Ok so Atlantic City can not bar, ban or backoff card counters like most other places can. What they can do is things like reduce penetration to unplayable levels like 50% and bet restrict players, not flat bet (at least when I played there) but bet restrict like $5-$50, even on games that are much higher limits. So for the most part they reserved these for counters playing higher limits and just ignored the red chippers. At least back when I played AC, which was 2004-2009. Now once I built my BR up some and began betting green, I immediately drew these counter measures, (reduced penetration and bet restrictions). That is when I knew it was time to move on from AC.
As for how did I live off $8 an hour, and I wasn't even making that when I started. I was 21 at the time (actually started my career at age 20 with fake ID). I lived in a cheap apartment and had a roommate to share expenses. I skimped at everything for a couple years. Put off buying new cloths. Literally survived on Peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches and Mac and Cheese. Every dollar I could manage to not spend was a dollar towards BR.
And it still took about 3 years until my BR had grown to the point that I could bet even a little bit more.
So you final question, would I have been better if someone had "loaned" me a bigger BR? Well I wasn't in a position where that was an option, but I have given thought to others that might be and have two schools of thought:. Playing low limit is very valuable. It is where you learn the game and gain experience. Think minor leagues in baseball. But on the other hand, some of us burn out our name and face playing low limit and when it comes time to play bigger stakes have already worn out our welcome. So that can be a problem. I don't know the answer and probably is different answers for different players based on their situation.
But I will tell you that 5 years ago, when my younger brother graduated from college and moved to Las Vegas and wanted to pursue blackjack card counting, I decided to bankroll him, BUT I started him at that same red chip level that I first played and he played that for a year in Las Vegas before moving up in stakes. It's a really good path to learn and gain experience.
