Some questions for a professional player

[giantmomo]

Hi guys,

I know there are numerous pro players here at BTC, I want to ask a few questions about playing pro.

1) What does a pro baccarat player do besides playing?

2) How would he manage his time and winnings?

3) Does he encounter any problems like family/social/health problems that are caused by playing baccarat?

4) What has he sacrificed to go pro? (eg, education, friends, passion, romance, social status, etc)

I am far from being a pro player, but I still want to learn more about this. It would be great if someone wants to share.

[Norm A]

Hi guys,

I know there are numerous pro players here at BTC, I want to ask a few questions about playing pro.

1) What does a pro baccarat player do besides playing?

2) How would he manage his time and winnings?

3) Does he encounter any problems like family/social/health problems that are caused by playing baccarat?

4) What has he sacrificed to go pro? (eg, education, friends, passion, romance, social status, etc)

I am far from being a pro player, but I still want to learn more about this. It would be great if someone wants to share.

The answer to your question all depends on what you mean by playing pro, if you are referring to playing for living, (witch I never did)

I could tell you that every pro. player that I knew that played for I living were not very happy people.

I don't know of any pro. on this forum that plays for a living.

If you could quantify you question then we could go for there.

Norm

BTW what is your name ?

[Guest]

Hi guys,

I know there are numerous pro players here at BTC, I want to ask a few questions about playing pro.

1) What does a pro baccarat player do besides playing?

2) How would he manage his time and winnings?

3) Does he encounter any problems like family/social/health problems that are caused by playing baccarat?

4) What has he sacrificed to go pro? (eg, education, friends, passion, romance, social status, etc)

I am far from being a pro player, but I still want to learn more about this. It would be great if someone wants to share.

Well, there are a few here I know of but they don't post much. We might hear from them once every year or so. But they call me now and then.

I played pro for quite a few years with no other source of income, first in AC for 4 years and then in Vegas. First I had an efficiency apt at The Breakers in A.C. on the boardwalk but about a mile from the first casino. Then after my income improved, I moved into The Madison House, a hotel next to the Claridge. One reason is because there are no grocery stores in A.C. I had a beautiful home in Saratoga Springs. Some here have been there but I only got home about once a month.

I quit a College Professorship to turn full time pro and never looked back. It had been my life's ambition. But, with initial BJ winnings, I started a $28,000 scholarship at my college for Respiratory Therapists because my daughter, at 21, died of an Asthma attack due to a shortage of Respiratory Therapists at the Emergency room, while a Respiratory Therapy student, herself, at my college, S.U.N.Y., one of the largest Universities in the world. Along with my wife Kathy, we handed the money directly to the College President and Vice President in my living room in Saratoga - the first gambling city in the U.S. They, in turn, handed us a portrait of Saratoga's infamous Canfield Casino, The Place for the rich and famous before casino gambling was abolished back in 1954. The Canfield Casino still stands proud today and the portrait still hangs proud in my living room. Kathy died in 1994 of lung cancer in our Saratoga home that I had built with my own hands - all 3700 sq ft. on 3 acres of woodland on rt 50 just outside the city limits. It also still stands today and is valued in excess of a million dollars - my little finger print on the Earth. Then my son died in 2010. I moved to Arkansas in 1997 to be with my playing partner Ann. No one was left in NY and too many memories in that big house which had become somewhat haunted for me.

My incredible BJ prowess was well known at the college by the staff and students alike because my Dean often went with me. So the President and Vice President agreed that I must go with my calling. That was perhaps the most encouraging statement of my life except for Kathy who was a constant unfailing encouragement in her own right.

The Madison House was a lucky thing for me. The huge bar downstairs is the biggest dealer hangout in AC. Over pitchers of beer they are very free with their war stories. I bought a dealer shirt and let them teach me every trick in the book.

So would I recommend that good players turn full time pro?

No, it is not good for your health. After the first 4 years I nearly died of Diverticulitis from a steady diet of casino food in spite of walking many miles daily in the ocean fresh air on the board walk and exercising every day.

But if you are of a mind to, like I was, nothing I say will stop you. So I might as well clue you in.

You must know both games so you are best equipped to find good games. Finding beatable tables, whether Bac or BJ, is the most important aspect of playing professionally. And you must know all aspects of both games thoroughly and automatically. Learn to play fast, very fast. Learn to play BJ head to head.

Don't play touch Bac tables. They are too slow for professional play.

Play under the radar! Play only green on green floor tables and play black only in the high stakes rooms. Never play black on green tables. It draws too much attention. If you are good enough, that is as high as you need go.

Never pick on the same casino - move your game around.

Be a loner. You have no friends in a casino - just pretenders and on both sides of the table.

Look, you are in a Catch 22. If you are successful you WILL get barred. The idea is to stave that off for as long as you can.

It took me 4 years to get barred from every casino in AC and another 2 to get barred in Vegas. I ended up playing the Gulf Coast and thank God for Tunica.

Keep it totally separate from your friends and family. Gambling is the most boring subject there is for people who don't do it. Nothing will empty out a bar faster than to bring up gambling. Again, be a loner.

You won't select right every time. The quicker you leave bad tables the better. The longer you can play good tables the better. I once played a BJ table for 17 hours straight w/o a losing shoe.

Do NOT play Fridays or Saturdays or long weekends. Only play 4 days a week. That's all your body can withstand.

Get yourself in tip top shape and only play when you are in tip top condition. Exercise daily and a lot.

How much can you make? Well, in today's dollars, I made $650,000 a year after expenses and yes, I did pay taxes. Too much of a risk not to. BUT, without a bit of exaggeration whatsoever, I was the best player AC ever saw!