Nice one there Glen. Family above all else. God bless.

Were you addressing your article to me? I was just posting a Bloomberg article about a small group of guys using mathematics to make @1 billion in betting on hirse racing. And I went on to suggest if mathematics can be used to make money on the 4-legged hoofed animal, using mathematical formulations to win on Baccarat should not be beyond imagination.

Having said befor that mathematicians are at the top of the intelligence food chain the article seems to reinforce the perception that there is a mathematical way to prevail at baccarat and perhaps the one school of thought should give more credence to the mathematical way. Except that the pro mathematics school in this forum seems to argue vaguely on HE and the whys and wherefores.

The Gambler Who Cracked the Horse-Racing Codehttps://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-05-03/the-gambler-who-cracked-the-horse-racing-code

The mathematicians on this beloved forum of ours maybe right after all. If horse racing can be reduced to algorithms, Baccarat must be a breeze. US$100,000,000 a year.

Always always give space to those who talk about things we don't know

1) so it would seem that there will be occasions when the shoe results totally contradicts any proposed system outcomes. For example the illustrated 1 B followed by 4 P and repeated 5 times. I al a trend follower and would bet until the losing bet. Granted the random theorist or maybe a system follower recommending breaking the trend would end up losing this part of the shoe as would Asymbac I would presume. Had he played then.

2) But you see Asym's theory may be working for him most of the other times. And if such a situation unfolded before him, he could maybe had stayed off based on his experience.

3) To each his own. Asymbac is an experienced player and I am sure his systems have a basis for long term success. Just wondering what he has to say. This exceptional situation may be the few instances he would lose had he stuck by his system but more often then not, he would prevail?

4) of course if such a strong trend were to present itself and one was to bet to break the trend, one may not look good; to put it mildly

Apologies if I do not sound too scientific or mathematical in my attempt to present my ideas. After more then 15 years of gambling and much losses (which I will categorise as R&D 🙄☺️ and will recoup over the next 5 years), I do think that. Human emotions. Sigh

So to identify how one can overcome their weaknesses, my suggestion is to impose 'arbitrary ' rules that we 'must' follow. And if we cannot impose these rules on ourselves, then we should bring someone along to help impose these rules upon ourselves. For example, whatever our accumulated winnings, when we run into a change of patterns or put the other way, when randomness sets in, and we start losing our grip on the situation, the self imposed rule could be reduce bet size to half or 1/3 or 1/10 after the first loss following a series of wins. If you lose 2 out of 3 bets stop for the next 15 rounds. If you lose 3 out of 4 hands, go take a walk for an hour. If you lose back 30% of your winnings or 40%, close the session.

Winning is easy. When you start losing, the issue is how to control oneself because just a few rounds of losses can inflict damage not only on your bankroll but on your psychology as well. Most of us  may claim peace or pray for peace. Peace can be easily ruffled in such situations. 'Impose rules'

Agreed that Baccarat is a game of randomness. Amidst these randomness, there are occasions of order and patterns. It is for the Victor's of the game to win on more hands then they lose if they can identify these times when there is order and patterns.

I think for the most part, everyone who has played the game has always been ahead or winning. Its at the end of the day or sessions that count; whether the person walks out a winner or a loser. The odds of 51.3% sounds like pittance on the occasions when there is order and patterns and one happens to be there and follow the 'shoe presentment' (a 'patented' terminology of alrelax 😎). I often watch with amusement when there is a long pattern of 'Banker' or a long period of chop-chop alternating banker-player and this one guy betting for randomness against the whole table. Until he was wiped out and he approached me and say he doesn't believe it. A mathematician perhaps? Told him if he follows the pattern he only loses the last bet when randomness sets in. Why stress?

Amidst randomness, there are always periods of order and patterns. Just as in life, there are periods, often, of order and peace. And periods of utter chaos. Just like a drive in the highway, there are periods of smooth driving and periods of 'immaculate congestions'.

As in life and in other businesses, there is only a thin line between success and failure. I really do believe each one of us have to identify our own demons and control it to win at the game. Discipline is a problem for many. Winning at a certain point in a play session above the 51.3% rate is not the problem. Maintaining the wins is the problem. So whether it is money management or discipline or whatever, we need to know ourselves and find solutions for it.

I tend to agree with Alrelax based on my personal gaming experience although I must profess I have the highest respect for Mathematicians (who I have been told in a recent discussion, is at the very top of the intelligence food chain even above the medical folks) and perhaps it is because I lack the IQ to understand their field and how they work.

The defining factor that make any system suitable only to an individual to a smaller or larger extent is the human emotions. Perhaps the mathematicians can formulate all human emotions but for sure even given a certain exact trend then prevailing, humans may react differently because the players at the table are different, the dealer is different, the player just quarrelled with the wife, the player just had a fantastic 50 shades of grey BDSM sex etc etc.

