Quote:
Originally Posted by SystemsTrader View Post
While what you are saying is true and players do need to understand statistics before they can beat this game the reality is people are not robots, they are human beings and emotions play a big part of their success or failures. Winning at blackjack is really easy and anybody can do it but conquering your own emotions, especially fear and greed is what will set the winners from the losers apart in this game.
At work, school or home life we all want to be told when we are doing a good job when we've done well and be given words of encouragement when things are going poorly. That's why we have posts like these and next month there will be another, they will never end. Most people post these types of threads because family and friends who are not players don't get what you are going through. They probably consider AP nothing but gambling and if you tell them about the hard times they just figure the odds finally caught up to you. That's why people come to these boards to find like minded individuals.
All I can say to you DonR is I hope you don't give up. This is just my opinion but if you are properly capitalized and stick to a positive EV plan things will turn around for you. One of the things I do is I separate myself from the money aspect and just think of your bankroll as units or points knowing it will turn around and while this may sound stupid my goal is not to make money at the casino but to execute my positive EV system flawlessly. That's how I deal with the emotional aspects of the ups and downs of the game. The loses don't bother me too much and I also don't get excited with the big wins either.
creeping panther said:
ST,
Nice post.. written by the "Real Deal"
CP
yep Real Deal, all right, 'the man of steel', lacking no courage at all, lol we know that. tell you who dude reminds me of is the guy on tv, Bear Grylls that does all that stuff that guys like me only ever dream of sort of thing, for real.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXNGss5Ov7g&feature=channel
no lie, Systems Trader thrives on stuff like that, lol.
but yeah, when it comes to blackjack, like Wong writes in PB, pg 205, "
... How much you bet is determined by more than just what is mathematically optimal. If you are not emotionally prepared to accept the risk associated with optimal bets, then bet less. If you bet less than the optimal amount, you will never go broke, but you will not get rich as fast as you might. Know yourself - check your emotional readiness to lose before you set up a betting plan.
You must be cold and calculating. Steely blue eyes will do. You must have no emotional attachment to that money you throw on the table. It must mean little to you. If you lose it, so what; it's only money. If you cannot afford to lose it, you cannot afford to bet it. In no way is short-run profit guaranteed. You cannot plan on winning the next hand. Lady Luck has a heart of stone. You will be way ahead if you play long enough, but only if. The actual play is a hand at a time and you must be able to emotionally handle the losses that will occur reguarly. Bet an amount you can live without....."
just me maybe, i don't know how anyone can do it. but Systems Trader does.
me, i resent every fricken cent i lose, lmao, and i definately don't know what the future holds outside of casino walls as far as my financial solvency is concerned.
me, all i can do, to deal with this sort of stuff is pull all kind of psychological mental mind tricks on myself.
every hand i play, even my big bets i try and keep in mind, "well wise-one your probably gonna lose this one", lmao. if i get a twenty-one three or more card hand or twenty one on a double down, i try and not get that smug feeling of 'yeah, gotcha', instead i try and keep in mind that the dealer is very well maybe gonna have one as well, lol.
never under estimate the enemy, lol.
since emotionally i sweat every nickle i bet, i gotta trick myself. i mean heck i know if i play right, then odds are long term i'm gonna be winner. thing is, emotionally that doesn't do the trick for me. plain and simple, i revel in the past and the present not the future. heck, i just hope there is a future, lol.
all that said, i gotta admitt that little roll thats been building up over the years does kind of give me a warm fuzzy feeling as far as having a future.
how many times in this game, does anyone feel like Sisyphus must feel about his mountain.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Myth_of_Sisyphus
http://www.nyu.edu/classes/keefer/hell/camus.html
go figure Miley Cyrus actually has a clue, maybe.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tU7tV4GCmWw
i dunno, me, if after a bit of climbing that mountain, 'the blackjack mountain that is' , taking a breather and i haven't yet fallen down to the bottom, it's a pretty good, feel good thing.
what ever i kind of try and take the attitude Evel Knievel had when he was asked about the snake river canyon jump, "aren't you a bit afraid about making this jump?" Evel answered, "it doesn't much matter i'm gonna do it anyway.":laugh:
