By playing a "nearly perfect" basic strategy I managed to play blackjack on a 14 day Atlantic crossing, playing every day for one hour. Net loss: $32. People around me were leaving the table in disgust after losing $50 to $250 per hand, in 1-4 hands. Slower pace, knowing the odds, watching the dealer's cards, and the basic strategy will provide a LOT of cheap entertainment. Since "the odds" bet is sometimes be a loser, and may be a loser for several hands in a row, lower expectations may mean lower losses and better odds of an overall win.

My secret for playing blackjack for fun that most of you probably disagree with......minimum bet. I always only bet the table minimum. It's not that I'm cheap, it's a psychologic issue. To me, playing blackjack is fun. It's the playing of the hand that I enjoy, not the betting part. So psychologically if I bet more than the minimum bet I am no longer playing for fun, I am attempting to win money. It changes the entire game for me.

Love touring apartments but found the creating new identities a bit much when you cannot reuse the same name for 3 same owned apartments in the same neighborhood, or even one that you did 18 months ago. In Seattle, I'm surprised when they offer the minimum since there is zero parking and everywhere is very expensive and/or far away when you do park. Possibly the reason there are way more Seattle shops than outside the city :-)

@MFJohnston wrote:

@jameschicago
I did a little bit of shopping in Chicago last summer. The new home shops I did had precisely the same pay -with a very healthy travel bonus. I did not attempt to do apartment shops as I was on vacation and did not want to deal with targets. However, I *just now* looked at the job board for my favorite apartment company and advertised shops are *more* than they are currently in Seattle. I think there is more video available in Chicago, than Seattle, too. (I've seen them advertised on video shopper boards.)

I do type very quickly - which is one of the reasons I do well with narrative-heavy reports.

My understanding of player advantage with "perfect strategy" is that playing a minimum $10 bet 40 hours a week over a year should average out to around $30-40k annually, which is why casinos don't mind it. Very few people would have the tenacity to play full time when you can make more money mystery shopping!

See how I brought that around to the original topic

@SteveSoCal
Actually, somebody playing perfect blackjack basic strategy and not counting cards will lose in the long run. Casinos offer various forms of "comps" to lure gamblers in. Use of these comps can give the player a very slight advantage - for relatively low wager levels and over fairly short gambling sessions - certainly not full time.

Somebody who counts cards is able to completely turn the tables on the casino. However, the ability to do so does not make the game immediately lucrative. A top player can get an edge of 3-4% over the house (depending on the specific game variation and rules). This is a significant edge, but not enough to live off unless you are betting hundreds and thousands of dollars on individual hands. Moreover, there is no guarantee that, even the best player, can win on any given day. Folks who earn a living playing blackjack can have very high incomes, however, it comes with a severe cost: * It is stressful. Professional players can lose tens of thousands of dollars in an evening - and several evenings (weeks and months, too!) in a row. Many go bankrupt. *They have to be worried about getting thrown out of casinos, thus harming their ability to earn money. * They spend a lot of time on the road, traveling around the world to different casinos as they can't visit the same casinos too frequently. This makes family life difficult. * They have to study. They need to know to basic strategy on many different rule sets as well as the indices that tell how to adjust play in each game based on the card count. * As @SoCalMama says, it is a "grind." A player can sit at a table for two or three hours slowly losing money before the card count gives an advantage and s/he can raise the wager effectively, attempting to overcome the losses and make a profit in two or three hands. Even then, there is no guarantee of a win. It takes a ton of both focus and patience.

Very few folks are willing/able to do this. I am definitely NOT one of them. I play well and win more than I lose. However, I play on $3 and $5 tables and rarely bet more than $30 on a hand. I enjoy playing cards in general, so I think of it as "cheap entertainment." However, I am very competitive (Irene says "intense", so I work hard to win and have learned a fraction of what a professional knows.

Hi Steve....yes, you are intense, but you still owe me a brunch.

My secret to winning at blackjack and the like is not to play! I don't win but I don't lose either. Keeping my money is actually a win anyway, as I see it! And math is not my friend.

