Considering trying full-time

[FalseCount]

Considering trying full-time...

Let me start with the basics about myself:

• Mid twenties, college educated
• Have spent my time since college in a cubicle with a boss I do not like
• No liabilities or debt, currently live rent free, drive an old but reliable paid off car
• A little over 40k liquid right now
• Have played blackjack casually for 6 years
• I love being on the road and answering to no one
• Would hope to NET at least 20k first year after all expenses

Can those with experience in the present blackjack world give me some pros and cons? By far my biggest concern is burning through lots of places and not being able to get the hours in on games with great EV to make it worth my while.

If I blow through 20k of my savings I will probably be discouraged and may head back to the cubicle, which will always be there waiting for me…

Talk me into it or out of it.

[Stealth]

Pursue your dream by first developing your skill set to include the below items. Suggest you consider playing part timeuntil you are very comfortable with all aspects.


Prerequisites:

1. Tested and certain of your playing ability
2. Capable of determining the bankroll required to go pro by research and self education and subsequently, understanding.
3. Master of game evaluation to determine when and how to play. Detailed understanding of rules and penetration effects. Know when NOT to play.
4. Capable of designing bet structures suitable for the games you are planning to play and that include a "cover" component as longevity will become more important than increased EV as time goes on.
5. Developed a annual budget of casinos/games/amount of play at what bet structures
6. Self disciplined enough to "stay the course in good and bad times".
7. Expansion of AP play to include other side bets or games to augment your venture.
8. Find and listen to an experienced mentor.

[Three]

I would advise against going pro. If you do make sure you have some other income from investments or something. If you don't know what to expect, using your income to live off of will change RoR greatly and must be factored in. What happens when you are in a losing run and having to pay your monthly nut? You need to plan for that. Like have 6 months of monthly nut set aside from your BR and every 6 months break your bank to replenish the set aside for expenses. You will go crazy if you pay your monthly nut directly from your BR as soon as you are on a bad downswing and also seeing your BR deplete due to paying monthly living expenses. If you can put a decent dent in those expenses from other sources of income and/or set aside a half year to a year of living expenses aside from your BR you will be much happier and less stressed out. AP BJ is like investing in the stock market. If you are careful about your investments or play risk is low then you get a reasonable return over time. If you are aggressive and buy risky stocks or on margin, or you over bet your situation you can make a lot but the risk is very high causing a high likelihood you will get your ass kicked.

[Freightman]

Two very good posts to consider. Most guys aren’t as good as they think they are. Get as much low level betting practice as you can. Have someone trustworthy audit your game, and look for leaks. Nderstand exactly what it is that you’re considering.

Look for the better quality games, and further, determine which lousy games are worth taking a shot at. Have a good look at a recent post by Stelath (I’ll look it up, within last 2 weeks). Especially, have a look at the right hand column, to give you a good handle of the positive effects of deep pen on earnings.

Do you have cvcx and possibly cedars. If not, get them. Post your standard game rules and pen, and we can determine an average expectation, assum8ng your game is decent. Lots of stuff.

It’s oKay to fail, if in fact, that is what happens. Wheather successful or not, be informed to give yourself the best chance.

[Three]

Have a good look at a recent post by Stelath (I’ll look it up, within last 2 weeks). Especially, have a look at the right hand column, to give you a good handle of the positive effects of deep pen on earnings.

https://www.blackjacktheforum.com/sh...n-Illustration

[Bubbles]

Ease into it. Count in your free time. Get at least 500-1000 hours in before you make the jump. Counting is a bumpy ride.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

[Three]

Counting is a bumpy ride.

To put it mildly. It is so bumpy I have put shooting things out as a top priority when it comes to gain from improvements. i don't care about more EV or a higher SCORE. I want to smooth the ride. It can be done but people that don't value it would want to take the gain elsewhere. Even after shooting the ride, it is still quite bumpy. You just get a much stronger upward drift for your BR with shorter and less severe downswings. I will take that over a nominal gain in EV anytime. Paying bills from your BR while you are losing money at the tables is stressful. I'd rather more or less always win money over the period of recurrence for bills. It makes this grind much less stressful than expecting to have an extra couple thousand bucks after a two or three years of play. The years of my life dealing with the stress isn't worth the 3% gain in EV. I'd rather turn the casino into a more certain place to generate income. For such a nominal overall fee it seems like a no brainer to me.

[Wino]

Replying to Tthree's second post on the first page of this thread regarding choosing lower EV in order to experience less variance has its good points. Very clear opinion that I also share. I'd take the milder method of attack any day.

[Zach Black]

If your are employed and the job allows, take a 2 or 3 week vacation and give it a trial run. Treat it like a full time job during the trial.

You might find it enjoyable. You might find it's a grind dealing with the idiots (other players), the smoke, long drives, late nights, and being alone for weeks at a time.

[blueman]

I couldnt see myself being a 100% card counter. Its not steady enough. I am a 100% pro gambler, but i play a bunch of games like blackjack, some hole carding, some low variance machines that return a ton of freeplay, and the most steady of all is poker. I win 75-80% of sessions of poker, so its super steady and not very stressful. Combining all of these games helps reduce the pure bj variance and helps create a steady income. Ive never had a losing year. This year started off the worst year of my life (almost down 6 figs in 2 extended bj sessions) but it had turned around and now its an OK year. Poker and other games helped to make up for those huge losing bj sessions i had. I. Definitely losing this year on bj (maybe 300 hours of play). But my poker/free play game has more than made up for it.

[CountinCanadian]

I couldnt see myself being a 100% card counter. Its not steady enough. I am a 100% pro gambler, but i play a bunch of games like blackjack, some hole carding, some low variance machines that return a ton of freeplay, and the most steady of all is poker. I win 75-80% of sessions of poker, so its super steady and not very stressful. Combining all of these games helps reduce the pure bj variance and helps create a steady income. Ive never had a losing year. This year started off the worst year of my life (almost down 6 figs in 2 extended bj sessions) but it had turned around and now its an OK year. Poker and other games helped to make up for those huge losing bj sessions i had. I. Definitely losing this year on bj (maybe 300 hours of play). But my poker/free play game has more than made up for it.

Blueman are you not able to receive pms?

[SteinMeister]

... and the most steady of all is poker. I win 75-80% of sessions of poker, so its super steady and not very stressful.

Just curious blueman, do you play both casino and online poker? I would think online you wouldn't have to worry about the CSM effect like with BJ, since you're only counting "outs" on 7 cards (assuming Texas Holdem), and the deck is reshuffled at the end of each game.

[zbest1966]

What other games you do play beside BJ, how much is there advantage compare to BJ.