From the desk of Victor Pride
Subj: Why I'm deaf to advice and criticism
—
I've been in a Las Vegas for a few days studying the game of blackjack.
But more than studying the game, I study the people who play blackjack.
I watch them just give money to the casino over and over.
I watch them hit until they bust over and over, just giving money away.
I watch them agonize over each and every decision to hit or to stay.
Each decision for them is emotionally charged and I watch them have emotional meltdowns when they don't win hands.
I watch all of them play blackjack in exactly the same way. They all follow the exact same blackjack strategy.
They all try to get as close to 21 as they can without busting.
99% of the time they bust and they just give the dealer their money, the dealer doesn't have to do anything at all.
The people simply put themselves in losing situations.
I've been watching this over and over and I've developed a system that mitigates my losses and enhances my win percentages.
What do I do?
I simply do not utilize blackjack strategy.
I am the one and only person at the table who does not follow standard blackjack strategy.
I do not hit and hit and hit in a futile effort to get to 21, only to bust and lose before the dealer even shows their hole card.
Since I play so vastly different from the regular players, what do you think is their attitude about it?
Are they:
- A) Curious about it or
- B) Hateful about it
If you know anything about human nature, you know the answer is B.
They are hateful about the way that I play.
Let me give you an example…
I sat down to play a few days ago next to an old woman who was chain-smoking cigarettes and losing hundreds of dollars every few minutes.
She would be dealt her cards and she would follow basic blackjack strategy and she would lose most of the time.
On the other hand, I choose the table I play on carefully and I don't hit anything 12 or above.
So I was dealt a 12 and I stayed. This is blasphemy to a traditional blackjack player (i.e. a losing player).
You could have heard the gasps from the old woman who was busy losing her money.
That's when the chatter started…
She said to the dealer: “It's scary playing with all this money with people who don't know how to play blackjack.”
The dealer said: “I agree with you one hundred percent.”
Both the dealer and the old woman losing money agreed that I could not play blackjack, even though I leave the casino with more money than when I come in.
I had to laugh and ignore them.
The insinuation was that I don't know how to play blackjack properly.
And they were right, I don't play blackjack properly.
If I played blackjack properly, I would always lose big.
We continued to play, we're dealt a few hands and I don't hit on anything over 12.
The chain-smoking lady becomes increasingly angry about it, even though the way I play has no effect on anybody but myself.
I'm dealt 14 and she's dealt a 16. The dealer shows a king.
I stay, the chain-smoking lady hits and is dealt an 8 and she busts (loses), the dealer flips over a 5, draws another king and busts (loses).
I win.
I'm the only one at the table who wins.
The lady becomes angry again.
She says: “You need to take your hits just like everybody else.”
I ignore her and laugh about this.
I'm the winner, she's the loser and she's telling me I need to play just like her.
She cannot comprehend that her blackjack strategy is a losing strategy and will ensure that she always loses.
In fact, none of the players understand this. They all play exactly the same way and they all lose.
The casinos even sell blackjack strategy books in their gift-shop. That shows you blackjack strategy doesn't work.
If it actually worked, the casinos would not promote it and they would ban anyone who followed it from their casinos.
Blackjack strategy simply does not work.
Yet all of these people who play blackjack follow the strategy religiously.
And they ALWAYS lose their money.
They just throw their money away on a strategy that is designed to get them to lose money.
When they see somebody like me, somebody who does not follow the basic strategy at all, they literally get mad and treat you like you're stupid.
Even when you're winning and they're losing.
They literally tell you you're wrong when you're busy winning and they're busy losing.
That's not a new experience for me…
Even well-meaning family and friends will give you advice that will sink you down into the pits of hell.
I used to listen to their advice…
They said go to university so you can get a good job and pay off your student debts that you accrued because you went to university in the first place.
So I went to university, and went into debt to do it, in hopes of getting the magical “good job” that they always dream about.
Then, to be more like them, I got a car loan, I got credit cards and I got “good” jobs so that I could pay off all those debts.
I did everything just like them and I was deep in debt, even at 21 years old.
When I should have been carefree and having the time of my life, I was stuck in the pits of hell, working like a slave and digging myself deeper into hell because that was the advice they gave me.
But little by little I started to wake up.
I started to get sick of working terrible jobs to pay off terrible debts.
