Just to tell people the truth about blackjack, the fact is $50/hour isn't really attainable playing $5 min blackjack. Using CVCX sim software, spreading 1-12 ($5-$60) playing 4 decks with good pen yields like $20/hr at best, and that's using Advanced Omega II, which is one of the best counting systems out there (but also complex and difficult to learn everything). Also keep in mind a standard deviation is like $250/hour. So to counteract that, you'd need a fairly big bankroll like $10,000 to have a miniscule risk of ruin. All of that in addition to the heat you'll get, and I'd say it's just not worth it compared to learning poker.

I kinda agree. Though Bj type stuff has the advantage that if you can learn it, you can and you'll probably know it.

Many smart people just cannot grasp poker. Many overestimate themselves and some underestimate based on Loosing streaks.

It's nice that BJ software can tell you that if you know x you can make y on a bankroll of z.

Twenty years ago this month I was playing BJ for a living as part of a team with an average bet of $250 plus, using a combination of counting, shuffle tracking, and ace tracking (at Caesars). Then I was booted from two large Vegas on successive trips. At the same time, many casinos started using covered plastic holders to shield the discards from view, which cramped shuffle tracking significantly. So I switched to poker and have never regretted it as i can sit there for as long as I like with no hassle. Of course, I no longer get comped to Tyson fights or Stones concerts at MGM.

FWIW, card counting is not difficult to learn, doing it unnoticed is difficult. I used anything from simple plus minus for 4-6 decks to Revere advanced counts or Snyder's Zen count for single or double decks. Keeping a separate count of 6's and 7's can provide camouflage in non-shoe games, as you will do contrary things if either of these card numbers becomes unbalanced. But i found basic card counting boring, and obvious to a trained eye that just counting cards for significant money for any length of time is wishful thinking. I lasted two years. Most everyone i know from that period switched either to poker or went to work for a casino with a specialty in tracking counters. And that is 20 years ago and doesn't take into consideration all of the advances in casino computer tracking. And nearly all the shoe games i walk by have automatic shufflers, making tracking shuffles a part of the past.