I am not a fan of measuring play and results in hours. I stopped doing so years ago. All hours are not created equal, depending on number of players at table and dealer speed. And that variation can be quite dramatic. Think heads up play with a fast dealer, 200+ rounds per hours vs a full table with slow dealer and slow players making 1, maybe 2 side bets, in which you might be talking under 30 rounds per hours. Yes I know that is why we have "averages", but I just don't see the point in that. What really matters is rounds played. That is what N0 is based on, that is what win rate is based on, so that is what I track, rounds played, not hours or some other artificial measurement.
Now that said, almost a decade ago, when I first moved to Vegas (yep it has been that long....time flies), I used to leave my home near the strip say 9am-ish and return at 10, 11 pm, sometimes midnight. And that was pretty much 7 days a week, maybe 6 during football season. I was young in my 20's and single and blackjack was my life. BUT, I didn't play BJ 13-15 hours a day. That time away from home, included play, and bouncing around between casinos. Playing a short session, hit and run style, travel between even casinos in close proximity eats up time. It also included eating several meals a day and also breaks. Sometimes I would take an hour and watch a baseball game in a sportsbook, or even just sit and watch people for 30-60 minutes.
So in rounds played, which is what I measured, I was getting 80,000. but I was probably averaging 40 rounds an hour, maybe less.
As time went on, I have been able to greatly improve 2 areas. I get my rounds in, consuming far less actual time (hours), probably averaging 65-70 rounds per hour and I have been able to increase my win rate /100 rounds, while playing the same betting levels, by incorporating a couple techniques. End result is that playing the same betting levels, and same short session, hit & run style, I spend much less time, earning the same money as 8-10 years ago. More than cut it in half. I am out of my home related to BJ probably 5-6 hours a day and that includes a meal.
So when I hear someone talk about "hours", my first question is just what are they talking about? Actual time sitting at a table? Because that is not really how blackjack works, there is misc time associated with bj play, including keeping records and administrative things. It has been my experience that most players talking about 2000 hours a year (let alone 3000 or 4000), which is equivalent to a fulltime 40 hour work week, are players that really don't understand what it means to play blackjack full-time. There is no comparison to sitting in a cubical or behind a desk somewhere.
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