Question: Hobbies? Any Ideas?
[FONT=Trebuchet MS,Tahoma,Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Sans-serif,sans-serif]My hobbies include playing the Hammond Organ, especially the Reggie Wilson "classics",
Collecting photographs of twentieth-century telegraph poles, Morris dancing, and playing the board game Risk.[/FONT]
Yes, I need to get a life. I'm a total smeghead.
(Obscure British TV series reference alert)
Collecting photographs of twentieth-century telegraph poles, Morris dancing, and playing the board game Risk.[/FONT]
Yes, I need to get a life. I'm a total smeghead.
(Obscure British TV series reference alert)
Nooooo kidding! MrP, I made my living for 20+ years primarily by playing the organ at a large church. And that's no lie, and it ain't no walk in the park neither! It wasn't a Hammond organ, it was an Aeolian-Skinner, but I played on my share of electric organs at various funeral homes.
Hobbies? Become a blackjack card counter. Might as well have fun doing something that can make you a little money! (Notice I said "a little" money. Don't try to become a pro. It stops being fun real quick.)
Rick
Hobbies? Become a blackjack card counter. Might as well have fun doing something that can make you a little money! (Notice I said "a little" money. Don't try to become a pro. It stops being fun real quick.)
Rick
Blackjack card counter? Never thought about it, sounds interesting and fun!!! I might as well make some money (OK, not much!!!) while spending my time in a pleasant way!!! Hiking and cycling are within my intentions for the near future. Kayaking seems challenging, but intimidating, too (embarrased to admit).
One word of caution. Card counting isn't nearly as hard as the casinos make it out to be. (You don't need a photogenic memory, etc.) But most people shouldn't try it. My (younger) cousin is the only person I've met who knows much more about computers than I do. I knew more when he was a kid, but he passed me up around age 16 or 17. He's currently going for his doctorate in computer science. But he can't even arrange his hand into melds at gin rummy! He's a math genius, but cards ain't his thing.
You probably need to like math, and played lots of cards as a kid. Place to start is bj21.com . They have a free board where card counting is discussed, and books you can buy explaining card counting. There is just as much total nonsense printed about card counting as valid information. Anything recommended in the catalog there I can tell you is valid. (Then you can find it for a better price on Amazon or whatever. :becky
bj21 also has a paid board, called "green chip" where professional card counters get together and trade stories.
R.
bj21 also has a paid board, called "green chip" where professional card counters get together and trade stories.R.
Say, Lestrade, I was looking over the the bj21 catalog, and they don't have as much as they had a few years ago. Just mostly their own books -- which are good, but ... So I did a search and came up with this:
Modern Blackjack
It's a free internet book on blackjack card counting, and it's excellent. Last time I checked, that book was a work in progress, but now there's enough meat there to actually launch a card counting hobby! In fact, there's more there than practically any dead tree book I can think of.
Now, it's more or less a come on for his expensive blackjack simulation software. But that's really not necessary unless you plan to go pro, and you know what I think of that. Also, despite what he says, I'd look very carefully at hi-lo as my card counting system of choice. It's not as strong as his "Reko" with a comparable number of indices, but hi-lo is much more expandable and adaptable -- e.g. to shuffle tracking, if you ever want to get into that. Or for team play -- hi-lo is the standard there and pretty much everywhere.
But no card counter is ready after reading just one book. I also strongly recommend you get a copy of "Beat The Dealer" by Ed Thorp -- the book that started it all! Great analysis and historical perspective from the '60s. Then "Blackbelt in Blackjack" by Snyder (the latest edition) for a hard nosed gamblers perspective, "Blackjack Bluebook II" by Renzy, for lots of creative, modern twists, and "Blackjack Attack III" by Schlesinger, since you like the math. Oh, and if you're really into the math, you might want to look at "The Theory of Blackjack, 6th ed." by Griffin. If you can understand even half of that, you get bragging rights. :flypig:
I think all told, that'll get you started for under $50.
Rick
Modern Blackjack
It's a free internet book on blackjack card counting, and it's excellent. Last time I checked, that book was a work in progress, but now there's enough meat there to actually launch a card counting hobby! In fact, there's more there than practically any dead tree book I can think of.
Now, it's more or less a come on for his expensive blackjack simulation software. But that's really not necessary unless you plan to go pro, and you know what I think of that. Also, despite what he says, I'd look very carefully at hi-lo as my card counting system of choice. It's not as strong as his "Reko" with a comparable number of indices, but hi-lo is much more expandable and adaptable -- e.g. to shuffle tracking, if you ever want to get into that. Or for team play -- hi-lo is the standard there and pretty much everywhere.
But no card counter is ready after reading just one book. I also strongly recommend you get a copy of "Beat The Dealer" by Ed Thorp -- the book that started it all! Great analysis and historical perspective from the '60s. Then "Blackbelt in Blackjack" by Snyder (the latest edition) for a hard nosed gamblers perspective, "Blackjack Bluebook II" by Renzy, for lots of creative, modern twists, and "Blackjack Attack III" by Schlesinger, since you like the math. Oh, and if you're really into the math, you might want to look at "The Theory of Blackjack, 6th ed." by Griffin. If you can understand even half of that, you get bragging rights. :flypig:
I think all told, that'll get you started for under $50.
Rick
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Though I haven't done it recently (age/health reasons) I really enjoyed going OTR (off road) to Camp out. Usually days, but on several occasions it was a week and more. Still have a 4WD, tents and a good kitchen. Besides the solitude, much of the fun was getting there and back. No GPS, just go/return by Compass and the seat of your pants. During Hurricane Season, I still prep for an evacuation, we never know when we'll have to move out, and having the resources, moderates the need for finding a (housed) place to stay. Literally thousands of people can leave the coast when it's really bad.