There are three types of advanced blackjack player in my experience. By advanced then I am referring to the types of players who have the knowledge at their disposal to be able to win and beat the house. Firstly there is the mathematically inclined player who probably has advanced qualifications in mathematics. They really understand the game mathematically to the nth degree and their mathematical formulas are difficult for non-mathematicians to comprehend unless you have some sort of grounding in advanced mathematics. They seem like world class players on the surface because their knowledge is difficult to comprehend and follow.
So why do these types get caught in large numbers and their careers ended prematurely? I will answer that question by looking at type number two. He doesn’t really understand the mathematics of the game at all much beyond a basic level. He may know basic and a simple counting system that he is adept in but he understands totally the casino psychology of the game and the real tricks of the trade to extract extra money in situations. He uses gamesmanship, psychology, dirty tricks and everything else to get an edge and especially over inexperienced dealers. This player has skills and knowledge that the mathematical type doesn’t have, they may not look fancy when written down but they are effective.
This type may not be able to tell the EV for a certain strategy change but he can make money in other ways and is using life skills to get other edges. Meanwhile there is a third player. This player tries to understand the mathematics better than the second type and works hard on that side of their game. He knows that he will never be a mathematician and that he will never really understand the inner mathematical workings of the game as well as player one. But his is also shrewd enough to understand that the most successful players long term are the ones who can combine both player one and player two’s skill sets……the perfect balance between mathematics and all of the other skills needed to beat the game. He understands that mathematics, basic strategy and counting skill alone are not enough in the modern game where many more of the casinos have the same knowledge.
