Hi. I originally started reading Casino Gambling for Dummies out of boredom and the Basic Rules to black jack caught my attention. I was enthralled with the idea that a simple computer simulation came up with all of the best possible moves and then they were put into a simple to understand list. I have never gambled before. In fact, I've never been in a Casino before, but I started looking at this site and at all of the insane math that goes into RoR and other such things and it just blew me away! I am a sophomore in college and, while math isn't my forte, I believe myself determined enough to take on an engineering major. I'll be taking pre-cal next semester and I can barely understand a lick of things like the certainty equivalent or the logs and stuff that have to do with the Kelly Generalization or whatever. But what I do understand is the principle of counting. The fact that more small numbers being played means a likeliness of faces being played. I've enjoyed reading about the Hi-Lo system and have in fact taken to counting down a deck in my spare time. I believe that, in time, I'll be able to understand the logs and other crazy math that is on this site, but after 3 or 4 hours of total practice counting down a deck one card at a time I find myself taking 40 seconds to count the thing down. And that's on a good run! I really enjoy the culture of counters that I have been reading about and all of these equations seriously intrigue me, but I can't seem to wrap my head around this expectation that with practice I will somehow be able to count down a deck in 25 seconds. Is there something that I am missing or is that really possible with practice? I guess I'm just a little discouraged at my inability and at the idea that I have this taste of something that seems so amazing, but it doesn't appear that I have the capacity to do it. So if you have read my life story hear, and if you are still reading, I would really appreciate any tips, or even just a word of encouragement.
