Agree. This isn't a quote from Zee's "friend." His post was a true representation of his own feelings. If I'm wrong, then I would say the comments from his friend are pretty unfair. Let's face it... what are the chances that Zee's friend actually knows a real AP?
As an aside; who says that having a successful career AND being a real AP are mutually exclusive? Why does being a successful AP translate into being a gambling addict in Zee's mind?
I think Zee purposely makes posts to get a rise out of people. I think he struggles with concerns of being addicted himself, so he likes to condemn others by labeling them as gambling addicts. Zee talks about how a real AP will hurt their relationships with his/her friends and family; Yet, he's the only guy I see driving 3 hours each way to play some crappy game in middle of IN, where his EV barely covers the price of his gas, due to his weak spreads and poor game selection. So who's really addicted? He talks about how a real AP is so dumb that they'll pass on a good career to spend time in "smokey, loser filled environments in search of small edges." But Zee spent almost every day in this environment when he lived near a casino in MO. So what am I missing here?
I think what makes a true AP is someone who has the ability to find weaknesses in a casino and knows* what to do with said weakness. A true AP knows every game, from blackjack to Pai Gow, penny slots to VP. Not just the strategy, but how they work, what are the differences and similarities. They know how marketing works and the slot club card works, in detail. They're savvy enough to seek out a possible advantage, but intelligent enough to do the math and verify the advantage (if necessary).
* Not necessarily by instinct....but to be able to sit at every machine in the house, or every table game, or whatever it takes, until that weakness can be turned into a player advantage.
Last edited by RS; 06-21-2016 at 12:33 PM.
"Everyone wants to be rich, but nobody wants to work for it." -Ryan Howard [The Office]
Stop analyzing me though you may be right. When you get into your late 60's, it's harder to lie to yourself. While I was living in MO, playing every day and being on the plus side, I was also asking myself if I was addicted. On a few trips, I did not sleep well, abandoned my planned schedule and played far more than planned. In the end, I decided that I would move to a place where I could no longer play every day. I am still trying to figure out if I am addicted since I am bored to death all day but cannot go to casinos daily.
However, it's no not what my post was about. It's just that I was looking up books, saw so many on Amazon, wondered why these AP's had stopped earning through AP stuff and opted to become authors, why some of the famous MIT folks no longer are full time players, read a piece recently on another forum of an AP making 6 figure income for several years quitting AP and BJ. I think, like a professional athlete, the full time career as AP does not last more than a few years for most.
There are rather a large number of possible reasons for changing professions. You'll notice that many of the authors are rather clever people. Perhaps they want new challenges.
"I don't think outside the box; I think of what I can do with the box." - Henri Matisse
Norm, it was a great thought for a thread. I find it kind of disappointing with the exception of a few posts.
An AP is someone:
That will think outside the box in how to get an advantage over what he witnesses in the casino.
He won't just believe something because enough people said it, he will investigate for himself. Most of the best stuff is not discussed and covered up for reasons that should be obvious to every AP.
An AP networks with lots of different types for valuable info even when the other person doesn't know it.
An AP understands what makes games easier to beat depending on what technique they are using. Different techniques and styles look for quite different conditions. Either style your attack to the conditions you find or find the conditions you seek. Playing just to get in hours is insane. For the best results you want to maximize the quality of hours not the quantity. This ties directly into the certainty of your results.
An AP can spot weaknesses and vulnerabilities in any number of games. Then he will find a way to exploit the vulnerability or not play at all.
An AP will understand the non-playing aspects of being an AP. Things like RoR, BR management, the importance of variance control on results, The difference between EV, SCORE and CE which ties into the importance of variance control. Some even take it beyond CE to the next moment.
An AP is cold and calculating and with no actual emotion uses whatever happens in his environment to his advantage. Often that means feigning emotion.
Last edited by Three; 06-21-2016 at 07:42 PM.
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