I would notice that the debt amount would seemingly never go down and I had nothing but stress to show for it.
I started to realize that their advice was designed to make you poor and in debt for your entire life, just like them.
They didn't realize it … but I did.
I realized that they will ensure that you start out your life deep in debt, stuck in the pits of hell with them.
I realized that their strategy was a losing strategy from the get-go.
And when I had these realizations, did I keep playing a losing game?
Hell no.
What did I do?
I just stopped listening to their advice.
All of it.
I decided not to participate in their way of life anymore.
I quit playing their losing game.
I decided only to rely on myself and my own intuition and to follow my own path.
I decided I would never again have a job and I would never again go into debt for any reason.
I decided to never again utilize a losing strategy.
And over the years, I have learned the strategy of the masses is always a losing strategy.
The only winning strategy looks like blasphemy to the normal people and they will try to get you to abandon it.
But the strange thing is that the normal people never stop to question why they do the things they do.
They just keep digging that pit deeper into hell, and they all try to take you down with them.
They all live life in debt, they all work slave jobs, and they all have crippling anxiety over money issues.
They emotionally snap over trivial issues just like the players at the blackjack tables emotionally snap when the dealer hits a blackjack.
Their strategy was always a losing strategy and they were always too emotionally charged to see it.
That's why I don't listen to advice anymore. I am completely deaf to it.
And I win because I don't play by their rules.
In their minds, if you don't follow the same path as them you're going to end up living on the street, digging through trash bins to find food to eat.
But that's not what happens.
In fact, the opposite is what happens.
- When you follow your own path, that's the only time you find success.
- If you don't follow your own path, you will never be free and successful.
These days, ten years after I stopped listening to advice, I have no money issues at all.
I live debt free and carefree, like I should have at 21.
On a whim I can take a road trip to Las Vegas to win or lose money at my discretion.
Whether I win big or lose big doesn't matter, I'm set. I'll always be fine.
I am only in the position I am in because I do not listen to advice.
If I had continued listening to their good advice, I would be in crippling debt.
Each morning I would wake up dreading my drive to work, and each night I would drink myself to sleep to be able to momentarily overcome money anxieties and fall asleep.
But that's a terrible pit to be in, so I just don't listen.
My ears are deaf to their advice, just like I'm deaf to the losers at the blackjack table who want me to follow their losing strategy.
They want me to take the hits just like they do, but what kind of unthinking moron wants to take hits?
They are too blind to see their way is the losing way. They are following the path laid out for them, and that path was designed for them to lose.
Just like blackjack strategy, the standard and accepted life path designed to get you to lose.
When a winner comes along, they try to get the winner to become a loser and they do this unknowingly.
This is the #1 word you have to remember about normal people:
UNKNOWING.
They live life in an unknowing manner, just following the herd, taking hits and not realizing the futility of it.
They don't know anything, all they can do is follow and try to get you to follow.
Just don't follow.
Be the lone man at the blackjack table who bucks traditional strategy.
They won't understand what you know…
Their strategy was always a losing strategy.
And they will try to get you to follow their losing strategy.
They want you to take your hits just like everybody else.
But you don't have to take the hits.
You can just win instead.
Just like me.
I am free while they are all digging themselves deeper into the pits of hell, too stupid, too weak, and too blind to just stop digging.
All I ever did was stop digging and walk right out of the pits of hell.
That's it.
That's all I ever did.
Until next time.
Your man,
-Victor Pride
Chris “Good Looking Loser” mentioned the same thing on podcast three weeks ago.
Gotta let the losing team fail until they open their eyes and see who’s really winning.
Great creative post as usual.
Which podcast? Haven’t heard from him in forever
More Plates More Dates Podcast.
Look it up on YouTube.
The house always wins when you play by their rules.
I can just imagine that old lady fuming while Vic made money.
This article made me laugh. Human nature……. wow!
Amazing article and I totally agree with doing things your own way instead of following the crowd. I used to play Yugioh on a competitive level and I always used my own signature deck. It was unique, a one of a kind and I pitted it against the top meta decks at tournaments. Now I grant you that my victories were far and few between, but I performed well in most events. Several day two appearances and I even managed to win a regional tournament with a record of 9-1. You stick with conventional strategies and people will know how to thwart you because they are prepared to deal with the top decks. If someone like me comes along with a crazy, unorthodox but viable deck strategy and people panic and make mistakes. I have seen this occur several times against various different opponents at different events I have competed in. They don’t know what to do, they haven’t practised against a deck like mine because I am the only person who ran that specific deck!
