BJ FOR A LIVING

You can... but you better a) have a LOT of money behind you that is separate from living expenses, and b) be damned good at what you do. You're not gonna walk into a casino with 5 thousand bucks and call yourself a card counter because you read a couple of books, and run around like Ken Uston winning tons of money. Casinos eat "card counters" like that for lunch. If you really want to do it (8 hours or more a day in a casino and maybe losing that day or week or month) then you must make an objective (and brutally honest) self-analysis of your game.
I won't say you can't do it, but I'll just warn you... there has been more than one laid off worker in the past who thought the answer was in a casino. The end result was usually that person was still laid off in the end, but ended up broke to boot, with the bills still rolling in and bill collectors up their ass. I wish you good luck but like I said unless you are damn good (like top 1 or 2% in the country) and can play like a machine through a losing streak then this will probably not have a happy ending.

Actually, I was thinking of Stanford's Blackjack Secrets.

Both books are excellent and a vital part of any serious blackjack library.

Wilbur, except for some bj die-hards who are the top 2% of this profession, no reasonable person is knowingly pick this dead-end profession. If Dr. Edward O. Thorp doesn't pick your dead-end career choice, then why should you? If the best card counter (Dr. Thorp) drops bj and picks up stocks & bonds for a living, then there must be an unspeaking truth* about not making a living in bj.

*The truth: the good one will most likely be the dead one. Any good card counter is likely being told by a casnio shift manager: "You can't play bj here anymore. You're too good" It's like Michael Jordan being told by the NBA commissioner: " You can't play hoops here anymore. You're too good. Hence, bj profession is a dead-end one because when you become good at it, you can't practice your profession. Dr. Edward O. Thorp is a good example of the above.

but you must already have solid financial security to do it (or just get lucky at internet roulette, 3:1 blackjack, or some other promo beforehand to get properly bankrolled).

The swings are incredible...imagine playing 6 months and making little or nothing...playing 2.5 months and losing non-stop...and playing 3.5 months and being virtually unbeatable...that's what blackjack is like. If your career starts with the losing streak you could be out of business before you start if you don't have a big bank. With a max bet of 2x200 expect $25,000 downswings at least once a year.

Do you know how to play Video Poker? Most successful pro's use every weapon in their arsenal to get an edge...Video Poker, Coupons, Promos, Internet bonus hustling, and others in addition to straight counting. Until you learn a multitude of techniques and become a well rounded advantage player I would suggest that you start off doing it parttime and then make the jump gradually.

If you're getting laid off I suggest you try hard to get another job in your chosen field and then begin to gamble professionally on the side...if you're doing very well after a year then take the next step.
(and save your money....the bigger bank to bet ratio you have the better you'll be able to mentally weather the storms).

bp

once your good and have to play for large stakes to make a living you will get 86ed.i have been thrown out of 95% of the casinos in vegas.i dont want to travelaround to make 50 bucks an hour.i rather work. i was playing for a living when the bj blitz was around,but its now gone.my new hustle is collecting bonus money offshore.they give you 10% when youdeposit money.all you have to do is bet football at 2 different books when the vig is 5% or less and bet the 3 and 2.5.you can make alot betting that way.

What would you do if you were closing in on sixty and your declining eyesite deprived you of your career. Well, when life hands you lemons, made lemonade. The twenty-one game, something I pursued half a lifetime ago, is that lemonade. It had better be, because the alternative appears to be oblivion.

People here wrote:
>>>*The truth: the good one will most likely be the dead one. Any good card counter is likely being told by a casnio shift manager: "You can't play bj here anymore. You're too good"

and...
>>>once your good and have to play for large stakes to make a living you will get 86ed.i have been thrown out of 95% of the casinos in vegas.

These are testimonials (and you can find many more) which claim that card counters are harassed for their play. I would assume that most card counters are identified by the fact that they must raise their bets significantly to profit from their advantage. There are also others here who swear on a stack of Stanford Wong books (as close to a Bible as a blackjack player can get) that they can get 6-1, even 10-1 spreads in a two deck game. I don't want to sound like a smart ass for asking, but does anyone else see the conflict here? Is the truth somewhere in between?... that is, can you get this bet spread only at certain casino and/or under specific conditions? All I was saying before was that one has to be realistic when formulating a strategy... that one has to assume playing conditions that are likely where he is playing, not an ideal that somebody could get by travelling. One possibly could get 6-1 spread or more in some places, but someone who regularly visits Biloxi can't count on getting away with that, or even with getting much more than 50-55% pen in a 2 decker. Not saying that it absolutely does NOT happen, just saying that one should set their expectations lower and anything better is a welcome surprise.

dd at places that dont use a discard tray like the mirage is the dealers get scared.you spend all night looking for a dealer who gives good pen,and when you play big he gets nervous and cuts it in half.i like dd at the mirage properties and thats it.

