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View Poll Results: If you had to it all over, would you have started along the AP path?

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  • Yes

    39 73.58%
  • No

    3 5.66%
  • More yes than no

    5 9.43%
  • More no than yes

    3 5.66%
  • I have no friggin idea

    2 3.77%
  • I really want to direct

    1 1.89%
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Thread: If you had to it all over, would you have started along the AP path?

  1. #1
    Random number herder Norm's Avatar
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    If you had to it all over, would you have started along the AP path?

    If you had to it all over, would you have started along the AP path? I don't think this is an easy question based purely on results. There are negatives, like travel. (This can also be a positive for a time.) There are positives, like learning experiences related to human behavior, and the underlying math. (There might even be negatives here.) There are relationship negatives and positives.
    "I don't think outside the box; I think of what I can do with the box." - Henri Matisse

  2. #2


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    Certainly more yes than no, but not a solid yes for me. I love the learning process and I am constantly learning something new, which is great for the brain !
    There is no glory in practice, but without practice there is no glory . -Unknown

  3. #3


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    How do you define AP? Someone has AP skill, play bj for living? Or just like someone defined it in this forum as part time professional player?

  4. #4


    1 out of 1 members found this post helpful. Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    It keeps me off the streets...

  5. #5


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    It depends on when. If I was in my twenties at college, that yes, absolutely, provided that I had started with enough of a bankroll to make it worthwhile. In those days conditions in my country were much better than it is today. And I should have obtained that initial bankroll initially by internet bonus hustling which was also much more lucrative in those days.

    If I was a 40-year-old senior staff member in my day-job profession then no. I would need to be betting $50-100 minimum to approach an EV comparable with my salary - and that would be to all intents and purposes unviable in the modestly sized casino near where I live.
    I.... feel so right doing the Wong thing!!! 9-5! 9-5! 9-5! Every king that screws her makes me feel alive!!

  6. #6


    1 out of 1 members found this post helpful. Did you find this post helpful? Yes | No
    Very interesting posts from all of our members. Ap is much better than poker players . Most poker players are degen IMO.

  7. #7


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    Quote Originally Posted by stopgambling View Post
    Most poker players are degen IMO.
    Absolutely. Read "The Professor, The Banker, and the Suicide King." Even the "top" poker players are degenerates, going through bust cycles and needing to borrow money for cohorts, and betting on anything and everything that comes along.

  8. #8


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    I was listening on the conversation between 2 so called "good" poker players . It was hilariously . They sounded like 2 ploppies with some understanding of variance and risk. How they had to play "this game or that game" while waiting for a poker game. Different skill sets that is for sure. A lot of people are delusional ,.....then it gets me THINKING.

  9. #9


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    I believe there are far too many who went on the path, lost all their money (because they never had the bank roll or knew little about spreads, variance, etc., knew little more than counting cards and hugely over betting). They would not be on any forum anymore to answer that they regret going on this path.

  10. #10
    Senior Member Aslan's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KJ View Post
    I probably don't even need to respond. I suspect everyone that has been around for a while, knows my answer. I love my life. I love that I am able to make a comfortable, yet modest living from blackjack.

    Unlike many in our community, I didn't have other attractive options, for making a living. I didn't leave a high paying or even decent paying job or career to pursue my blackjack career. I don't even have a college education.

    I guess the only disappointing thing was that I had to relocate away from Philadelphia, where I moved after high school and built a life with many friends. But as much as I still miss Philadelphia and my friends, I love Las Vegas. My best friend followed me to Vegas a year after I moved, so that helped. Vegas is and always has been in my blood, from the first moment I saw the neon lights out the plane window. I like to say that I have neon running through my veins.

    So, the short answer, which it is a little too late for is that I have absolutely no regrets.
    Don't ever feel guilty for not having a college education (I'm not saying you do, but I did at one time). It is something you can get anytime or never. Of course you already know that many of the richest persons in the world had no college degree. It is simply a key, a set of credentials for entering certain occupations. Also, I feel equally sure that you are well read, having given yourself your own education. If I have misjudged and you are not well read, I highly recommend it. Which reminds me, I need to get back to reading myself.

    Aslan 11/1/90 - 6/15/10 Stormy 1/22/95 - 8/23/10... “Life’s most urgent question is: what are you doing for others?” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

  11. #11


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    It is better to know how to be an AP than it is to no know. After all is said and done, If you get burned out on AP you can step back, stop or try to go out in a blaze of glory!

  12. #12


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    If I had the chance to do it all over again, I wouldn't have tried to pursue AP at all, period. This may be bias based on my personal experience but it's effected my life more negatively than positively.

    I enjoy the game, learning, and making some extra money but it's made me incredibly cynical. I guess if I could go back in time I would have done it only part time as a hobby and not as a profession.

  13. #13


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    I read Revere's book over 30 years ago, and even though I was intrigued about card counting, I did not pursue it seriously until many years later after I had retired from work, my kids were grown, and my body told me to slow down with young man sports.
    I love AP as a retirement hobby. However, even though BJ conditions were better years ago, I'm glad I did not pursue CC until I did because it would have been a big distraction to my career, my family life and my weekend warrior activities.

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