(Blackjack Forum<\/em>\u00a0Vol. XXIV #3, Summer 2005)
\u00a9 2005 Blackjack Forum<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
An ambitious new card counter recently asked me what I thought was the most important trait for a blackjack player to have to ensure his success\u2014math ability, or a good memory?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I told him I didn\u2019t think either of those talents was the single most important trait for a successful blackjack player. Most of the successful pros I know are pretty good at math and memory, or at least, they worked at those things long enough to get sharper than most people. But I do know some very successful players who are far from exceptionally gifted in those areas, and they\u2019d be the first to admit it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSo, do you think it\u2019s the art of deception that\u2019s the most important thing?\u201d he asked. \u201cDoes it all come down to acting and the ability to fool the pit?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell,\u201d I said, \u201ccon artistry is important, too, but it\u2019s not the most important factor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThen it\u2019s got to be connections,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to know the right people, right?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said. \u201dThat has nothing to do with it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut if you don\u2019t know the right people,\u201d he said, \u201cyou\u2019re never going to learn the top secret methods the pros are using. And that\u2019s what it really comes down to, isn\u2019t it… knowing the big secrets?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, not really,\u201d I said. “There’s enough information out there that anyone dedicated enough can pretty much figure the big secrets out.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow don\u2019t tell me it\u2019s money,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to think it all hinges on whether or not you\u2019ve got the big bankroll. That\u2019s depressing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, no, that\u2019s not it. You\u2019re going the wrong way with this thing. I\u2019d have to say the biggest factor that would contribute to any gambler\u2019s chance for success\u2014and I don\u2019t think any gambler could really make it very far professionally without it\u2014is love.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLove?\u201d he said. \u201cWhat\u2019s love got to do with it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou have to love winning,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAre you sure you\u2019re using the right word, Arnold?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf there was a stronger word,\u201d I said, \u201cI\u2019d use it. But that\u2019s the only word that fits. Nick the Greek once said that the only thing better than gambling and winning was gambling and losing. No wonder he died broke. No successful professional gambler could possibly utter such nonsense. I don\u2019t know who said that winning isn\u2019t everything, it\u2019s the only thing, but that would be the guy who would make it as a gambler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“A successful gambler doesn\u2019t just want to win. He doesn\u2019t just hope to win. He doesn\u2019t just like winning. He loves winning, and he loves it so much, he can\u2019t live without it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If a player tells me he wants more than anything in the world to be a professional gambler, I can predict his chance of success within a very short conversation with him, just by asking him a few questions about his life. You can predict your own chance of success at gambling if you read the next few paragraphs carefully, and consider how they apply to you…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Every successful gambler I know has spent his life winning. He didn\u2019t win because he was lucky. He won because it was the most important thing for him to do to have any satisfaction at all in this world. When he played Monopoly as a kid, he won. If he played sports, he won. If he entered a project in the science fair, he won.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But don\u2019t think a successful gambler spends his life winning because he\u2019s good at everything. He\u2019s not, and he knows it. He spends his life winning because he concentrates his time and energy on whatever he wants to win at.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oftentimes, he picks things he\u2019s already good at. If he\u2019s good at video games, and he likes playing video games, his entire life will revolve around video games. He couldn\u2019t care less about his grades in school, provided he can beat any kid in his class on a PlayStation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Successful gamblers tend to be selfish. They want to do what they enjoy doing, and they have no desire to waste their time doing anything else. In fact, if he\u2019s not particularly good at video games\u2014he just doesn\u2019t have the natural hand-eye coordination\u2014but he really likes playing video games more than anything else, he will become obsessive about acquiring the skill he needs to beat any kid on the block at the games he likes. No normal kid would even imagine the private hours he would spend just to make winning look easy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pro gamblers tend to be workaholics. They spend every waking moment working on their next win. Mentally, they never stop moving in the direction of their goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If they\u2019re poker players, when they\u2019re not at the tables, they are constantly replaying hands in their heads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If they’re blackjack players, they’re practicing how to track a new shuffle. Or they’re analyzing the advantage they can get when they can see the hole cards on a Three Card Poker game. Or they’re out there scouting for flashers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Winning is so important to a gambler that he refuses to waste any time at all on any endeavor he can\u2019t win at. If he likes school, then he\u2019s going to Harvard, or Stanford, or MIT, and most likely he\u2019s going on an academic scholarship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If he doesn\u2019t care much for school (like me), he\u2019ll probably be collecting bowling trophies, or beating the sharks at the local pool hall. He\u2019ll resign himself to getting C\u2019s and D\u2019s in school, because he\u2019s not going to bust his ass for B\u2019s for something he doesn\u2019t enjoy. Whatever he does, he\u2019s going to win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who said it doesn\u2019t matter if you win or lose, it\u2019s how you play the game? Not a professional gambler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most people are trained throughout their lives to accept being losers. They probably had various talents in various areas, things they were naturally good at, but they didn\u2019t focus on those things; they followed the programs set up by their parents and their schools and their peer groups. If they were getting mostly A\u2019s and B\u2019s in school, but a C+ in physical science, they\u2019d buckle down and cram on physical science to get it up to a B-, even if they hated physical science.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Losers strive to be \u201cwell-rounded.\u201d Winners concentrate on dominating in the areas of their strengths. They don\u2019t give a damn about being well-rounded. They just want to win at what they do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When it comes to casino gambling, pros don\u2019t look for games where they can just get an edge. They look for games they can crush. They want to destroy a game, annihilate it, kill it. And this is how they describe their exploits at the tables.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, what are your chances of success as a professional gambler?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, have you already spent your life winning? I don\u2019t care what you\u2019ve been winning at, and it doesn\u2019t have to be gambling. It could be Scrabble or darts or picking up girls. Have you been winning all your life at what you do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you enter a casino feeling like you hope to get an advantage over the house and maybe pick up some bucks, this is like aiming for all B\u2019s in school. You might be able to make some money at blackjack if you apply yourself, but I wouldn\u2019t bet on your making it at as a pro. If you want to crush the casino, destroy the game they offer, kill it\u2014well, emotions that powerful can only come from one thing\u2014love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And there\u2019s no other word for it. \u2660<\/p>\n The Will to Win by Arnold Snyder(Blackjack Forum\u00a0Vol. XXIV #3, Summer 2005)\u00a9 2005 Blackjack Forum An ambitious new card counter recently asked me what I thought was the most important trait for a blackjack player to have to ensure his success\u2014math ability, or a good memory? I told him I didn\u2019t think either of those […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Facebook\"](\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/wp-content\/plugins\/social-media-feather\/synved-social\/image\/social\/regular\/96x96\/facebook.png\" "\\"Follow")
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