Advice Please

[MidwestTom]

I'm going to disagree with most of the posters here and say yes, go for it. Just know you will have a good chance of losing your initial $500. But you can try again if that happens.

I would strongly disagree with saving a $20,000 bankroll or whatever some of the other posters suggested. If you were getting ready to do this full time for a job then that would be a different story, but just doing it as a second source of income, then just do it. Start with your $500 and grow your bank with all your winnings, until you are playing with a reasonable risk of ruin. Then preferably, just keep growing your bank, since you have a good job for your main source of income.

I am also an engineer, and I started playing with a $400 bankroll, knowing I had a very high risk of ruin, but also knowing I would keep replenishing that bankroll as much as it took to get profitable. I started with a $5 - $40 spread on a deeply dealt DD game, S17 DOA DAS RSA. I had a very lucky first day and won $750. After my first two months I was up over 10k. I've been playing for two years now and can play a green to black spread with a 1% ROR. I had one day where I lost one-third of my bankroll in a single day (after my bankroll was a substantial size), and if I had been playing off of money I saved from my "real job", I would have quit that day after losing so much. But my bankroll is all profit, so it doesn't bother me so much when I have big losing days. And I recovered that loss with a huge upswing over the next two weeks.

I like how you spoke up and used the example of your initial BR when responding. Good post. Give it a shot TJR but what you have to remember is this:
$5 min and $15 min you'll see a big difference per session.

[KronikBuddha]

And I'm in no way saying he will be able to do what I did. I think I had some great luck at a very good game initially. But I think it's better to take the chance to do something with it, since he already knows how to play, rather than take a chance of never playing because he can't save up a huge bankroll first for whatever reason.

But yes, $5 min DD is very different than a $15 min 8 deck game.

[stopgambling]

The problem with playing with a $500 session bank , he is not gonna feel good losing it . Why not do the traditional approach 20-30 max bets session bank(approximately for 4 hours ) for his game ,once he got the bet ramp and ror figured out .Expect to lose your session bank very quickily and replenish it. Do it for fun for few hundred hours . When he is ready emotionally and skill wise then play it as more serious hobby , then for a second income. Bj counting is much more fun when you are doing for hobby and with a low risk . I would listen to NYNE's ADVICE.

[mjbballar23]

mjbballar what is your email? I would love to talk more about this.

my username at aol.com

[seriousplayer]

- starting salary for BS Mech Engineer is $60k
Education is important. Having a good education will get you a good career in life. However, I do disagree that the only way to be effective in life is to have an engineering degree. There are no longer shortage of engineers. The salaries for engineers has not increase over the past 20 years. What that mean is that there is no longer a shortage of engineers taken as a whole. To a certain extent, there is shortage in specific fields but not as a whole. There are many extraordinary leaders that don't have engineering degrees and have extraordinary lives.

- little growth potential (33% of CEOs in S&P 500 companies have engineering undergrad degrees)
It is not a good idea toquit college to pursue a career in blackjack. During my undergraduate years in college I found that the most important thing is to pick a course of study that you can be happy in and make money at the same time doing it. It might be engineering, it might not. What is important is that you get the college degree.

I think you should look at blackjack as a supplement to your income and do that part time.

If you are looking to make big money than I would suggest you get a MBA and not an engineering degree. No $60,000-$70,000 is not a lot of money.

[Bodarc]

The answer is 42

[Sharky]

- starting salary for BS Mech Engineer is $60k
...I do disagree that the only way to be effective in life is to have an engineering degree....

serious, who are you disagreeing with? yourself???

[ETMAN]

Try keeping an advanced point count, and learn to look like you're chasing your bets when you lose but have a limit of not going pass you max bet. Remember to use camo betting and play, and learn how to use deviations in a negative shoe well. This will keep you at the tables with an almost even vantage . Don't go for the killing, long term playing is the key. this gives you the experience and confidence. I was on a professional team that made the movie 21 look like chump change. It's better if you have a team bankroll than your own, for many reasons. You can be very successful, however it takes time, patience, and the correct play versus bankroll. Good luck!! But that has nothing to do with it!!