See my post of 29 mar 2013 2:03 PM

Anyone care to guess? Anyone have any idea? At least I made an educated guess.

I thought about this and based upon what I have read and actually observed and confirmed, my estimate is more than 2000 in the United States and more than 200 in Las Vegas. I spoke with someone that was from Pittsburgh, at length, two years ago who was very good at it. I sat at the same table not knowing he was a card counter and knew immediately that he was after playing a couple hands. On the next shoe I beat him to a seat at a table and he was very surprised, so we had a chance to talk after one of the shoes.

I thought all of you were sharper than tacks!

Maybe Don has a guess.

You would need to be more specific. Full time, part time, recreational, successful, single income source, supplemental income, unsuccessful, tried it, read a book, think they can count but can't, what have you. Are you including casino personnel, casino personnel who play BJ on the side, surveillance operators, academics. You might get an upper bound by looking at how many copies of certain books have been sold and make an assumption about a percentage who actually do it "regularly".

To what end do you need this estimate?

Thanks for answering and asking for specifics Intermediate. I don't need this info for any reason. It's not for a college paper or even a high school paper. Just curious.

Are you new to the board?

Without reading all of your post, yet, I was wondering how many proficient, competent blackjack PLAYERS there may be who may be professional OR recreational. Even those who can count proficiently and earn money in a casino.

Robbie

Provide an estimate, Gorgon, don't be afraid.

I'm not from the USA so I will talk in general. There is a world beyond the American borders,you know!
When people are confronted with card counting, the common reaction is to think that this is only for geniouses.Remember, the reaction of the "eye in the sky" in the film "Rainman":'What? He's counting down a 6-deck-game.Incredible!" So, only a small fraction of people would even try. But many of those who do try won't succeed.Most of them won't even reach casino speed but from those who manage well at the kitchen table, many won't be able to keep it up under casino conditions and lose the count at the first disturbance or when they have to play their own hand.
But even from those who actually succeed in keeping up the count through the whole shoe,only a few will ever be a threat to the casinos.
There are different types: the superficial,the faithless,the undisciplined, the paranoid and the anxious.
The superficial doesn't understand the math behind the whole thing and might not even care about basic strategy.The failure is certain.
The faithless will start well and respect BS but under the social pressure "You took again the dealer's bust card" or at the latest after the first big loss he will abandon the system.
The undisciplined understands everything but will overbet or even bet into negative situations especially after he lost some good bets.
The paranoid is so worried about being detected that he will overdo the camouflage as to no longer play with an advantage.
The anxious is very discplined but will not bet enough in positive situations because he cannot take a big loss.
This last 2 types are very widespread among intellectuals and I even know some participants of this forum who fall under these categories.
For those who do succeed it's impossible to give a number but I think you get the idea.

Francis Salmon

I'm not ignoring Europe or the world but I had to put some bounds on the question. What you write is nearly perfect. I couldn't have written it better myself.

But at least I made an attempt to estimate a number, knowing that we have the major casino areas in the United States. I have thought about all of the ideas that you mentioned.

I'll add that the undisciplined, anxious and very conservative may underbet.

As my deceased friend and mentor, Ralph Stricker, "The Silver Fox", would tell me, patience and discipline are omnipotent.

Right now my play is being evaluated for suggested improvements in my game.

Maybe we will cross paths in the U.S. some day. Las Vegas?

Robbie