New to BJ. Some questions ...

I live in AZ and I play at an Indian casino here. It has DOA2, DAS, RSA. It doesn't have LSR. It only has 6Ds. 75% pen.

I understand the terms above now, thanks to a helpful poster here, but there's a few other acronyms and terms I'm not up on (such as, what is a 'no hole card'?).

1) Based on the information above, is my casino a good candidate for counting, or a poor one?

2) Does anyone know of a good FAQ that explains advantage playing (counting) and terms used?

3) What counting books/methods work with 6D and 8Ds? It seems like most of them are oriented for only smaller decks.

4) I bought "The World's Greatest Blackjack Book" with the Hi Opt1 counting system (haven't received it yet). Is this a decent system to start out with? Will it even work with a 6D?

5) I enjoy playing and do it for fun, and so far I'm well in the black (probably because I'm good about quitting when I'm ahead). But is it at all reasonable to expect to make money in the long run? Who here has perfected their skills enough to say they have made money at this over the long term? Anyone want to share their story of inspiration, or disappointment?

Thanks,

Billy

I live in AZ and I play at an Indian casino here. It has DOA2, DAS, RSA. It doesn't have LSR. It only has 6Ds. 75% pen.

That's not a very good game. Cutting off 1.5 decks is the problem.

I understand the terms above now, thanks to a helpful poster here, but there's a few other acronyms and terms I'm not up on (such as, what is a 'no hole card'?).

There's a pretty good glossary right here. Scroll down the left green margin. No hole card is most common in Europe (ENHC - European No Hole Card) The dealer draws his second card after everyone has played their hand. Anyone who has split or doubled loses all if the dealer has a blackjack.

1) Based on the information above, is my casino a good candidate for counting, or a poor one?

Poor, as I said above.

2) Does anyone know of a good FAQ that explains advantage playing (counting) and terms used?

As I said, there's a glossary here. There are others available, and you can always ask right here.

3) What counting books/methods work with 6D and 8Ds? It seems like most of them are oriented for only smaller decks.

There are many. My recommendation is Knockout if you are going to be a hobbyist, but take up a balanced count like Hi-Lo if you might aspire to more advanced play later.

4) I bought "The World's Greatest Blackjack Book" with the Hi Opt1 counting system (haven't received it yet). Is this a decent system to start out with? Will it even work with a 6D?

I have the book, but I have never studied the Hi Opt I. Someone else here will give you a better answer.

5) I enjoy playing and do it for fun, and so far I'm well in the black (probably because I'm good about quitting when I'm ahead). But is it at all reasonable to expect to make money in the long run? Who here has perfected their skills enough to say they have made money at this over the long term? Anyone want to share their story of inspiration, or disappointment?

Quitting while you are ahead has nothing to do with it, as you will learn. The cards don't know when you quit and came back. To the cards, it's as if you never left.

Many here have reached a point that they will never go back into the red ink. A few make their living at it. There are lots of stories here.

"Quitting while you are ahead has nothing to do with it, as you will learn. The cards don't know when you quit and came back. To the cards, it's as if you never left."

Great point. The only other "hunch" I'm going on is that every single time I've played I've gotten ahead *at some point* -- even just a little. I imagine, this, too, has no mathematical basis -- and eventually I'll walk in and lose every penny, or fight to break even, never having gotten ahead.

Might as well get these "hunches" out of the way.

I'll also note the pen. may be "80%". To my memory it seems the cut off point there is the size of one deck.

The casino also hosts $3 dollar tables during weekdays. I imagine this would be advantageous to any beginning counter. You wouldn't bring as much attention and you could hone your skills.

Billy

"I'll also note the pen. may be "80%". To my memory it seems the cut off point there is the size of one deck."

Penetration is the single most important factor in an advantageous game for a card counter. 1.5 decks cut-off is a terrible game. 1 deck cut-off is a great game. In single deck or double deck, even a few cards can make a huge difference.

"The casino also hosts $3 dollar tables during weekdays. I imagine this would be advantageous to any beginning counter. You wouldn't bring as much attention and you could hone your skills."

The other advantage of a low table min has to do with something called risk of ruin. As a general rule, you want your top bet to be 1% or less of you total available cash. If you are playing every hand, you will likely want to use a spread between minimim and maximum bets of 1-12 or more. This means that for a total bankroll of $3.5K, your minimum bet would be $3. You can improve the situation quite a bit by only playing hands where the deck is rich in high cards. This is referred to as backcounting, or "Wonging".

I would recommend that you get Professional Blackjack and Blackjack Attack in addition to Knockout BJ. This should give you a decent background for starters.

The Blackjack school on this site is also a great tool for learning.