I'm in my first year of counting and feel like I've come a long way in a short time. My bank roll is not large. I play at the same place close to me because they have good rules and it's 15 minutes from my house. I don't track what I win but I've had at least 20-30 trips and I think only 4 of them were significant losses (maybe $2100 loss total in those 4 sessions), maybe 5-6 were even or up a small amount and the other ten were significant wins $200 up to $900). I've scouted out the dealers and know which ones give better penetration and which ones make payout errors both beneficial and non-beneficial. I've been extremely patient and have played long periods where the count is neither favorable or unfavorable. Minimum table bets are 10 but get raised to 15 later when it's busier. My small bet is table minimum, max bet has been $95. $100 or more gets called out every time and is probably too much for my bankroll anyway. I've raised and lowered my bets based on what my bankroll can handle and the count, but I don't really have a system of raising. If it goes to true count +1, I go to 15 and if it goes slightly above 1, I raise some more and every time it gets higher, I bump it up some more. I know I make mistakes at times. I catch them and review it after the fact. I see a lot of time being put into spreadsheets and numbers, but is that necessary? I've devoted my time to learning perfect strategy, counting and now I'm incorporating some deviations. I haven't had a lot of attention from the bosses but now they seem to be stopping over more often to chat or check in when they didn't before. I may be paranoid and I might be just getting lucky. I hear other players there saying nobody ever wins at blackjack there, but I'm winning fairly consistently. I've seen the horrible stretches and have seen the good ones. I guess the only feedback I get is more chips which is great, but how do I know if the reason I'm winning is counting or just dumb luck? Any suggestions for a newbie or are there any other rookies who can share their experiences?