Blackjack casino
How did I win in a game where everyone is expected to lose? Or more
withdraw money from casinos? Contrary to what some people believe, you don’t need to be a mathematical genius or play on some highly capitalized team to become the predator instead of the prey in blackjack
was a dogged tenaciousness.
I read everything by gifted players who came before me: brilliant men like Uston and Wong. I absorbed their advice and refined it, extracting every last ounce of theoretical edge card counters can gain over the house. Then, before ever setting foot in a casino, I disciplined myself to play like a machine how to win video poker honing my skills with over a hundred practice hours at home, drilling relentlessly until all decisions and calculations became as natural as breathing. For example, I practice
the largest advantage for straight card counting. So while most counters flocked like lemmings to the shoes, I sought out hand-held games whenever possible. I still played some six-deck tables but disciplined myself to lay cash on the felt only for the strongest games, which meant that many days, I spent more time walking, in search of ideal conditions, than playing.
Another important quality a professional blackjack player needs is drive. To stay under the radar of casino surveillance, I constantly moved around. While most pros habitually returned to Las Vegas, I visited small towns far off the beaten path and braved icy roads to play Lake Tahoe when one casino there set up a potentially lucrative “over/under 13” side bet.
view blackjack as the ideal lifestyle since it combines high profits with the ultimate in flexible hours. These people gravitate to card counting because they want the kind of job where in the morning, when everyone else rolls out of bed, they just roll over. However, trading in your paycheck for casino chips is anything but easy and is not for the faint of heart.
My blackjack career started out rather humbly. On my first trip I tentatively pushed my maximum bet of ten dollars onto the felt, knowing my entire bankroll was contained in the thin confines of my wallet. I was fortunate enough to win often those first few years, and my capital steadily grew until I amassed a six-figure bankroll. This enabled me to bet up to one thousand a hand in positive situations, which bumped up against the limits at most clubs. A good card counter will win between a quarter to one-third of his max bet per hour. So with a top bet of $1000, I earned about 300 bucks an hour. However, if your bankroll only allowed a max bet of $25, then your expected return drops to $7 per hour — which isn’t going to cause anyone to ditch their business career and pension plan.
High travel expenses can also water down the potential return, so many aspiring card counters invariably overbet their bankrolls to jack up the hourly rate. This is one of the main reasons casinos d
In the last decade, I took advantage of the gambling explosion across America’s heartland and played numerous riverboats and Indian reservations. Mississippi combined high limits with the world’s best single-deck blackjack. A casino in Minnesota made me an offer I couldn’t refuse, and I spent a week playing a sensational double-deck game with special rules. Once, I drove all night from Chicago to take advantage of a 2 to 1 promotion on blackjacks, 800 miles away in Vicksburg.
Finding the hottest clubs took hard work and extra effort. In my pursuit of profitable games, I traveled all over the world to places like the Dominican Republic where I played private t