Anyway . . . I have never really been one to follow the crowd, and have typically preferred to do things my own way. Just like you Victor, I went to university, graduated with a degree in Mathematics, subsequently spent the next 7 years working jobs (albeit some did pay well) but losing myself in the process of the 9-5 life. This year, I have realised that I will never become the person I want to be if I continue to live this way and hence, I have started to follow my own path as a blogger and personal trainer. Progress has been slow going and getting traffic onto the site is currently my biggest challenge but I am optimistic that my efforts will pay off in due course.
Again, I really enjoyed this article and I will have to try out your Blackjack strategy when I next hit the casino!
My word… that’s a beautiful site you’ve got there! Rest assured I’ll be taking some time off to go through it properly tomorrow.
Thanks so much, AI, really appreciated! I mainly talk about health, well-being and lifestyle topics but also use the site as a personal journal of sorts, where I record my own ventures (mainly martial arts stuff).
I made the site myself using the Astra theme from wordpress. The basic theme which I am currently using is free and pretty straightforward to utilise.
“They put us out to pasture” - Carl Schmidt.
If you stay at the farm, why are you surprised you are being milked?
Venture into the wilderness!
The air of freedom is ice cold. And the bites of this winds are dear to me, while the stuffy heat of comfort repulses any man of higher type. Reclaim your essence and your destiny.
Blessings upon you, Uncle Vic!
I love going to Atlantic City and just watch all the people spend hours on a chair losing lots of money.
I never play. I just watch.
I watch a lot more than I play. I’ve watched hundreds of hands by now. The people just give their money to the casinos, over and over and over.
most casinos have their own henchmen, stay on focus.
I’ve spent a lot of time in Atlantic City as well. I mostly watch. It’s amazing to watch people continuously lose money in such a short period of time. Any strategy the casino gives you for winning you can be sure is going to be a losing strategy for you.
It’s not hard to see it’s not about you winning. The casino is there so they can make a profit.
Basic blackjack strategy has been proved out over and over. If you have, say, a 16 and the dealer shows a 10, you have a losing hand. However, you will lose LESS if you hit. You can easily prove this using a blackjack simulator.
Anything can happen on an individual hand. However, in the long run, you will lose less if you hit on a 16 against the dealer’s 10. (Since 10 is the most likely card, the dealer most likely has a 20. You know he doesn’t have 21 because he peeks).
Yeah, I’ve never run computer simulations myself, but I’ve read enough to believe basic strategy is the best you can do (and it’s still slightly unprofitable). The only edge you can have now is card counting, which is probably no edge unless you have teams of card counters watching tables (like the movie where the white guys portrayed what some actual Asian MIT students did awhile back).
I mean it’s possible Victor is right but it’s hard to believe no one has tested this or figured it out. In the short run, Martingale (doubling your bets until you win) can often work for a little bit. You might try it with small stakes…like start with $40 and go home with $70…but eventually a few big losses wipe out all your profits and then some. This has been proven in both casinos and financial trading (stocks, currencies, etc.).
Counting cards works, and you will have an edge if you bet correctly based on the count. The issue is that casinos don’t like “winners” and will ban you if they determine that you are counting and pose a threat based on your betting amounts. It is fairly easy to tell based on the spread of your bets, but many will still let them play since the bets are insignificant and most cannot count properly, ensuring long term losses for the player. Ben Affleck got banned because he was both winning big and clearly counting. His low bets were $100 and highs were $20k on large positive counts. Steve Wynn gave him a warning the first time and Affleck then went to Hard Rock, won hundreds of thousands of dollars and was banned permanently. You can win a little money all of the time, a lot of money some of the time, but casinos will not allow you to win a lot of money all of the time.
I like Victor’s point on the psychology of the patrons playing blackjack. While there is a strategy to give yourself the best odds of success, it still ensures you will lose in the long run and that the house will win. So anybody angry at him staying when he should hit is literally blind to the fact that his gamble is no better or worse than theirs, that it is still a gamble. You either count and rig the game in your favor (only one you can do at a casino to my knowledge) or accept the fact that the house has an edge, and you either get lucky or do not. Anybody angry at cards going against their way are fools, but that is basically 90% of the casino’s customers. Embarrassing and contemptible.
