The value of software and books

[Bodarc]

I often hear people say, with their bankroll they can't afford good software and books or they don't have the time, yet they go out and play any bj table they come to without knowing anything about the game they are playing or the difference in the games available.

Let's just use CVCX and Blackjack Attack for example. You can purchase both of them for about let's say $ 125. I forgot the exact amount I paid for them but that's close.

Assume you read and examine your games and you increase your advantage from 1% to just 1.5% to use round numbers. One year of play at only 3 hours per week could look something like this:

Rounds	Avg	Hours	Weeks
Per Hour	Bet	Per Week	Per Yr	Advantage		EV
80	50	3	52	0.015	$	9,360
80	50	3	52	0.01		6,240
		Difference			$	3,120

Now how much is that software or that book worth? And that is only a .5% increase. What if you could increase your advantage to 10% at times?

If you can't buy the materials you need or you don't have the time to study them, you shouldn't be playing.

[Three]

And that is only a .5% increase. What if you could increase your advantage to 10% at times?

Not to nit pick but you are not using your terminology right. A .5% increase from 1% is 1%+0.005= 1.05%. An additional .5% is 1%+0.5%=1.5%. What you are describing is a 50% increase or an additional 0.5%. You make a good point about what resources can be worth to a counter. Using your figures it would be worth the investment if your yearly increase in EV was $126. ($6240+126)/(80*50*3*52) = 1.02%, so an additional 0.02% (or an increase in advantage of 2%) in EV would pay for them in the first year at that meager number of hours per year (156 hours/year or 13 hours/month).

The point still is you are throwing money away if you don't invest in the resources to improve your game. Those tat do not make the incetment will always be making their life harder. The loss is not just EV but increased N0, lower SCORE, increased RoR etc. These are things that are very important to success and failing to optimize can make you go bust where you otherwise would not have.

[Bodarc]

Correct Three, thanks. Should have said additional instead of increase.

[muckz]

Also in BJA3 is the lesson that the guy without software could win a house and 3 cars while the software guru could have a losing year.

[Bodarc]

My friend won a new Lexus in a bj tournament and he doesn't even know basic strategy.

[RS]

Books (as well as online communities like forums) -- valuable because you learn things you normally wouldn't. Dealing with heat or ploppies, legal advice (Bob N's book), or just realizing that N0 and SCORE are other factors to take into account, it's not just EV.

Learning the game in depth, you realize what kind of advantages or disadvantages you may normally be giving up. Learning the hole-card strategy, even partially, can help a great deal sometimes, if the dealer accidentally exposes the hole card. Or if your first card is a 9, something weird happens and you can now back out of the hand or play it. Things you don't necessarily need to know, but, the more knowledge you have the better decisions you can make when something "different" happens.

Software -- invaluable. Perfect your play so you're spot on with practice software (CVBJ or VPW). Or with CVCX you can tailor your spread to meet your desired statistics. Even just doing the Sims and figuring out an 75% game is playable under X conditions, but a 65% or 70% pen game is no longer playable under the same conditions.

Without the software, you very well may be playing a losing game and have no idea. You also may not actually know what your EV, SCORE, or N0 is for the game(s) you're playing.