My thanks to all of the senior members for advice to get more live experience at low stakes and trying to kock the rust off before I go out there for serious play. I have gone to casinos, back counted and played some low stakes. Bottom line, I'm not a total schlep but I'm not as good as I thought I was on the computer. There were a number of times when I felt tentative and realized I was lacking in speed on decision making. I will continue live visits as part of my "extended trainig".

I often hear newibies asking, how do I know when I'm ready. I thought it might be good to get your thoughs on what might be good "check out" self tests to pass. I can count down a single deck in about 24 seconds. I know there are a numbe of other ones out there. I'd be interested to come up with some more standards for self test, particularly if they can use CVBJ drills. For example, I can usually get through 50 hands on the flashcard drill with an error about every other drill, one per hundred and speeds from 17 to 21 hands per minute, usually scoring in the 170 to 225 range, but don't know if that means I'm ready.

Your thoughts on what you would require for a check out if you were running a team or if you were coaching a new player are appreciated.