I go on business trips to Vegas along with a friend. My friend has been playing blackjack for decades. I'm not a gambler, but counting allows me to join in whil

I go on business trips to Vegas along with a friend. My friend has been playing blackjack for decades. I'm not a gambler, but counting allows me to join in while mitigating risk (in the long run). We have a really good time. Initially, I spent about 40 hours training on blackjack counting software. Nowadays, I'll practice for one day before the trip, and I'm sharp again. My "lifetime earnings" are very good, but I'm not trying to make money so much as not lose money. Counting is only a small part of the game. You need to memorize basic strategy for the different types of tables, as there are subtle differences in rules. You have to know how many decks are left on the shoe. You have to divide the count by the decks remaining and calculate how much to bet based off of this information. Lastly, you have to execute all of this nearly perfectly all while in a loud environment while people are talking to you. Even a small percentage of mistakes can mean negative expected value.