Steven Crist's New Book

[whorstman]

Originally Posted by Dunbar

Disagree pretty strongly with both you and Scavs (who I hope is at least partly joking). Experience is very important, but it is not "everything in gambling". You are very unlikely to learn how to beat any game by experience alone.

I very seriously doubt there is a current successful blackjack player in the entire world who is self-taught. You have to either have read a good book or have the benefit of a good mentor, or both.

I'm confident that the vast majority of successful poker players have read good books.

There is no substitute for experience, but trying to be successful from the ground up with experience alone in any area of gambling is a foolish undertaking, IMO.

--Dunbar

I think the successful gambler should take from all angles. Research, watching others, and their own experience. I think you may get caught in a rut if you don't learn from your mistakes. I know I have studied quite a bit over the last several weeks and have been cashing a lot more often b/c of it.

[DerbyCat]

I respect the experience factor that all of you veteran folks have since I'm still new to this (two years in) but I think the most important factor is being willing to admit that you don't know everything and that you're still learning...

I've been going through a HUGE learning curve lately reading books and all of your postings and I'm greatly impressed by the willingness of everyone to share their knowledge and experience... will I read Crist's book? Probably, but I'm getting just as much from the posters on this board as I will from a book.

My thanks to all of you!