But like I said I don't understand enough of the power of mathematics. Because I read all the time of computerised share trading systems that make millions for the industry giants lole Goldman Sachs and the like purely on crunching data without regard to human reactions. A few differences are apparent though. These computerised share trading systems are supported by huge amounts of capital that can move the markets making it self fulfilling. It cannot happen on the baccarat tables. If the next round is meant for Banker to win, no matter how much you wager on Player, Banker will still win. Also these computerised share trading systems need lots of data and computer power to come to a recommendation which a baccarat player sitting or standing in the casino will not have the privilege of using. Even for online gaming, the time interval between each round makes it impossible to use such systems.

My 2 cents worth of opinion.

While I am not a poker player, I watch with amazement this company coinpoker.com raised I estimate, @US$65-70,000,000 in Ethereum. They had a pre ICO (Initial Coin Offering) opened for 4 days and then the ICO itself which was opened for about a week 2 months later.

Just to share with our fellow members here what is going on around us. We ignore at our own expense what is going on with the Millennials.

Met a guy in Spore, a fund manager who was explaining to me that the Millennials (the young people today)  think that its difficult to compete with the old rich, the old businesses which have been in existence for decades. But the millennials refuse to surrender n kow tow to the old establishment n that's why cryptocurrencies  like Bitcoin n Ethereum were invented. And now lots of companies raise funds through ICO ( a type of IPO but using cryptocurrencies). Which is like crowd funding except that u raise funds through cryptocurrencies n normally its of a higher amount.

I think cryptocurrencies will do well over time. Retail has been disrupted by amazon.com. Transport by Uber and the likes. Hotel by airBnB. Dining by Ubereats, foodpanda etc. The last bastion for disruption is the financial industry. And it will be disrupted by cryptocurrencies and ICOs. For as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow.

I enjoy reading your  writings and musings Glen. Some write with humility. Some write with arrogance. Some write with arrogance and fire in the belly!

Let us pray for those killed in the Texas church massacre yesterday. God bless their souls. Amen.

What one does after that is the defining moment. Truth be told, I have done this a few times winning 800-900k per trip. On a few occasions too, I have lost back same. Thinking back, I must have bipolar disorder to do that.

I am fine tuning a systematic approach to do this on a long term sustainable basis. Take small bankroll and if lose leave. No arrangement for more money. Easier said then done. And when winning, let the winnings roll.

It could provide a basis for repeat wins. The sad story is that the uncle of a lady friend won @US1,000,000 (local currency equivalent) and lost it all back and then committed suicide. Lessons to be learned.

You need S$25,000 to open a rolling program and be entitled to rolling commission of 0.6-1%. The commission is paid in cash only on closure of program. This particular trip I rolled @S$9,000,000. I opened and closed the program about 3 times to cash out the rolling commission.

This win was on one trip where I played for 22 hours from a bankroll of S$4,500. I thought long and hard about whether I should post it. And decided to do it to show that Baccarat can allow a transfer of wealth. Will discuss further later. Just to get the interest going

Glen's description of a multi faceted approach to betting best sums it up. In real life, any thing can happen. A pattern can continue or it can change. Anytime.

I have seen people who loves to bet against trends and occasionally they make money during the random phases but where trending is strong, they are decimated. Then there are players who live on trends and who will lose during the random phase.

As espoused in my yet to be validated book, (which I have passed on to some of you to review and comment on) I tend to ride on patterns. If it continues, dare to win. If it is doesn't continue, be scared to lose. Bet smaller and if you continue to lose, revert to unit bets. The name of the game is to protect the bankroll and the winnings. Set the arbitrary rules. We are playing against the whole team, the casino, the supervisor, the dealer, the floor manager etc etc. If we need help to adhere to the rules, bring along an associate to help you follow the arbitrary rules (betting smaller as you lose. Negative progression. Restraints from placing bets etc etc).

To win boils down to 'Dare to win in the Hot Phase and scared to lose in the Killing Phase. Bet selection wins or losses depends on which phase you are in. When you are hot you are hot. Whatever you bet you win. Similarly in the Killing Phase it is equally unbelievable that whatever you bet you lose.

And be at peace.

I have mentioned before that to really make baccarat a profitable long term venture, one has to treat it as a business. Having said that, it doesn't mean every businessman would be a long term success.

I am just wondering amongst the esteemed members here, who are actually in business or have owned or started or managed a business?  As in baccarat as in business, does not a businessman eat, sleep and breathe the business? The way Glen describes his business, it's a 24/7 preoccupation and it is not unique for the majority of businessmen.

So just because baccarat is gaming and you decide to treat it as a business, why is it taboo to be consumed with it 24/7? In fact, I think it is a prerequisite for possible success.

Food for thought