One of the companies has a really good paying online AARP shop for males or females :-)

@Mum wrote:

Same here JAS, I made a whopping $35 doing phone shops today. I will do any shop that can be done sitting on my couch. Meanwhile, watched Friends, did my workout and breakfast. Not bad!

Mum is too young for those.

Just to share, my 67.00 hour turned into an hour driving one mile in Westwood (U.C.L.A.) where Michele Obama was speaking at graduation. Security telling traffic where NOT to go, total mess, car upon car, couldn't get to third job, came home frustrated and vowing never ever to drive to the heart of the city, spend all day in car, left at 9:00, home at 2:00. Hard to "really" make 50.00 driving in a traffic ridden city if you count time to get there and back. Home sweet home, jobs may pay less, but I make more.

JAS, you made my day. The "too young" will keep me giddy all day!

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/02/2019 04:19PM by Mum.

@Irene_L.A. wrote:

Just to share, my 67.00 hour turned into an hour driving one mile in Westwood (U.C.L.A.) where Michele Obama was speaking at graduation. Security telling traffic where NOT to go, total mess, car upon car, couldn't get to third job, came home frustrated and vowing never ever to drive to the heart of the city, spend all day in car, left at 9:00, home at 2:00. Hard to "really" make 50.00 driving in a traffic ridden city if you count time to get there and back. Home sweet home, jobs may pay less, but I make more.

It was May 1st. Graduation happens in June.

Michelle Obama was at UCLA for College Signing Day.

She was still there and spoke to the class....why fight it, saw it on the news after the fact. I was talking about May 1st., yesterday.??????



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2019 04:08AM by Irene_L.A..

I'm in NYC, do high end apartment shops and in and out in 20 minutes including touring the amenities. 30 if I'm viewing two units

@SoCalMama wrote:

It was May 1st. Graduation happens in June.

It actually depends on location. Presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke will deliver the commencement address at historically black Paul Quinn College in Dallas on May 4. [www.dallasnews.com]

Georgia Tech also has its Commencement May 3 and May 4.

Schools in the Southeast generally start and end earlier.

In my experience, the learning curve was expensive at times. If people push through and figure out their worth/what works for them, they will do fine.

I see tons of shops that I know like the back of my hand, but they are still at base rate. I absolutely will not touch them until the bonus climbs a few notches and I can get $50-$60/hour. If someone else snags them in the meantime, I don’t care.

I don’t do shops that make me feel uncomfortable or that I will dread doing (car negotiation for example).

Making $50/60 dollars an hour, not really difficult, the difficult thing that wipes most of it out (if one wants to tell the truth), is the driving time, parking time in big cities, traffic and not counting how much time you put into doing these jobs. Some are easy when distance allows and yes I'll make $55.00 today in my town, but remember that is for about an hours work including report, however (wait for it), nothing else except a Robecks lunch reimbursement only. When I think of "making $50.00 an hour", I think of it being every hour for at least 4 hours a day, which hasn't happened to me, and I probably would work more if that were to happen. Whose buttons I'm pushing or those I'm challenging, no hard feelings. I only see a handful on the forum doing this. Choosing the enrichment of living a fuller life with good restaurants, a hotel now and then and a great way to be productive and needed is enough for me......plus I really enjoy what and the way I;'m doing it. I made more $$ right after retirement working four days at an upscale Art Gallery 5 hours a day and making 13.00 an hour plus 40% commission on a sale, paintings sold for 2 grand and up, and trust me, Thomas Kinkaid sold his stuff. When newcomers come aboard and see this money making from old time shoppers, I find it a bit deceving, as we know it takes time to figure it out, build relationships and get bonused, which is rare in California ask SandyF .or Steve about traffic....everything depends on location.
#telling it like it is for 80% of us.

@roflwofl wrote:

@SoCalMama wrote:

It was May 1st. Graduation happens in June.

It actually depends on location. Presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke will deliver the commencement address at historically black Paul Quinn College in Dallas on May 4. [www.dallasnews.com]

Georgia Tech also has its Commencement May 3 and May 4.

That’s nice.

On May 1st, at UCLA, Michelle Obama was there for National Signing Day.
Graduation at UCLA was not May 1st. It’s not in May at UCLA and hasn’t been for at least 30 years. UC schools graduate in June. I got my degree at a UC school.