Yet, in reality, when you follow the rules it never works out. Simulators aren’t indicative of anything.
Wow.
I found myself laughing all throughout the article. This world is so backwards it’s funny. Funny for us, but maybe not so funny for others. Great read.
Do you see yourself visiting the East Coast next year, or is that out of the cards for you? There are some really cool states around here that you may like, such as Maine, New Hampshire, the Carolinas, and of course Florida.
Regards,
Rohan
There is a real strong chance I will do an east coast road trip very soon. Maybe spend a little bit of time in Maine to see about it. On an unrelated note, Las Vegas is one of the friendliest places I’ve ever been.
Good Read… rhythmic flow. The Blackjack parallel is a fun way to convey a valuable life lesson. Great stuff Man. Ow ow owooh…
Missed these pure B&D articles man, felt a little euphoria while reading it!
This is one of the few articles I disagree with Victor.
But I do agree with these observations: 1) Casino’s will get you in long run if you play BlackJack. You are better off to master poker as a skill vs other players, which can overcome the luck factor in the long run if you are good at it 2) You should try to never get emotional when gambling or it will affect your decision making. Only bet what does not make you too emotional (will increase your chances of making bad decisions).
But here is where you are mistaken Victor. The math on your decisions in BlackJack is wrong and eventually the casino will rape you even FASTER than a “normal” player who follows “standard strategy”. Maybe short term your “luck” reinforced your beliefs, but over the long you cannot fight the math and you will lose faster. This is guaranteed. A large number of hands would bare this out…
If I bet you $100 each time and I have a 51% chance to win and we do this bet 10,000 times. You will be hitchhiking home… You are essentially giving the casino a GREATER percentage of the odds to win with your current decision making, but this is where luck reinforced your bad decisions and how they suck most people in…
You might want to look into this logic a little deeper before betting any more Blackjack
respectfully,
Andy
This came at a perfect time. I recently became very interested in the game of Blackjack. Do you follow any other strategy besides never hitting on 12? Also, how do you feel about counting cards? Last, do you bet less/more depending on whether you win or lose a hand?
There is a little more to the strategy which I will write about in full detail soon.
Can’t wait! Thank you.
That’s a good point about the unknowing conformism of the average person causing them to never escape from the slavery trap.
Colin Wilson once said ‘The average man is a conformist, accepting miseries and disasters with the stoicism of a cow standing in the rain.’
And it is true. It is the combination of ignorance on the one hand, and fear on the other, that keep most people trapped in unnecessary debt and stress.
To overcome ignorance, you just need to hear the truth and be intelligent enough to understand it.
The harder one to overcome is fear. Fear of failure is understandable, and failing after rejecting herd wisdom can be lonely and humiliating. I think the courage to take risks depends a lot on health, as confidence and fear are both felt in the guts. So a health-enhancing lifestyle and diet (e.g carnivore, or whatever works best for you) is very important.
The black jack player Don Johnson successfully took over $15,000,000 from several atlantic city casinos over a 5 month period of time. He was barred from playing and caused the CEO of 1 casino to loose his job
Mad respect to the guy. He won all of that money without even counting cards. The casinos had vouchers for high rollers at that time where they would give them money back if they lost over $500k. He simply did basic statistics on expected values and knew that his good days would offset his large losses + the casino kickback.
Mad article..!!!
I have a conversation every year with certain family members, it goes something like this…
ME: You really should invest in at least 1 Bitcoin while it’s still within reach…
THEM: It sounds like a scam, nah I’ll be right…
One year later
THEM: Hey did you end up buying any Bitcoin…
I realised we can only give someone so much help or information, but ultimately you just have to be selfish and not give a fuck about what they do with that information…
If you know, you know.
Great article, Vic. Love how you draw parallels between so many different areas in our lives. By the way, if you come to the east coast, check out the countryside in Pennsylvania. Green and beautiful.
As for gambling, I’ve only ever had success with two games: limit Texas holdem and horse racing. The key for me has been conservative betting and patience. Also you should try craps and play don’t pass/don’t come strategy and see how many people hate you for it, even though it’s better than playing the traditional strategy (pass/come).
The countryside in Pennsylvania looks great in photo and video. If/when I do the east coast trip I will definitely hit Pennsylvania.
I lived in Pennsylvania on the foothills of the Bald Eagle State Forest with Amish neighbors. It’s a beautiful state. Check out Potter county and Lock Haven for great camping and outdoors.
Lancaster county used to be good but there’s too many illegal immigrants and blacks now. The Walmart employees don’t even speak English
Great post Vic
As a mentor of mine once told to me:
“Conventional wisdom is nearly always wrong.”
Ever see the majority of cars at the casino parking lot? They’re dumps, driven by losers, who are slaving for the casino owners. Just don’t go there. Period.
I think people are either born with the intelligence to see the truth about the world in front of them or they aren’t.
When I used to work unskilled labor jobs in my younger days I’d always be baffled by all of the people who had gray hair yet they had an entry level position at some random job making peanuts.
Even at the age of 20 I’d think to myself -
“How have they not figured out life yet?”
The funnier thing is that you can’t even talk to people like that about being different than the rest of the crowd.
They can’t even comprehend such an idea.
It’s absolutely unbelievable
People are so brainwashed they can’t even see where they’re going wrong, they’re just playing the game wrong. The blackjack analogy was fucking fantastic
It seems like the way to win at blackjack is not to try and hit 21 but to Make the dealer go bust
Most people are going bust before the dealer even sees a second card
Victor, serious question
Do you think you could make serious money playing blackjack around the country?
Would be a fascinating project/ see if you can make a living from it
Nothing really to lose
It’s possible and some people do make a living playing blackjack. It is quite difficult though and I’d probably recommend a different career choice.
The only way you would be able to make money is by learning how to count cards, and even then it’s very taxing and you need to spend lots of time in the casino. You have much better odds making money trading stocks.
If you would have hit and gotten the 8 she would have hit 21, and the dealer would have landed on 20. LOL. If you had played that hand by your self, and stayed, then the dealer would have won with 18.
It’s very easy to feel contempt for normal people because they choose to stay ignorant. It’s an ego thing. They have to be right even if they are so evidently wrong. But because everyone they know is wrong too that makes it right. They blindly trust authority and can’t even entertain the thought that corruption is still alive and well in this “advanced” and “civilised” day and age.
Off topic:
If there’s anyone here struggling with internet addiction I have a great Firefox add-on to recommend that’s called LeechBlock. Unlike many other similar add-ons you can even block access to your settings so you can’t even turn off the add-on from there. Personally I have added all the sites that I was addicted to and have blocked access to them until 9 o clock at night. This way I can finally use my computer for work (as it orginally was intended). I still get to surf all those sites after 9 at night but usually now I get tired of them before I go to bed. I used to be able to waste hours on them and never get tired of them. Not anymore. I’ve always had talent but couldn’t put in the work because my internet addiction. Now working is easy and I have dopamine left in my brain to feel the awarding rush doing it and completing it. Before, surfing YouTube or Instagram gave my brain more pleasure. Those days are forever gone now.
Some people tell you to just exercise your willpower but just like a fat person wanting to lose weight you have to set things up so you don’t even have to rely on your willpower. If the temptation is there right in front of you, in a moment of weakness you will lose.
Having LeechBlock setup there’s no way you can circumvent it unless you switch computer or install another web browser (if your honest with yourself you can even block links to chrome download page too).
Just a tip for everbody that is struggling with internet addiction. Because if you are and don’t do anything about it you are playing a losers game just like the normal people playing black jack in the casino.
Great article Vic.
I like the blackjack analogy.
In our daily lives, the casino represents the governments trying to bog us down and conform.
Starting from an early age with schools.
Those that have their eyes open and realize..
that everything is rigged against the little guy..
are then just surrounded by the completely clueless herd. The masses.
One final powerful thought.
A friend of mine working in real estate once told me,
“A sucker is born every minute”.
Just make sure you’re not the sucker, gentlemen.
Jeff
The only reason the dealer agreed with the old lady was he knows he has to suck up to those making the donations.
If he doesn’t she’ll call his master over (the pit supervisor) and complain, then he gets in trouble.
After living in Vegas 20 years I’ve met a few people who stay and 12+ and they go through the same crucifixion by the drunken degenerates at the table who “know the right way to play.”
Victor this is an excellent post! I’ve seen this time and time again. I’ve noticed if I do the opposite of most people I’ll do well.
