Who would have thought nine years ago that I’d be where I am today? Certainly, not I.

Back in 1999, I was a clueless gambler who loved playing craps and blackjack in Vegas. But my bankroll kept dwindling, so I decided in the spring of 1999 to teach myself basic strategy and card counting. And brother has that changed my life for the better!

Fast forward to 2008. Now, I’m an advantage player who has quintupled his bankroll, as well as being a published author of two blackjack books (You’ve Got Heat Vol. 1 and Turning up the Heat Vol. 2). I still go to Sin City regularly, only now the casinos pay for my rooms, my meals, and the shows. I’ve made a lot of friends within the blackjack community, had excellent teammates on blackjack teams that I’ve played, and, yes, even enjoyed the sex of Sin City – both free and paid.

I couldn’t have imagined way back when all the hours that I would put in at the blackjack tables. But I have. Was it worth it? You bet!

In retrospect, I’m lucky I started my card counting avocation then, rather than now, because being an advantage player has become tougher. I don’t know if someone could do today what I had done: start with a $2,000 bankroll and using a $5 to $40 bet spread, slowly build it up to $10k. I suppose it’s still possible to do that today, but you would have to be more careful. Shorter sessions would be a must. And there are a ton of obstacles: more pit scrutiny and facial recognition software, 6:5 games, bad rules, stingy penetration, continuous shuffling machines, "hand-held-multi-deck," SIN networks, advanced software programs, counter catchers in the pit and Eye, and many other casino innovations designed to thwart card counters, would be some of the things you’d have to be painfully aware of.

Also, I’ve found that as the pit critters have gotten "wiser" to our approach, they’re much quicker than yesteryear in backing you off the games – even if they only have a small suspicion that you’re counting. It seems the casinos are not as concerned anymore about making a mistake and backing off a clueless gambler on a hot streak. Even though we both know that in the long run they’re shooting themselves in the foot by alienating a regular customer, who almost certainly would eventually lose back all his short-term winnings and more, they don’t seem to care about that. That’s one example of how much more paranoid and intolerant the casinos have become.

One of the initial highlights I can remember was when everything first came together for me. I was playing a $5 double-deck game at the Gold Coast in Vegas, sometime late in 1999, when I found I was able to keep the count accurately, without being affected by casino distractions. The running count went above plus 10 with little more than a deck remaining to be dealt. I estimated the true count to be over plus 8. I jumped my bets and got several twenties and blackjacks. I remember being thrilled that all of my card counting practice and training was finally paying off. This stuff really works! That was the first time that I was able to use the count to gain an edge on the casino. That particular session marked the start of my card-counting avocation.

Another highlight occurred at an off-Strip casino in 2005. I was going partners with The Grifter on the Lucky Ladies side bet. After forty-five minutes, a second opportunity appeared to make the side bet in a true count that had climbed to over plus 10 (In my Silver Fox counting system, the bet becomes favorable at a true count of plus 6.5). We spread to two spots of $100 each with the maximum $25 bet on each of our four Lucky Ladies spots. While looking at my first hand – a blackjack – I heard my partner yell "Ho!," and throw his first hand face-up on the felt. It was the two most beautiful queens of hearts I’d ever seen. We had hit the 200-1 payoff for five grand!

After some stalling by the pit, they finally paid us $5,000, emptying all the black chips in the rack, and the last thousand in greenies. We had each won $2,500 on a single round. I remember vividly celebrating our big win with vanilla martinis in the Treasure Island high-limit room, where about thirty Hawaiian Tropics beauties were present to film a promo that showed them winning at a high stakes blackjack game. I was elated, not only because of that, but also because I was already up about $1,300 for the trip at that point. I would go on to win another $1,300 the next day at a Wynn double-decker. Eventually that put my trip total winnings at a cool $5,000 – my most lucrative trip ever. I’ll never forget how great it felt beating the casinos at their own game.

Unfortunately, when you count cards, you have to accept the bad sessions with the good ones. My most disheartening experience occurred two trips later. I had come to Vegas around Halloween in 2005 with a bankroll of $15,000. It turned out to be the "Trip from Hell." Even using all my blackjack card counting skills, I got creamed at the tables to the tune of $6,000 – fully 40% of my bankroll. In fact most of my losses occurred within a thirty-six hour period during which I just couldn’t win two hands in a row if my life depended on it. It was the biggest trip loss I had ever suffered. It’s still amazing to me how long and steady it takes to build up a bankroll, and how quickly and ruthlessly you can lose it. With my remaining $9,000, I drove home totally depressed, and my stomach in knots after the hammering I’d experienced. Oh well. If I was way ahead of my expected value up until that point, I realized that this huge loss represented the variance that served to even out my previous wins, which had been much more than what my EV called for. But I’ve learned to accept the bankroll swings. All card counters will experience them in the short run, even though in the long run we should make money.

However, I’ve found that good things happen to those of us who persist and hang in there even after taking a shellacking. During one memorable session at a downtown casino, The Grifter had a line on a flashing dealer. While I was sitting at second base and angling each of my two hands towards his seat at third base, he’d see the hole card (maybe 80% of the time) and signal the plays to me. We won almost every insurance bet we made over a four-hour session as well. The whole table was winning, and the pit didn’t have a clue. Do you know what it’s like to have almost perfect insurance information? What a feeling! It was all I could do to stifle myself from busting out laughing during this session. I found that once you experience this kind of omnipotence, it’s tough to go back to a straight count game. We were totally elated when we colored out with a big chunk of their money, and celebrated with a fine comped meal at the Carson Street Café.

While I’m at it, I’d like to congratulate Henry Tamburin and his partner Dan Pronovost for sticking with the Blackjack Insider newsletter, and achieving this 100^th issue. This is quite an accomplishment. Many other publications and newsletters have folded, but BJI remains strong. Henry, who is my editor and publisher, has always been fair and generous in his dealings with me, and I’m very glad and proud for him on his accomplishments with the newsletter.

As far as my future plans, I’d like to get to Vegas and Reno a few times this year and continue to grow my bankroll, and plan to continue to write my trip reports for Blackjack Insider. I’ll probably continue to utilize a green spread for the time being until my bankroll grows to the point where I can graduate to betting a black spread. However, given the unpredictable situation at my day job, I don’t know yet when I’ll be able to take my next card counting trip. Hopefully it’ll be very soon.

My Cinderella story just goes to show that an average person who takes the time to learn and play blackjack with a good count system, has an adequate bankroll, and sticks with the game during the lows and the highs, can end up in the long run a winner.

Good luck and good hunting.

Cheers,

Barfarkel