Welp...I will take this question seeing as I might be one of the younger counters (21).
I am guessing you are from Europe...I cannot help you there...but to say do not play in any game that using a shuffling machine...find some nice 6-8 deck shoe game with good rules.
That said, lets get to the fact you already seem to have the proficiency to count down a deck at a really fast rate. Can you do multiple decks at about the same speed? And what count are you using?
Side note:
I would say I am an average counter. I can count down a single deck, semi-rushed at about 20-24 seconds using Zen(lvl 2 count). But bump that to 4 decks and it takes me about 2.5 minutes (give or take). Which is almost 38 seconds per deck....more decks occasionally give higher + or - counts(obviously
) and if you rush you will make errors...better to be free of errors then to say you can burn through x number of decks.
Ok...that said...from a poor college student perspective. You need a bankroll, a big bankroll. If you feel you want to do this, go get a job. Work till you turn of age (18 or 21 in Europe? i dunno). If after all that labor you feel like you can risk $5-10 thousand then pick back up your studies.
You can read the books that are available in the mean time, reading never killed anyone. Just do not go full bore into this thing. Even if I had worked my butt off and built up the br to use right now I still might be weary of using it. I have taken big losses, and I know I can live with it...because I am lucky to have parents who let me live free of charge while still in college. But if this was not the case those losses would have crippled me.
As for winnings...In one venue over the course of playing one week...I played a small total of seven hours. In 3 hours I won only 60 units, and it took 4 hours to give it all back. The quality of game + my small bet spread did not help my results of this brief period of play.
This was just a quick example that its not all profit...troll the forums a bit...hours and hours of negative streaks. In simulations of millions of hands some have lasted 10,000 hands almost. That is equivalent to 100 hours of play at 100 hands per hour. That's over two weeks of losing play if you play 40 hours a week...can you handle it? Sure its extreme...but one must be away of the risk.
Recap:
1) Get a job.
2) Continue reading, its good for your brain.
2i) Count for maybe a few hours a week, do not want to lose the speed.
3) When you turn of age, go to a casino and just try to have some fun.
4) If you liked the environment and think this might be for you, have at it.
4i) Make sure you can spot a good game from the bad, you do not want to try making your 1-2% on a game that will only give you a slight fraction of that.
I'll end with a quote...
How was that for an answer?
Lengthy...but I feel it was my best one yet! :cool2:
