A group of friends, I included, are taking a trip to Las Vegas this summer. For my Vegas trip I figured I’d better brush up on my gambling skills, of which I have few. I’m not a gambler usually, in fact until recent I haven’t even purchased a lottery ticket. The only “real” gambling I’ve ever done was penny poker when I was in High School.
Since I’ve always been a fan of Blackjack I decided to dive in and really learn the game and how it worked. A quick bit of Googling turned up the Wizard of Odds. An excellent site dedicated to gambling and various games of skill/chance. After reading up on Blackjack and learning the basic strategy I headed off to an online casino to practice; Bodog in this instance. They had a nice FLASH blackjack game that I could play with phoney money.
After several days of practice I had the basic strategy down pretty well I was ready to stake real money, and here my problems started. Let me tell you, it is no picnic to get YOUR money and get it where you want. Credit card companies refuse to fund Internet casinos, not that I blame them there are a lot of shady operations and you have to pick carefully. None the less I persevered, because when I’ve decided to be compulsive about something, nothing can stop me.
I narrowed down my choice of casino after extensive research to just four. After several weeks of messing around I was finally able to send a small about of cash to gamble with. Woot! I’m a high roller now!
Well, long story short, I burned through my stake. I actually didn’t do badly initially, but gambling is risky, and I was foolish at the wrong times. Make no mistake, to be successful at gambling you must be calm, disciplined, and organized. I was all of these things, except when it counted a few times. But, heck I had fun, and that’s what counts right? That’s what I keep telling myself anyhow.
Gambling is fun, and blackjack is an excellent choice since it is largely skill, and if you are good you can profit, maybe, if you are lucky. In fact gambling is more than just fun, it is euphoric. Which is dangerous if you aren’t able to control yourself. Indeed, I was unprepared for the rush I was feeling even when losing.
The problem with online blackjack is that some of that edge is taken away from you. You lose the ability to count cards, and you lose the ability to read a dealer for tells. However, you gain the ability to sit on your ass in your chair and watch your bank balance dwindle. Fun eh?
I learned something else valuable about online gambling, and gambling in general. You need a good sized stake if you want to be successful. Having a measly $250-$500 is only good if you want to make lunch money. Of course, if that is all you want you might as well just mug old ladies for their social security checks. Not that I’m advocating you take up a life of crime to fund your epicurean desires mind you.
You quickly find that betting a reasonable flat bet means betting the table minimum, as well as not having enough money to absorb losses if you decide to bet higher. Betting $1 per hand won’t make you a millionaire, or even buy you dinner.
After four days and a numb mouse button finger from all the clicking I think I’ve gotten internet gambling out of my system. Which is a good thing, because it is insidious? It’s far to easy to gamble online. You don’t have to get up and go to a casino, you just fire up the software and click your savings away.
So here I am poorer, but wiser. Not to mention I play a much better game of blackjack. Next stop…Vegas! Stay tuned for “Jack Gone Wild Part II – Sin City”. 
Links to blackjack and gambling related sites:
Wizard of Odds – Great site. Go here to learn about the various games and the odds behind them.
Casinomeister – Excellent Internet casino review site with great forums.
Arnold Snyder’s Blackjack Forum – Forums, articles, excellent site by a Blackjack “Grognard”.