as a guy with an advanced science degree, of course i respect counters and, in my 2000 hours of recreational play, have had enough home counting practice followed by effort at the tables to glimpse the joys and sorrows of counting.


though i fully believe counting is advantaged play and that all else faces a house edge, i believe i detect in many counters a most unscientific bias. i would like to engage those of you who so quickly dismiss efforts to overcome the house advantage with anything but counting, as well as you counters who do NOT dismiss such so glibly, with phrases such as "voodoo" or some such term. hence, my respectfully posting in this category. the only respect i ask in return is that comments be substance-based instead of a dictatorial wave of your all-knowing hand being considered good enough.



those of you who count successfully, have a good math brain and can be fair-minded, i look to perhaps learn something from. those who arrogantly believe their own "counting-only" proclamation=gospel, let me start by asking if you would be comfortable with the following arrangement: you and i will meet to flip coins and i will employ perfect, basic, coin-flipping strategy and every 100 flips i will give you .5% of the total money wagered for showing up. i get to decide what size coins we flip, for how long, when we stop and when we start back.



the math is obvious, you will have an edge. the REALITY is, your generosity in allowing me the when, how long, how much and when do we do it again, gives me a reasonable prospect of owning everything you have--to suggest your edge will INEVITABLY lead to my "long term" destruction is, i suggest, patent nonsense.

depending on how i choose to use the tools you have given me, i see prospects for my losing all i have, getting all you have or something in between and if i construct my efforts with an emphasis on not losing, i see a high probability of success for THAT with lower prospects of losing or winning big----a very long career at counting, similarly, still only offers probabilities of winning with the possibility of lifetime loss.



let me pause here for comments.