But still - it's a negative edge. While you can win in short term on any given day, in long term that one half percent edge against you will eventually grind you down if you play long enough and frequently enough.

An advanced basic strategy - or what we call Basic Strategy Plus - is necessary for you to step up from being a casual player to being a serious recreational player who has a better chance of winning over long term.

To reduce small edge against you with Basic Strategy even further, and at times even turn it into a positive edge in your favor, you simply must pay attention to cards on table and develop some sense of proportion of high cards versus low cards remaining in deck. This is exactly what a card counter does.

But you don't have to spend hundreds of hours it takes to become a proficient card counter. You can get a general sense of proportion of high versus low cards by doing something called "counting table". Counting table simply means that in any given hand, you look at exposed cards for all hands on table (including dealer's hand). Do a quick count of all high cards (tens, jacks, queens, kings) and all low cards (2 - 5). There are an equal number of these high and low cards.

Jennifer's mother did some investigating, and came up with a schedule for Jennifer that offered her time for training, schooling, and a social life. She would be able to spend time with her father in evenings, and even participate in some after school activities which would give her added bonus of keeping up friendships with people her own age. Her solution was 'distance learning'. Some may know this as ‘open learning’.

'Distance and Open learning' are forms of education which have proven to be as effective as education a student receives at an 'attendance' school', and because student is able to take their studies at their own time, they are usually able to get ahead easily without having to wait for others to catch up with them. The student is also able to fit other activities into their life with time they save. Jennifer started this new schedule a few months ago, and has found this time effective schedule to fit in with her life instead of her trying to fit in with someone else's schedule.

Jennifer's daily schedule goes like this. She wakes up at seven o'clock along with her siblings. They all have breakfast and they leave for school whilst Jennifer goes to pool for training. She trains and is home by lunch time. She studies for four to five hours and this leaves evenings to her to decide what to do with. Jennifer is much more comfortable with this way of studying and says:

"Before my mother found out about 'distance learning' programs that were open to me, my life was a nightmare! Getting up at four o'clock in morning broke into every aspect of my life, and put a strain on my parents. Now my schedule is very much like my brothers and we act more as a family unit. I have time in morning for training, and if I feel I need to train more at certain times, time is there. It is same with studying. If I feel I need more time to study, time is there, and I have personal tutors for all of my courses who I can contact for any reason if I find any aspect confusing, or don't understand everything I need to. But most importantly, I am able to see friends, and I don't miss out on studying time or have to catch up after I have been away at a competition. I am even completing my AS and A2 levels in one year instead of two!"

Distance learning is quickly becoming favourite way to study by students wanting to get ahead and parents wanting to see their children excel in their studies and other activities. Melissa Roe had same problem with 'time'. Her 'attendance' school didn't afford her time to pursue theatre classes and go to auditions as was her dream, but her parents didn't want her to give up her studies well aware of fierce competition in area she wanted to pursue. Distance and open learning offered her freedom to immerse herself in something she loved without skimping on study hours. She says: