Free Forum - playing just to cover the cost of living?

Amos

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Apr 2, 2018, 8:52:35 PM

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I have a local casino and just want to play blackjack and make enough to cover my expenses while I finish my degree. The idea of getting a job makes me ill.
All the books and websites focus on playing till you get backed-off and make as much as you can per session.

Is it silly to think I can make $100-$150 a day 3-5 days a week?... In and out, not giving the casino a chance to notice my counting..

All you green chip and black chip players, just humor me and my red chips..

Don Schlesinger

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Apr 3, 2018, 12:07:38 AM

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"I have a local casino and just want to play blackjack and make enough to cover my expenses while I finish my degree."

Noble goal. Isn't going to happen.

"The idea of getting a job makes me ill."

That's unfortunate, because you aren't going to make the money playing blackjack.

"All the books and websites focus on playing till you get backed-off and make as much as you can per session."

Not mine. :-)

"Is it silly to think I can make $100-$150 a day 3-5 days a week?"

Yes, extremely.

"In and out, not giving the casino a chance to notice my counting."

You're going to play up to five days a week, win consistently, but no one is going to notice? Fantasyland.

"All you green chip and black chip players, just humor me and my red chips."

How many hours a day do you think you need to play to average $150 a day playing red chips? Do you plan also on sleeping and going to school? Because, if you do, you just ran out of hours!

You need to seriously rethink this.

Don

Amos

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Apr 3, 2018, 5:38:35 PM

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Omg, I certainly did not expect a celebrity to respond!.. Its truly an honor, thank you...Your right, I have not read your book but I know your name. I am on Amazon as I write this and need to add it to my library.

My idea sounded fun but clearly misguided. Ok, Maybe $50 a day... lol

blick

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Apr 5, 2018, 7:47:33 AM

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Amos. Please read and re-read the below articles. Card counting is not as easy as you think. It will make you very stressful while facing negative variance, which might distract you from college. Try to save some money while working part time and practice a lot before hitting live casinos.

https://wizardofvegas.com/articles/A-to-Z-Counting-Cards-in-Blackjack/

https://wizardofvegas.com/articles/A-to-Z-Counting-Cards-In-Blackjack-2/

https://wizardofvegas.com/articles/A-to-Z-Counting-Cards-in-Blackjack-3/

prankster

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May 19, 2018, 3:15:08 AM

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Amos-Perhaps you have more than one casino within driving distance. You have 3 shifts and seven days at each casino. Hmmm?

Burt Macklin

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May 31, 2018, 10:28:24 PM

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"Is it silly to think I can make $100-$150 a day 3-5 days a week?"

|Yes, extremely.

To expand on this, that would be about 5/week = 2K/month = 24K/year.

Unless you are skilled, bankrolled, and have a mentor it would be difficult to expect that for a new player. There are people that make that or much more, though. Most people I know are not playing exclusively blackjack anymore.

spincycle59

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Jun 24, 2018, 1:05:34 AM

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I too have that silly goal however, having been around for some time I do have a few rules. Rule 1. I never play unless I have at least 40 hands for my bankroll
not even socially. Red table min. $200 bankroll. Black $4000 and so forth. I set a gaol and /or a time limit. Increase my bankroll by 50% and I'm gone.
1 hour of play and I'm off to meet a fictional friend at Starbucks, (I need a break from counting) loose 50% of my bankroll and I'm done for the day. As of today my bankroll sits at 100K and I still enjoy those $100 winning sessions. I'd rather die than give one cent back to a Casino MHO

snapper

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Jun 30, 2018, 9:30:28 PM

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What do you mean by "not even socially"? I think you need more than 40x the table minimum to play a session. If you ramp to $75 and split plus double, you may be out your entire session BR. If the shoe is very favorable, you are under-gunned. I believe 50x your big bet will get you through a "weekend", so 25x might be a good session BR. You need to ramp 5 to 15 or so. $75 x 25 is $1875. Even $1,200 might work okay, but $200 is one bet!

shinyam

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Aug 15, 2018, 6:26:18 PM

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Certainly $150 a day is achievable. But it depends on so many factors.

1)Skill level - You will need to have many hours of experience/knowledge before you are good enough to make money and fix any leaks in your game.
2)Bankroll - For $150 a day, you're looking at 3 hours/day or $50 per hour. Your bankroll, depending on the game, should be several thousand dollars.
3)Heat- Some casinos are so sweaty, they won't even let you bet quarters before they back you off. Just happened to me yesterday. I went to the next casino, and they backed me off before I even started to play.
4)Longevity - You can easily make $150 a day at some of the bigger, more tolerant casinos, but that can only last so long. Eventually you will get backed off, and not be able to play. How long you can last is not in your hands sometimes.

I would say go for it. But only if you have the bankroll and are prepared for the huge variance. Best of luck!

prankster

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Aug 16, 2018, 11:01:15 AM

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In Blackjack Bluebook II Fred Renzey says your session BR should equal 12 big bets.

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playing just to cover the cost of living?