Hello everyone. I have lurked around the site on and off for the last few months and would like to introduce myself and hopefully receive some advice. I'm a 100% solid basic strategy player, have been in and out of casinos for the last decade (with at least 15 trips to Vegas) and many locations in the midwest (I'm in my mid 30's). I've held Diamond status with Caesars properties on and off for the last few years (my cumulative loss with them is at least 15k in the last 5 years) but worked up most my status with video poker. After a recent trip to Vegas, I'm just sick of losing. Nearly every time I go out there I lose on average 3k or so at the tables over a weekend and am looking for an edge. I have devoured about 10 books recently including Knockout, Color of blackjack, Norm's online book, Burning the tables, Blackjack blueprint and others in an attempt to gather some info. I've been practicing the knockout count (at home) and utilizing some of the TKO strategy as outlined in Color of blackjack and feel like my skills are improving. I plan on purchasing the Verite software soon to run some simulations and continue practicing. It will be several months before I head back to Vegas, and plan on practicing an hour or two each day until then.

I have a 10k bankroll that is fairly easy to replenish. I'm not necessarily tied down to Vegas. I have flight privileges and can travel for free so am open to exploring new areas. Without running any software, my initial plan is to play some DD with a 25-150 spread for short sessions and mostly play 6 deck spread 15-150 typical strip games. I realize my ROR is a bit high, I may tweak the spreads down a little when I run some simulations.

Some questions I have are:
Would it be beneficial to continue playing on my players card while counting at various properties since with any given rewards program I probably have a net loss currently? I could reduce my spreads slightly and play rated and put on a good act.
Or since I'm new to counting, should I do everything in my power to stay undetected and play as a refusal and try and improve longevity. I'm not overly concerned about comps, but I will say they have been a nice benefit.
Also, If a casino is a database participant, if you get backed off or banned at one property in the midwest does that transfer to say another company in Vegas that is also a database participant?

Thanks in advance for any advice and responses. No, Bill Carson is not my real name.