This may sound like a silly question because card counting is supposed to give you an edge. But this is the same as being a good poker player, being “good” at poker does not necessarily mean that you will earn money. There are many factors involved like the effect of the rake and the level of opposition to quote just two examples. There are many card counters who have a high level of knowledge…..but not high enough. Or they are idle when it comes to game selection. They are knowledgeable but not knowledgeable enough to do the extra things that are required in order to make the game pay.
Selecting good blackjack games is an art form as is extracting extra money from blackjack games by exploiting weak dealers. The edge that a player has is about 1% at best and this is when the games are good. When the games are bad (which is often) then you can simply be recycling money. In my experience, the vast majority of card counters fail to make money and this even applies to the ones who have a high degree of knowledge.
There are two factors behind winning blackjack, theoretical knowledge and the softer skills that really contribute to making your earn rate. But yet this isn’t something that many players concentrate on. The mathematical side of the game really has a finite upside and this is exactly the same with online poker. The very best players in the world or at least the strongest players are not making all that much money in poker these days online for the reason being that too many players above certain levels are technically adept.