Victor,
Why on earth would you play blackjack nowadays? Especially in Vegas?
It is an absolute rip off and an absolute insult. Most likely you sat at a 6:5 table as of a 3:2 one.
Unless you went off strip and found a 3:2 table.
The reason will be discussed in an upcoming article. And it is an absolute rip off. All the tables I saw were 6:5.
Looking forward to it!
Wait what? ALL of the tables are 6:5? Damn that is awful.
Anyways, your “never bust” strategy got me to come up with an article about this for my blog lol.
Blackjack is one of my “profitable hobbies” and while the never bust strategy is interesting, I prefer to count cards and play according to the book or the index.
However, never bust strategy does work pretty well if you are willing to leave after a decent winning streak.
In other news I just deleted my social media the other day and thought of you. Feels amazing, I should have deleted it five years ago.
When can we expect the article? Thanks!
I’m 22, living on a lake, growing my business and enjoying life.
Everyone tells me “You are doing so well. Wow.”
I like to think back when I was 18-21 and everyone was telling me I was wrong when I’d share my ideas.
“You’re wrong. You don’t know how the real world works”. Well…I don’t want to live in the real world like those people do. I’d rather have my own world.
The happiness I feel isn’t because I have money, time, freedom, cute girls calling me daddy…
Okay, maybe part of it is from those things.
But the biggest source of my happiness is knowing I didn’t give in to the lies around me. I ignored everyone and listened to my gut. That pride is the greatest source of happiness I have.
I think that it is insidious that society is full of slaves, but even the slaves make sure everyone else stays a slave as well. That’s what’s the worst about it all. The unhappy people giving advice just to persuade other people into being unhappy just like them. I remember your article about not listening to average people. You said to ask “Is that what you did? How is your life working out?” I started doing that back when I was 18 or so.
And now, I feel like I’ve already won, and now I’m just playing the game. I already am happy. There’s no “when ___ happens I’ll be happy”. It’s here today. I love being the boss of my own life and calling the shots. How could someone call themselves a man and take orders their whole life?
Thanks for all the great articles. I carry some of your principles with me and they will continue to be a part of my life as I grow. People ask me for advice often and all I can do is say some of the advice I remember reading years ago on this site. It’s golden.
Congrats man!
It’s good to have you back Uncle Vic
Five months ago I started a simple e-commerce site dropshipping furniture.
Last month I made 1000 Euro’s!
Thanks for being the Man Vic!
Adios
Regular jobs are like communism. They pay you the same regardless of how much you accomplish. You will never be a millionaire working a regular job. A degree is soulless, a mortgage is chaining you to a box to sleep in. Jobs, degrees, mortgage, and debt all living caskets. Fuck em and be a real man. Build your own rules of a winner. Listen and watch closely like an eagle to winners.
Great post but am I the only one missing Victor’s soothing voice and would like to have heard this in a “friendly friends” podcast ?
Good post Victor. Everyone follows the herd, this is so true that I see it everywhere. Besides earning money with my blog I also trade stocks and I see the herd behavior there as well. Everyone puts their stop loss or buy at the same price or prices, that is why the few wolves take their money.
Group-think is a very strange thing, they’ll do whatever someone else says and at their own detriment.
Most people are afraid to admit the failure in the first place because having a failing strategy and pivoting is an ego-hit.
You cannot point out the obvious to a blindfolded man with earplugs.
Hi Mr.Pride, I am a looong time reader of your blog. I understand that before you sold everything off and started on the path to Asia you did some entrepreneurial work in real estate. I am in door to door sales and would like to know the benefits you see in a young man(25) building a resilient mind by going door to door and generating wealth for himself.
Your wisdom would be greatly appreciated.
Every bit of experience helps. Each second going door to door right now will help you in the future.
Ole’ St. Vic:
Love seeing a blackjack themed article on the site. I’m a long-time card counter and I agree and disagree a bit with some of what you said.
I agree that basic blackjack strategy is a losing game…you can play perfect strategy and the odds are still in favor of the casino.
However, basic strategy is built on a simulation of millions of hands and *over the long run* you should *technically* lose less money using basic strategy.
No guarantees though.
Card counting has flipped the odds in my favor and I generally use basic strategy, but when you know what the count is you adjust and hit or stand in a lot of situations where people look at me like I’m crazy like the lady next to you.
