Yes it is true that once you have completely grasped the concept of counting there are no difficult decisions to make. The problem lies with the psychological aspect of it, which if you want to excel at being an AP you must separate from mathematical fact. The whole basis of counting is based on a math premise, which leaves no room for interpretation. There are different methods people use but once that is all set up, which should be done way before you step foot in a casino, thats it, all decisions are made for you before you actually have to make them. If you have done everything correctly leading up to your actual playing, then there should be no apprehension about what play to make or how much to bet. Where one runs into problems is when they have fooled themselves into thinking they're ready but true lack of confidence makes them question their decision making. I see this and hear this with a lot of even experienced APs. It does not take a great deal of nerve or balls, as some have said to make a decision on something there is only one right answer to and you know it. If you had to bet a million dollars that 2+2 =4 would you be scared to do it? Of course not, it will always be that regardless of outside distractions. Of course with counting there is variance that will not always make the correct answer seem that way at the time, but again if you believe in the math, and that you have studied it well, you still know you were right and eventually you will win. That is why I stress perfection, it lessens the stress of the game. You know you are right even if at the moment the game is beating the hell out of you. With time and practice everything becomes automatic. Counting becomes as easy as reading a stop sign, you see and it registers without having to truly read it. For hi lo, TC calculations and bet sizing come as more of memory recall than actually tring to figure them out. And if you are using indices they will come as easy as basic strategy. Its like a boxer that goes in and delivers a 1st round knockout in a fight. Every one says wow what any easy way to make a buck, but what they don't see is the months of training it took to be able to perform in such a way. Same thing in blackjack, train hard to make your fights easy, make your skills training as difficult as possible, so that the casino actually runs in slow motion for you. Of course you need to log some casino time to get comfortable with the atmosphere, but if you train well the casino will be nothing but a bigger living room to you. So if you call yourself an AP and find yourself stressing while you're playing, its either you are playing with money you can't afford to lose, even betting properly can't fix that, or you aren't truly confident in what you are doing. Whether it be your skills or the fact you're not truly sold on if the whole card counting thing is true. If its either one, stop playing and evaluate yourself truthfully.
