In general, do not deviate from the playing strategy recommended in page 3 in an effort to hide your card-counting ability. Strange as it seems, most casino personnel do not even know basic strategy and do not recognize an expert play when they see it. If page 3 says to hit ace-7, then hit it. If the dealer thinks you are stupid, fine. Let the dealer, the pit boss, and the other players think that you do not know what you are doing, that you throw your money away too rapidly. Sometimes a pit boss who is watching you intently will walk away when you split 10-10 or double down on ace-9. You will be a preferred customer if you bet heavily and appear to play stupidly. One word of caution - when splitting 10-10 is a wrong decision, it is a very costly wrong decision. Do not split 10-10 just to give the impression of playing poorly. Do not deviate from the correct strategy for the pit boss's benefit. The pit boss likely cannot distinguish a good play from a bad play.

A reader says: Are there good plays you sometimes avoid so as not to attract attention?

One comment related to this: Although dealers at some casinos alert their pit bosses to some good plays, such as surrendering, we still continue to use an obvious basic strategy play. But sometimes it is annoying to hear the dealer shout out, "Double on soft eighteen," or "Hitting soft eighteen against a 10!"