It's a long one.

It all started a little over a month ago. I already knew basic strategy, had that down cold. I then decided it was time for me to take on counting. When I first learned about counting, I thought what most other people thought, "I have to bad of a memory to remember every single card played. I think it's impossible." But then I learned the truth, and the truth made sense. More little cards helps the dealer, more big cards helps the player. The logic is there. But I still had doubts about my ability to pull it off. At first, it sounded simple, its 6 that's a +1, now its a Jack, that's a -1. Basic addition and subtraction, something any first grader could pull off, but then I sat down and tried it myself. That first time through took way too long, and to make matters worse, I was off. I messed up the count. How could I mess up adding and subtracting by one, one card at a time, for 52 cards? It was unbelievable.

At this point I had only read one book on counting cards, Knock Out Blackjack. I chose KO as my system of choice because of the Blackjack Strategy Advisor, http://www.qfit.com/cvsel6.htm. It fit the criteria. I then read up on KO, I found out that while it was simple count, it was fairly effective. It sounded perfect for me. I am the occasional Vegas visitor, getting there once every other moth or so. I wasn't looking to become a pro, I just wanted something that would help me win a few bucks at the tables, and stay at the tables for a little while longer. But after reading the KO book from cover to cover (a few times I might add), I still couldn't pull off the count. And thus started my blackjack library.

I now own around 12 blackjack books, including Blackjack Attack, Knock Out Blackjack, Blackjack for Blood, Aces and Faces Blackjack, Blackjack Secrets, Las Vegas Blackjack Diary, and the list goes on. If any of these books offered new counting systems, I tended to skim those parts. I wanted to stick with KO, start easy, and get better as I got more experience. The advice I was really looking for was how to be a better counter. More specifically, how to learn how to count. I became disheartened when I realized that all of these books said essentially the same things. Start slow, one card at a time, then progress to 2 cards at a time, then, maybe to 3 cards at a time, and if you could count down a deck in less than 30 seconds, you were good to go. It all sounded so easy, just turn over some cards, add up a number that would never be more then 3 (for the KO system, and flipping 3 cards at once), and add that number to the number you had been adding to and subtracting from since the first card. But I couldn't do it. Deck after deck of me flipping over one card at a time, and taking it very slow, the count was never right at the end. It was at this point that I became defiant. These supposed experts on blackjack didn't know what they were talking about; I am going to learn this my own way. So I started to go at it myself.

I set aside all my books, tried to forget what they had said. All I needed to know was that a low card was +1 and a high Card was -1. So for 2 weeks solid, I drilled, and then I drilled some more. My trusty deck of cards, "Authentic Casino Cards Actually Used At Sahara's" was getting to look a little battered, and beat up. But at the end of the two weeks I could count down a deck of cards, flipping 3 cards at a time in under 25 seconds. I felt like the king of the world. I had done what those blackjack experts couldn't teach me, how to count cards. But then I got to thinking. I started looking back at how I learned to count, and it dawned on me, those supposed blackjack experts did know what they were talking about. Everything I had done is exactly what they had all told me. Do it step by step, take your time, and get it right. And I had. With a renewed faith in the knowledge and expertise of the expert blackjack players, I was ready to take on the learning process all over again, except this time; I would not discount the teachings of the masters.

So I hit the books again, and the internet. I re-read all of my books, I subscribed to Blackjack Forum, and I started reading the rge21.com, bj21.com, bjmath.com, and bjrnet.com forums. I realized that the masters I once scorned, and now believed in, were residents at these places. I started reading everyday, following links and learning more. I didn't stop learning. Blackjack had caught me up and entranced me.

So I had my count, I knew my indices, basic strategy was like recalling my name, I knew the conditions of blackjack tables across the country, and yet I lacked one thing, experience. And so I set off for Las Vegas.