Mental attitude and state of mind:

[Guest]

Ellis

I know you've been busy lately and the holidays and all, but when you have a chance can you please answer my message about the mental side and what it takes to do this consistently from your experiences please

Thank you

Todd (trbfla)

Heading South on the Garden State after dark, which I've done hundreds of times, there comes a spot where I can look to my left, over the marshes and see the lights of the Atlantic City casinos and the well lit tops of the tallest of them. I've still got 20 miles to go. My heart would skip a beat and start pounding. I wondered if this feeling would ever go away.

It was the worst when I was driving an old Dodge. Wasn't as bad later driving a Fiero sports car. And later, driving my second Lexus SC 400, I totally forgot about even looking for those lights.

During the years I went from being intimidated to becoming the intimidator. I was no longer afraid of them. THEY were afraid of me!

I had gone from a casino nobody to the subject of every preshift meeting supervisors had with their dealers in the dealer room. I had made the front page of every casino black book. My manuals were required reading at every casino. I knew I had it made early one morning when I sat down to an empty BJ table and said Hi! The young female dealer didn't say anything. She just burst out crying!

You go through three stages: You go from:

1.) You know you are going to lose, (a lot of stress) to,

2.) You think you might win, (a little less stress) to

3.) You know you are going to win (virtually no stress)

We have members in each of these 3 stages. You all know which stage you are in. The idea is to graduate. But how? There are 6 requirements:

1.) Home study and practice

2.) Casino experience

3.) More home study and practice

4.) More casino experience

5.) More home study and practice

6.) More casino experience

The amateur tries to beat every table he sits down to.

The pro only sits down to tables he can beat!

The amateur may play all day and all night.

The pro only plays when he is in tip top shape!

The amateur plays until he is down.

The pro quits when he's up!

The amateur plays mostly Saturday nights.

The pro avoids Saturday nights like the plague!

The amateur makes desperation bets.

The pro sticks to his progression!

The amateur follows the other players.

The pro doesn't even know the other players are there!

The amateur likes to be the center of attention.

The pro plays under the radar!

The amateur answers his cell and says: "I'll be right there Honey, as soon as I lose these chips."

The pro smiles!

Lack of confidence is the product of uncertainty.

Confidence is the product of study and practice.

I had no teacher - there were none that knew more than me.

You guys are lucky!

[Quizzical1]

Ellis,

Excellent post! Thank you for imparting your well-earned wisdom to us all.

I am currently only a NOR Baccarat player. But when the tables get full, is BJ my next best (or better?) bet? And if so, I'm considering purchasing the NBJ Manual but can you tell me how hard it is to learn? Is it the same or easier than NOR?

[LOU30]

Nice, can't wait to read the book.

[Guest CarlosM]

Great post Ellis!!! You really should do a live seminar or a Webinar where you play out a few spots for basic strategy players and show you watching to decide to play third, random cards or first base, clumped cards so players attending the webinar can see what you are seeing. Some students get a bit confused watching a game and are not sure if the cards are random or very lightly clumped.

[bigcash2002]

Great post, loved reading it. I look forward to the day, that I can basically dominate a casino 9-10 times there