SweetAxtion said:
In order to be a succesful BJ player I believe you must be disciplined. If you can look at your life and say you have the discipline to say no to various addictive behaviours and are able to stay in relative control of your emotional state than at that point you will be ready.
If at this stage you are not at the level then develop it. Coupled with the advice on how to get started in regards to BJ play you must IMHO develop this integral part. One may never be like Spock, but they should at least be like Phil and know when you're not playing effectively because of the emotions clouding your play.
There is good advice here in regards to BJ. Just don't forget that it's not just about knowing BS and how to count cards that will make you effective.
Not bad SweetAxtion. I will add one other comment that newbies might not like to hear. Establish intellectually "Why" you want to play! If it is to earn a living at it or if it is going to bust your chops if you loose, then you need to attack the game much differently than if you play strictly for recreation...or maybe you need to find another game! You will very likely NOT break the bank playing at the $5 and you will loose as much as you win unless you get that advantage! And as I think has already been stated, you need a pretty good bankroll and a lot of table time to take advantage of that advantage :eyepatch:
Playing for recreation to me means that the fun you have playing the game offsets the times you play and loose. Those times you win are a bonus...and they do happen more often than you might think even when you flat bet and play Basic Strategy without counting! When I get to the point that I cannot loose and walk away feeling that I got my money's worth at the table, it will be time to hang it up!
If I go into a casino and play $5 minimum tables for 2 hours and quit with $25 win, I consider it a waste of my time. However, if I play 10 hours and loose $50, I consider it a great success IF I've had a good time, had good cocktail service and had a good dealer and tablemates <LOL>
I've already posted that I played an average of 10 to 12 hours a day in Vegas this last trip and ended up around $200 ahead. To me that was a tremendous success not because of the money but because of the BLAST I had playing it!
This past Saturday, I played for 12 hours at AmeriStar in Kansas City and ended up $60 ahead. Had a blast doing it so it was a success!
My strategy is just to have fun with it. If that were not so, I darn sure wouldn't be playing the $5 tables and I would be working at the game instead of playing at it. To each his own...but decide what "your own" is and play accordingly.