pre-Backoff Ceremonies

1. Congregating

The first sign of a backoff will be the surveillance team alerting the Floor Supervisor about you. Next, you'll see casino personnel congregating in the pit to talk about you. If you see them huddling like referees glancing your way, you may be the topic of their conversation.

2. Hawking

You're cool if the Pit Boss walks over and tells the dealer to clean up the rack. The call is unrelated to you. But if he walks over and scrutinizes your play, it's his way of saying, "Hey pal, I am watching you, and I know what you are doing."

If you want to test the Pit Boss's intentions, you could ask a friendly question about where to find a good show, restaurant, bar, etc., and then gauge their reaction. If they're friendly and talkative, you could be okay. If they're rude or short with you, it's more likely they're getting ready to toss you out.

3. Preferential Shuffle or Flat Bet

If the pit boss tells you you must stay at that bet or tells the dealer to reshuffle unexpectedly, then you know they're trying to take away your advantage without directly backing you off. At that point, you can back off and return on a different shift or continue to flat-bet as if it doesn't bother you. If you can afford to flat bet, the Heat may cool off, and you can return to counting.

4. Half Shoe'd

If the floor supervisor tells the dealer to cut the shoe in half, this is a pre-backoff ritual at play and means they're onto you, so you could back yourself off and leave.

But again, if you like the game and want to keep playing you can stay for a shoe or two to confuse the Pit Boss. They might decide you're not a card counter because if you were counting, you would have left when they cut the decks in half. The strategy here is to appear unflustered and flat bet for a couple of shoes until the Heat disappears.

The Real Backoff

The supervisor will ask you to back away from the table when the real backoff comes. They don't want the other players to hear them tell you to leave because it proves they don't want winners to play. Also, they are supposed to let you finish the hand you're playing unless you're in a tribal casino. So, if you've got a good hand, you can ask to finish playing it before stepping away.

Three Types of Backoffs

1. No More Blackjack

In the first type, the Pit Boss will be polite and complimentary, saying things like, "Your game is too good for us, so you're welcome to play any other games in the casino but not Blackjack." You can still get EV in that casino if you have comps or other exploitable games.

2. No More Casino Games

In this situation, the Pit Boss will likely be more gruff and bark commands like, "You need to cash out and leave." They don't want you lurking around in their establishment at all. However, you can still try to come back later when the shift changes.

3. Trespass

This type is the harshest, as they warn you they have the right to arrest you for trespassing if you ever return to their property.

Some APs shrug this warning off as a scare tactic, but it's probably best to respect it since card counters have been arrested for trespassing. They may ask for your ID before cashing out your chips, but you can say you want to leave. In such cases, you could come back later to cash out.

The Advantage Player Mindset

Casinos may treat you like a common criminal for counting but just take it in stride. You're merely trying to win a game by playing your best. So, no matter what words they use, remember the real message is that you're too good to play there. Furthermore, it never helps to burn bridges and arguing won't help. The Pit Boss's emotions are likely running hot, depending on their level of customer service training and whether they are expecting you to engage them in a verbal battle. If you want to de-escalate the situation, you can even apologize without admitting fault, like, "I'm sorry. Was I doing something wrong?"

Whatever your reaction, it's best not to escalate the situation. If you get backed off, take it as validation that your game is on point. All successful card counters get backed off at some point, so don't let them scare you.

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