BJ FOR A LIVING

Can it be done...

I think so....over past year have been very successful...

Interested in opinions and advice from anyone out there that is currently playing blackjack for a living...

Yes, I have been doing it for 6 months, and have had very good results! What system do you use, you don't have to post it, just send me by e-mail....

CubanPete

at bellatlantic or do you play BJ for a living ?

If your best career prospects look to be $400 to $500 per week with no real benifits then this might not be a bad thing to try for a few years. For anyone with a decent career and good benifits the idea is insane. You should have all your expenses paid up for a year in advance, be debt free, and have a bankroll roughly the size of your anticipated annual income. In other words, if you have a gradual decline in bankroll of about 25% over the first 9 or 10 months, which is not unusual, it should not put a serious cramp on your lifestyle or your ability to continue.

I play BJ for a living,yes.

." For anyone with a decent career and good benifits the idea is insane. "

You never seem anyone put aside a decent career with large financial benifets for something that they find rewarding in some other manner.

not to say there are not possible large financial benefits for top-notch advantage players.

And Wilbur, let's just say it ain't no walk in the park and if you have to ask, you ain't ready.

I do not play blackjack for a living, so you may not want my input, but for what it's worth, here it is.

There are some things one should consider before he chucks all else and relies on making a living at the tables.

1) You will have to provide your own health care coverage.

2) There is no retirement system, so you will have to plan for that.

3) The only advancement in this career would be the size of your bets. There is no career ladder.

4) Do you have enough money to sustain yourself through a losing year? Can you pay the rent, buy a car and put food on the table through a long losing streak? If you decide to do this for a living, such a streak is inevitable. In fact, you will go through many such streaks over any appreciable period of time.

5) Are you willing to travel? Chances are, you won't be able to restrict your playing to just one venue if you intend to do it full-time. You must be prepared and able to travel around the country and even to foreign locations if necessary.

6) Do you have other career opportunities? Making "big" money at blackjack is very hard to do, especially if you don't have the bankroll for large bets. There are plenty of other career opportunities that have a much better future than playing blackjack for a living. You may well be qualified for some that would pay a lot better than blackjack does in the long run.

I think it is very doable....and I am ready....

The reason I ask is to get some feedback because everyone seems to think it cannot be done...

I have a very good job...right now...however I am being layed off February 1, 2002...

So...I am going to give it a shot...until I find another job and if all goes well I may not care to find another job...

Can it be done, yes. But, as others have already pointed out, it makes for quite a grind to consistently edge out the $400-$500 a week you wil need to meet your expenses. Realize that even $500/week is only about $26,000/year BEFORE taxes. With your own health insurance and retirement plan, you're looking at MAYBE making something like $15K/year. So, a more realistic goal is to make about $1,000/week - not a very easy thing to do. Take a look at Wong's ROR (Risk Of Ruin) tables and you'll find that you realistically need a MASSIVE bankroll to avoid ruin. Persnonally, I wouldn't make a run at these numbers without at least a $75,000 BR with NO debts or large monthly expenses (ie car payments).

If you are really serious about this, do yourself a favor and pick-up the book called "Gambling for a Living" by Sklansky & Malmuth. They combine card-counting with poker, horse racing and sports betting to create a package that you can use to give yourself a better shot at becoming a pro gambler.

GOOD LUCK!

I used to make $4000 per month going to the office (software development) from 9 am to 5 pm five days a week. I had to do things against my convictions just to please clients in order to stay in business. In the end I got fed up with it and began preparing my BJ-career building up the necessary bankroll.
Four years ago I turned Pro and I'm earning just about the same by only "working" two days a week on average. I'm totally free to decide when and where I work and it's mostly big fun.I had already two swings of 50k over a three months period but I was psychologically prepared for it by my own simulations.
I appreciate to have plenty of spare time for my favorite hobby: playing chess! No reason to regret my choice.

Francis Salmon

Good to see you posting again, DD'. How was your recent foray?
Profitable, I expect.

rwp

Most people will not be able to handle 50K downswings, and really have no idea that they will certainly happen. Many have the idea that they will have a steady income of several thousand per month with a bank of 15 or 20 thousand.

I know lots of people I consider to be serious semi-pros. They all ready know the ropes and probably could turn pro if they decided to. As El Burro said, however, if you have to ask then it is not likely that you are ready.

The danger is that you get off to a good start. You win at a good rate for several months and you then believe that you have a good idea what your income picture is going to look like. This is not something at which you will succeed if you have the monthly expenses of the average person and a $20,000 bankroll. If your car is worth more than your bankroll then you will not likely succeed.

This is one of the most common questions, it seems. Stanford Wong discussed it at length in Blackjack Wisdom, and I would recommend that anyone considering playing for a living purchase that book.

However, you really have summed it up in just a few short words:

"if you have to ask, you ain't ready."

Amen.

In addition to all the very valid points Bootlegger makes, consider this: While you are hanging out in casinos and keeping odd hours, your previous career marches on without you. You will not be networking, making contacts, or keeping abreast of new developments in your field.

Should you decide after a few years that you wish to return to the "normal" workaday world, you may find that you have a lot of catching up to do, or worse yet, that your skills have become obsolete.

Something to think about.

If you have a family --wife and children-- this is a very bad career choice. I really can't think of another worse one. Consider living on the road, coming home having lost badly. No security. Nothin'.

It's one thing to be carefree and reckless on your own, quite another when you're responsible for others. The guilt can be crippling.

"Stanford Wong discussed it at length in Blackjack Wisdom, and I would recommend that anyone considering playing for a living purchase that book."

I would, too, but the author is Arnold Snyder! :-)

Don