Okay, here is a link to a video I just watched from Blackjack Apprenticeship on YouTube. go watch it quickly, it's only about 5 minutes long, then come back here and look at my comments.
Click here to watch
First of all, I want to say that Colin makes some very good points, and he really nails it as far as what type of player should not be counting cards professionally.
I would even go a little further than he does and saying that the vast majority of all gamblers should not be doing this professionally. They just don't have the required bankroll, attitude, and ability to do so. in the world of almost 7 billion people, I would estimate that there are fewer than 100, 000 people who play cards for a living, as their only income. And the vast majority of those are Asians. So that's a statistically insignificant number of people.
And I'm not talking about the whales, both in this country and abroad, who have multi million dollars or even billions of dollars of net worth, who use gambling as a way to get a rush or relax from whatever business that they're in. Those type of people can lose $100, 000 in a hand, and it won't affect them financially. Literally. I don't care how much money they win and or lose, those people are not what I call "professional" gamblers.
He is also dead right about the bankroll that you must start with and the number of hours that it will require for you to win a statistically significant amount of money. To be a professional card counter you've got to have the right temperament and discipline along with talent and ability.
In the surveillance room, we call this type of player a "grinder". If he's a local who happens to live in Vegas, or Reno, then you will see him three, four, five times or more at the same Casino every week. These Grinders will search out tables that have the most advantageous rules for the player, and maybe even a sloppy dealer or two. A Pit Boss that doesn't pay very much attention as a plus also. You can spot them by looking at their bet spread, the fact that they hawk the cards, rat-hole their winnings and never drink alcohol.
They will also split the scene very quickly if the pit phone rings and the Pit Boss starts having a long conversation with someone. The grinder, being paranoid, will at least think thay it's surveillance, and will cash out their chips and be out the door so fast you won't believe it.
(As a side note, my favorite thing to do as a surveillance supervisor on a busy Friday night, was to call down to the pit phone and ask whoever picked it up, usually a pit clerk, to yell across the pit to the Pit Boss, "It's surveillance", and then watch how many players got up and left the tables.)
So anyway, Collin was very good in this video that you watched, talking about who should and shouldn't play Blackjack as a professional. But he didn't talk about one other type of gambler . The type of gambler that I am. I like to call it "hit and run" gambling.
And we'll talk about hit and run gambling in my next blog post.
Comments
Post a Comment