Eyeglasses? Laser surgery?

You still need good eyesight in playing bj, don't you?

I've worn corrective lenses from childhood.

I've had five surgeries. In 1995 my first surgery was done at a VA Hospital. In a three and one half hour procedure done under a local anesthetic (that's right, I "watched" it) my left orb was pulled from my face and a scleral buckle (the sclera is the white of the eye; a buckle is a strap which squeezes the eyeball into an oval) was placed about the eye and stitched in place to force the detaching retina back into contact with the eye wall. Perhaps they pulled a little too far and traumitized both optic nerves (they cross), because for the next several days I was left completely and inexplicably blind.

Inexplicably? Well, they had an explanation. The problem, I was told, was my "bad attitude" when I refused to read an eye chart. Read an eye chart!? I was frigging blind, and never so scared in my life. On day four I could see light and they discharged me from the hospital.

What is the quality of VA care? After surgery I was brought into the Recovery Room, where patients are taken to awaken from anesthesia. But I WAS awake, and oddly enough, could still see. And I waited there, as the anesthetic wore off. After perhaps twenty minutes I began to feel uncomfortable. After forty I began, with each breath and despite my desire not to do so, to emit a short muffled moan. A nurse (ah, those VA angels of mercy) approached and said: "Those of us who work in this facility everyday would appreciate it if you would STOP MAKING THOSE DISGUSTING NOISES!!" Had I been in the mood for snappy comebacks perhaps I'd've said "lady, I'll pull your eye out and we'll see what kind of sounds you make." But I was in no such mood. I did say "Do...you...have.. something...for..pain?" And in her best imititation of a four year old she sneered "Oh, I guess we could find you a Tylenol, if you you think you can wait." Then they took me to my room (which I shared with seven others) and shot me with Demerol. And the next morning, the blindness.

There was more. But you get the idea. There was one kind incident. It was night, I think, because it was quiet, when an older nurse, a black woman I could tell from her voice, rubbed my shoulder and said "you poor man, I know what they did to you." I was never able to thank her.

Anyway, I had four other surgeries from a private retinal surgeon. One laser suturing of the operated eye, and three suturings and one cryotherapy (freezing with liquid nitrogren) to repair tears to the retina of the other eye, tears the VA said weren't there. And when the VA eye clinic found that I'd seen a private physician so that I wouldn't go blind, they refused to render any further treatment. I've never been back.

Someone mentioned that self-employmemt doesn't provide for health insurance coverage. How astute. And lately my vision suffers from increased floaters (dark patterns swirling in the vitreous) which could be the precurser of another detachment.

I am an honors graduate with two degrees, but cannot pursue my profession because of vision loss. I can play poker and twenty-one because I can still (but barely) read large index cards. And when I can't...

Properties with the best conditions seem to swarm with patrons. And the grind joints, where unauthorized winning is not tolerated, slowly whither, while the pit patrol smirks over their Pyrrhic victories.

The See Clearly Method, or...

Help Yourself to Better Sight by Margret Corbet.

Consideration of Hi-Opt I as a count.

Getting on the trials for the Lasik III procedure now at Mayo Clinic Rochester MN.

But I will look into _Help Yourself to Better Sight _.

I appreciate this more than you can know.

Thank you,

Igor

The Lasek III system is experimenting with pulsed variable frequency lasers, and is designed to ALSO remove inter-occular scar tissue, to allow treatment of the scarring and flaws affecting the re-attachment problems. The two books on eye exercizes, might help with rebuilding the muscle tissues to help with the bulging that is also affecting the re-attachment attempts.

And if things don't improve I can give you some tips from a friend, who despite having 20/200 vision was still able to maintain a profesional life as a top private investigator, and was able to win with Hi Opt I. I will only ID him as Keith and see if he answers my email, and get back with you.

I would also suggest that you contact Dr. Atrailya, the inventor of some of these procedures, who is still in practice in Duluth MN, at the Duluth Clinic (strange place---the poor parts of town are the only ones with a good view of Lake Superior!).

Nothing helps with my infamous typos however.

You have my heartfelt sympathy for all the pain and suffering you have been through with those eye surgeries. Did you ever think of taking them to court? That may serve others who may be next in line.

I wish you you make the best of your days by enjoying your bj and poker. Best regards and holiday greetings. Take care.

consider some of the alternative therapies dealing with the Beck type devices. While they do apparently work, the FDA has a good point in refuting them in that such devices, which mildly electroporate the blood by sending pulses through the body, and thus help remove some toxins and deactivate virons in the blood, require constant disciplined use to have ANY benefit. You will have to be your own guide, and I suppose I should insert the standard consult your own doctor, this is not meant to be medical advice weasal words---wink!

My smypathies to you. I think the VA did you a favor by refusing to take you back for treatment after the private doctor treated you.

Neko