I downloaded an e-book from my public library and I'm reading it right now! I'll let you know how things go...
Awesome! You are the man. I'm impressed by someone who takes such fast action! Best of luck to you, and please do let us know how it goes. Please feel free to PM me if you come up with any questions at all.
I'll say one thing -- even if you don't end up winning a bunch of money, advantage systems like card counting and playing smart is a helluva lot better than losing, which I did well enough before learning how to beat the game. Anything can happen in the short run, but in the long run, you have the advantage over the casino. If you play anywhere near 500 - 1,000 hands, statistics are definitely on your side. And don't be shy about asking your "host" (aka the pit boss) about providing you with a meal or something when you finish a playing session.
I've played blackjack a handful of times and I feel like the game needs to be second nature (not even have to think about how to play any hand) before I even attempt to keep a count going in my head. I'm certainly not a natural, but I think it takes a lot of practice to be able to do it and keep everything straight.
It does take some practice, but you might be surprised just how relatively easy it is to learn and how quickly it becomes second nature. It seems like a very difficult, mysterious system that popular media portrays as the domain only of math geniuses. But it's actually pretty easy to learn. And it can be taken up in stages, you don't have to learn everything all at once. Just following the count and making appropriate betting decisions will already take away the house advantage. You can add memorizing the playing decisions later to gain an advantage.
If you can count a single deck of cards in 30 seconds (which took me only about 2-3 hrs of practice at home), it's fast enough to be able to keep up with any dealer and not focus intently on the cards or the game. You can have conversations with friends, other people at the table, cocktail waitresses and so on, and still follow the count. And once you've committed the various betting and playing decisions to memory based on the count, it's just a matter of recalling it when it's your turn to play. I just practiced at home until I felt I somewhat had the hang of it, and it immediately started paying off when put into action at the casino.
