|
When I think back to how I got around to becoming a card counter I have to
wonder how many people continue to play games that can't be beaten. Oh, I know,
anyone can win at the different games, but someone who spends serious time
playing games will eventually succumb to the mathematics of the house advantage
and pay for their entertainment. I was headed in that direction when I began
frequenting the new casinos in Ontario. I bucked the odds of the Roulette wheel
with a few systems and was lucky to have a bad streak take the wind out of my
sails without taking all of the money out of my pockets I had been lucky enough
to win. I realized I had some studying to do. Since I love to read to learn new
ideas, I made a trip to a book store in a mall I go to lunch in from time to
time.
I picked up a book called The New Gambler's Bible. From that book I learned
there are two groups of games. They were grouped into type L games for games you
eventually L-ose, and type W games, games you can learn to W-in that do not have
a fixed set of odds that keep taking paper out of your wallet. I read all about
systems and progressions used on the type L games and learned the simple truth
that you can't beat fixed odds, period. What drew my attention was the other
games that could be beaten. There are only four of them. Thoroughbred Horse
Racing, Sports Betting, Poker, and Blackjack. I narrowed my choice down to
Blackjack for two big reasons. I didn't want to spend the hundreds of hours
required to keep track of every player on every team of a particular sport, or
all the horses that run track and do all the handicapping required to determine
the betting of the horse races. I ruled out poker as well, at least to a second
pick since I do like the game. The thing I don't like about poker is I do not
like dishonest people, and a big part of poker is being dishonest, a
psychological part of the game. They are not cheating, just trying to trick each
other into making mistakes.
This left me with Blackjack. When I read all the rules of proper play I
couldn't believe how complicated the game was compared to the way my Father
taught me to play it. "Hit until you have 17 or more and then stand".
Great idea if you want to give about 3% of every bet you will make away. The two
big things I had to learn were Basic Strategy and Card Counting. I put the Basic
Strategy on a Q-card and memorized that. The card count was really quite easy. I
always thought card counting was some kind of genius level memory trick to
learn. When I saw that it was only keeping track of the difference in the number
of 10s in the decks I knew I could do this! The only disappointing thing about
all of this was that the book put a damper on my new excitement by saying a
person was lucky if they could gain a 1% advantage this way. Oh well, that was
still better than having a disadvantage.
I began to play in charity clubs with a minimum $1 bet and found I was making
about $6+ an hour. I moved up to bigger bets and the ratio held. When I was
betting $5-$10 I was making about $35 an hour. I knew I was on to something. My
studying didn't stop there. I went to a huge bookstore in Toronto and bought
"Million Dollar Blackjack". This has got to be the ultimate book about
Blackjack. The information is total, and at first, a little deep for me. As I
read it over and over, and played for hours and hours, the book began to come
alive. No, this is not a ghost story. I was beginning to understand the book
through my experiences. I began to try some of the more tricky plays and pull
them off.
I found a few sites on the internet that explained that most of the advantage
a person could gain beyond Basic Strategy was held within ten or so advanced
plays and made up flash cards to memorize them. I learned how to use flash cards
from the Million Dollar Blackjack book and this completed my entire arsenal. I
wanted to master a more advanced count and tried the APC in the book. I found it
too hard to play and dropped back to my Hi-Low count with my advanced plays.
I played and read on. The next book I bought was "The World's Greatest
Blackjack Book". I learned the Hi Opt I count from this book. It was easier
than the Hi-Low I was using and I got used to side counting Aces. I had heard
about the Hi Opt II from the MDB book and that it was as good as the APC. I
found the difference was in the way the 4, 5, and 10 cards were counted. The 7
was also counted, and this made sense since it is almost as valuable as the 2
card. I began to learn the Hi Opt II.
My winnings became substantial. I knew I had reached the place I wanted to
be. There was no way for me to go back to the wonder of believing in some magic
system that was going to make me rich. That fantasy was so exciting and I miss
it. It is a little more work to count cards, but I have always enjoyed a
challenge. Walking out of a casino with a pocket full of $25 and $100 chips has
made up for losing my belief in magic.
| 