I always laugh when other players comment on how someone else at the table is playing. Yes, not playing according to basic strategy has a chance to ruin someone else’s hand. It also has the same chance to improve their hand.
At the end of the day, I prefer playing at a table by myself. Not because I worry about how others play, but because when the count is hot, I want all those cards for myself.
Out of 10 shoes, I probably lose money on 5, break even on 2, make a little bit of money on 2, and then 1 out of 10 is where you make all your money. I want those shoes all to myself.
I’m actually headed to Vegas in mid October and staying at Nobu at Caesars.
Anyone else going to be there?
Hi Nixon,
I’d love to connect with and discuss card count and other Blackjack tips and strategies. What’s your email? I went to your site but didn’t see a Contact Me section.
Thanks,
Alex
The best advice is to stay out of debt. The borrower is slave to the lender. That’s right, “slave”.
The advice of normal people has always made me feel sick inside.
Every time I have followed it - things got worse.
And every time I have gone against it - things got better.
Solid post.
I’M GOING TO WRITE MY COMMENT HERE IN CAPITALIZED TO MAKE AN EMPHASIS … NOT SCREAMING AND NOT YELLING BUT FOR YOU TO READ THIS …. IN TERMS OF “EMPHASIS”
EVERYTHING IN LIFE IN DUALITY
MONEY IS SERIOUS BUT ALSO A JOKE
IF YOU KNEW THE REAL VALUE OF MONEY, YOU BE LAUGHING YOUR ASS OFF OF ALL THE HOURS AND TIME YOU SPENT TO MAKE “MONEY”…
MONEY IS A FORM OF CONTROL
MEANING THE REAL VALUE YOU HAVE WITH YOU IS TIME TIME… TIME TIME TIME TIME TIME
NOT MONEY
BUT TIME….
MONEY YOU LOSE YOU CAN MAKE IT BACK ((ANYTIME OF THE WEEK)) BUT YOU LOSE YOUR TIME, YOU CANNOT MAKE BACK THAT TIME…
A INVESTOR OR TRADER WILL QUICKLY UNDERSTAND THIS BUT I DOUBT “9 TO 5 HOUR” PEOPLE WILL…
LISTEN TO ME…. DON’T LET ANYONE CONTROL YOU….
IF ANY OF YOU YOUNG PEOPLE WANT TO SUCCEED, THEN YOU MUST FIRST TASTE THE SURFACE OF HELL (“FAILURE”)… AND THEN YOU CAN SUCCEED, IF YOU CAN’T AND ARE AFRAID OF FAILURE THEN YOU CAN NEVER TASTE THE OUTSTANDING SURFACE OF SUCCESS….
BUT BY THEN WHEN YOU BECOME MULTI-MILLIONAIRE, YOU WILL REALIZE WHAT MATTERS IN THIS WORLD IS PEOPLE NOT MONEY BUT PEOPLE… NOT MONEY BUT PEOPLE BUT YOU KNOW WHAT A CONUNDRUM IS…. WHEN YOU ARE TRYING TO CLIMB TO THE TOP, WHAT WILL MATTER IS MONEY NOT PEOPLE…
SO THERE IS ALWAYS CONFLICTING BELIEF AND SHALL I SAY… AGAIN DUALITY?
MONEY VS YOUR PEOPLE…. YOUR OWN “SUCCESS” VS YOUR WARMTH OF YOUR OWN (RACE) COMMUNITY….
SHALL HUMAN BELONGING PREVAIL OR HUMAN INDIVIDUAL GREED? …. THAT SHALL BE THE QUESTION… PERHAPS.
LOL that’s funny. Wish I could’ve been there to see people’s reactions. But I see it often enough anyway. Yup, it’s blasphemy to play any other way than the “right way”. So I don’t play to win because the games are designed for the house to win. That’s just common sense. But if you play just to play, then you can drink, socialize and have fun without losing anything. Well other than your time and clear headedness for a while. But what good is freedom, health and money if you don’t enjoy life along the way?
“The only winning strategy looks like blasphemy to the normal people and they will try to get you to abandon it.” Truer words have never been spoken.
Same thing with Roulette. The guy tells me I should spread out my money across the table… But why? It’s better just to bet on the 50/50 chance, which is Red and Black. No point in anything else.