@roflwofl wrote:

@SoCalMama wrote:

It was May 1st. Graduation happens in June.

It actually depends on location. Presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke will deliver the commencement address at historically black Paul Quinn College in Dallas on May 4. [www.dallasnews.com]

Georgia Tech also has its Commencement May 3 and May 4.

I was there, and returning saw the speech on T.V. with Michele Obama. I believe many Universities have different ceremonies though out May as my daughter did graduating Northwestern, they had speakers coming in at different times. I believe I said she was speaking to the graduating class, not at the graduation, which I know is in June for all U.C schools, having been to many of my friends kids graduations between USC, U.C.L.A., and Santa Barbara...yes, my daughter had tons of friends going to the U.C schools, I am aware, but thanks SoCAlMama for trying to put me down.....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2019 03:45PM by Irene_L.A..

It still was an appearance for signing day. She was speaking to high schoolers who were bussed to UCLA. It’s. It is not just that I believe that. Those are the facts.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/03/2019 10:33PM by SoCalMama.

Okay, I got curious about the argument and Googled it. SoCalMama is right. The link below should settle it.

[patch.com]

But bottom line, traffic was bad because Michelle, and other celebrities, were speaking at UCLA. It just wasn't a graduation, but doesn't matter. Irene got stuck in the traffic, which sucked. End of story.

Before we continue to pontificate about making $60 dollar an hour mystery shopping I must interrupt with an important news break / reality check. For lunch today I ate at Raising Canes and got paid $5 and a free lunch. That is all for now feel free to return to your cat fights and your lifestyles of the mystery shopping rich and famous! LOL!

Hearing about the 50.00 an hour over and over gets boring, I won't work that hard and am not lazy, if I had to I suppose I would. Feels like a bit of bragging, and this industry is about more than working, travelling, driving to make money. I think for an industry where you don't need a degree, or writing skills, this attracts many who want a bit more to supplement income. Salaries should be personal, we all know more hours and driving brings in more money, enough said, and for me, no wishing I could, I enjoy retirement and working at my choice, where else do you work from home and saying no thanks doesn't get you fired...

@JASFLALMT wrote:

Okay, I got curious about the argument and Googled it. SoCalMama is right. The link below should settle it.

[patch.com]

But bottom line, traffic was bad because Michelle, and other celebrities, were speaking at UCLA. It just wasn't a graduation, but doesn't matter. Irene got stuck in the traffic, which sucked. End of story.

My point was about traffic and not being able to do third job due to Michele Obama speaking, security was there, and yes I got stuck in the mess. I just read the article, thanks for posting link, very interesting.
Who cares what she was speaking about, this wasn't about her speech...OMG.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/04/2019 12:08AM by Irene_L.A..

I don't consider it bragging. It was these type of threads helping a lot in my first few years of shopping. People who work at this to maximize profit will benefit while it will probably be boring for those shopping for other reasons. I know I have always tended to avoid threads about lifestyle shopping just because it doesn't appeal to me at this point.

Once, I said there is a stigma associated with some expressions of how people mystery shop and how much money they make by doing it. Someone said there is no stigma. However, for the umpteenth time a thread involving money and how to make it by mystery shopping has gone south. For the umpteenth time, some people have picked at each other because of how they approach their--,get this-- unique-- independent contract activities.

I think it is wonderful that some people have the time and energy to do what they need to do in order to earn the big bucks in this business. It is wonderful that some of them have the ability to share or explain how to do this. i think it is wonderful that some people have no ego, monetary, social, or other need to work in this business in an intensive money-seeking way.

It is not okay to compare shoppers. It is not okay to put down shoppers who, for whatever reason work and/or earn differently than a perceived norm (big bucks all the time or nothing!). We are unique individuals who have a variety of reasons for performing this work. It should all be considered as good, as long as the work is done in good (legal and safe) ways. Gah. !

@Shop-et-al
And there is nothing wrong with helping shoppers who want/need to make more money learn to do so.

Some days I shop to travel. Other days I travel to shop. I *can* make the big bucks but it's not always my primary (or even secondary) goal. So long as I am meeting my own, personal goals, it's a good day.