death and blackjack
If I knew I had time for precisely N hands of blackjack, where N is less than say 3 million (roughly ten years' worth of full time play), I sure as hell wouldn't spend any of that time playing blackjack. There are so many more interesting and enjoyable things to do. Which, I guess, is why, though I'm a solid enough counter with a healthy net lifetime gain, and could
put together a healthy enough bankroll if I wanted, I haven't played a hand in a casino for 5 years.
This is something that isn't discussed nearly enough on BJ boards and magazines. Sure, you may make a decent living with advantage play, even these days -- if you train well, think on your feet, scout casinos, study the journals, stay disciplined, stay stoical.
But if you can do all that, you can probably make at least as good a living lots of other ways -- some of them quite pleasant ones.
The embarrassing truth is, counting is *boring*. More esoteric advantage play adds variety, but it's still basically boring once the novelty wears off. Casinos are pretty dire places to spend extended periods of time, if you're a civilised human being. Added to all that are the peculiar features of advantage play as a way of life: in most careers, success and a reputation for skill increase your expectation -- in casino advantage play, they tend to harm it; in most careers, steady effort produces steady rewards and the positive reinforcement that they bring -- in casino advantage play, the fluctuations are wild, the threat of discovery and exposure is ever present, and the emotional wear and tear is correspondingly higher.
My hunch is that, for all but a few professional advantage players,
the truly advantageous play -- choosing among all of life's possibilities --
would be to keep well away from casinos and find something more profitable
and rewarding. As Eliot says elsewhere, many people who call themselves
card-counters are really losing players who have some knowledge of counting, but not enough savvy or discipline to cut it. But I wonder also if many successful card-counters aren't "positive expectation compulsive gamblers" -- addicted to the risk and the melodrama, with their addiction reinforced by the
profits, which look rewarding enough until you think what else you could have done with the time and invested money.
Just my 2c.
-- Canadienne