Ali Baba: Blackjack for a Living

[Ali Baba]

Don, I was surprised to hear how little (relatively!! ) you made from your book. Thanks for disseminating the information anyway! I remember in BJA, in regards to the "can I do this for a living", question, you say "you can, but you probably shouldn't". Which raises a matter of curiosity. Why haven't you ever made your living at the tables? You mention, in your response to Salmon, that "a chosen few" have quit their jobs and made a living playing BJ. I can only imagine that you would have the technical ability, the head-knowledge, the "act", and the stomach to qualify as a potential member of this chosen few, so I was just curious as to why you never "took the plunge". I hope it's alright that I addressed a question to you directly, although I am not a paying member of Don's Domain. Thanks again and thanks for everything.

Ali Baba

(P.S., do you still live in New York? I heard on the news that New York is in the top-ten LEAST affordable cities whereas Las Vegas is one of the top ten MOST affordable. A little added incentive, it seems, to "quit your day job"! Completely kidding Although card counters should find the affordability of Las Vegas quite appealing!

Ali Baba

[Ouchez]

> Don, I was surprised to hear how little
> (relatively!! ) you made from your book.
> Thanks for disseminating the information
> anyway! I remember in BJA, in regards to the
> "can I do this for a living",
> question, you say "you can, but you
> probably shouldn't". Which raises a
> matter of curiosity. Why haven't you ever
> made your living at the tables? You mention,
> in your response to Salmon, that "a
> chosen few" have quit their jobs and
> made a living playing BJ. I can only imagine
> that you would have the technical ability,
> the head-knowledge, the "act", and
> the stomach to qualify as a potential member
> of this chosen few, so I was just curious as
> to why you never "took the
> plunge". I hope it's alright that I
> addressed a question to you directly,
> although I am not a paying member of Don's
> Domain. Thanks again and thanks for
> everything.

> Ali Baba

> (P.S., do you still live in New York? I
> heard on the news that New York is in the
> top-ten LEAST affordable cities whereas Las
> Vegas is one of the top ten MOST affordable.
> A little added incentive, it seems, to
> "quit your day job"! Completely
> kidding Although card counters should
> find the affordability of Las Vegas quite
> appealing!

> Ali Baba

all addicted gamblers terrified of putting in a regular days work at a normal profession and having serious emotional problems.

Generally care about no one but themselves and put their family through hell.

Why would anyone think it cool to be part of such a group!

Ouchez.

[Don Schlesinger]

> Don, I was surprised to hear how little
> (relatively!! ) you made from your book.

It's too specialized. John Patrick and Frank Scoblete make 100 times more. They write for idiots; I write for card counters. The audience is too small. I think that just about everyone who's ever been serious about the game of BJ has my book. There just aren't enough such people, I'm afraid.

> Thanks for disseminating the information
> anyway! I remember in BJA, in regards to the
> "can I do this for a living",
> question, you say "you can, but you
> probably shouldn't". Which raises a
> matter of curiosity. Why haven't you ever
> made your living at the tables?

Never needed to. Once I moved to Wall Street, I earned more there than anyone could ever earn playing blackjack.

> You mention,
> in your response to Salmon, that "a
> chosen few" have quit their jobs and
> made a living playing BJ. I can only imagine
> that you would have the technical ability,
> the head-knowledge, the "act", and
> the stomach to qualify as a potential member
> of this chosen few, so I was just curious as
> to why you never "took the
> plunge".

See above. Playing the game for a living means spending half your life on the road, away from family, traveling incessantly, and putting up with the incredible amount of bulls**t that you have to take as a player trying to get away with winning. The latter is particularly distasteful to me. I'm happy to say that I have all the money I'll ever want or need, so playing professionally has never been tempting to me.

> I hope it's alright that I
> addressed a question to you directly,
> although I am not a paying member of Don's
> Domain. Thanks again and thanks for
> everything.

I'd like you to join DD. Have you used your free trial subscription for having bought the book? If you go over there for a while, it will become clear to you why you ought to be a member eventually.

Good luck to you, and keep writing.

Don

> (P.S., do you still live in New York? I
> heard on the news that New York is in the
> top-ten LEAST affordable cities whereas Las
> Vegas is one of the top ten MOST affordable.

Yes, I know all about it. :-)

> A little added incentive, it seems, to
> "quit your day job"! Completely
> kidding Although card counters should
> find the affordability of Las Vegas quite
> appealing!

I've been going to Las Vegas for 30 years. I love it there.

[Sonny]

> Once I moved to Wall Street, I earned more
> there than anyone could ever earn playing
> blackjack...I'm happy to say that I have all
> the money I'll ever want or need, so playing
> professionally has never been tempting to me.

I wanna go to Wall Street! Do you need an apprentice? If you don't I'll be FORCED into becoming a pro BJ player! =)

For just pennies a day you could all support me and my "nasty" habbit.

-Sonny-

[methodman]

>getting all the books taking courses etc..
the real deal in playing full time is
NO.1 DISCIPLINE
counting.money management..bank roll.cover etc..
all are important of course too.. but no. 1 is the killer..

goals..maybe its $275 a day..doesn't sound like much...well its over 100k a year...without tax..
try it good luck..but the bad days are always worse than the winning days...how we stop that is the key..

[Ali Baba]

Thank you for the invitation to Don's Domain. I actually did use my trial subscription under a different pseudonym. It was rather intimidating. I asked a lot of newbie questions, and felt my presence to be a bother. So after the subscription ran out I figured I could just post my questions on the BJ Beginner's where they would be more appropriate. I feel like I have a lot of questions, but as of yet not much to contribute. I did enjoy being a member of the domain, though, and would like to be part of the inner circle again. As of yet I've spent a lot of money and time on BJ books, software, and practice, but haven't hit the casinos much, because I haven't felt skillfully or financially prepared, and I don't want to get my face too well known. I am hesitant to spend yet more money till I prove my skills to myself. And from my limited exposure DD is much more meaningful after one has hit the felt a few times and gained some good experience. So I figure maybe I'll make some money back and use some of that profit to be a DD member once again.

Ali Baba