Back then, you pretty much had to rely on the rumor mill to find out about the best plays—that, and scouring the local papers and doing other types of hands-on research. It was impossible, even back then, to personally scout every casino or even a substantial portion of them. I found that building a network of friends was really helpful—of course, I would tell them of plays that I couldn’t or didn’t want to take advantage of, and they would reciprocate.

The criterion for who succeeded or failed seemed to be whether you managed to avoid the grim reaper of variance. I knew several very skilled players who got knocked out of action–temporarily or permanently–because they were under-royaled. For everyone who succeeded, it seemed like there was a watershed moment—some big hit or long streak–that catapulted them into safe bankroll territory. You’ve told us of several such moments, and implied that if they hadn’t occurred—“saving” you from a losing streak—you might have given up.

So I’ve said before that even advantage players have to get lucky—as in, not get UNlucky. A 0.7% edge is thin enough that it doesn’t take much to go wrong before everything starts to fall apart. You and Brad were diligent and careful, and that’s why you succeeded, but you also didn’t get hit by one of those ghastly bankroll- and morale-destroying losing streaks. For me, it rippled forward in time, as I would be much wealthier today if I hadn’t had those three+ years of struggling just when things were at their juiciest.