I don’t know how anyone can have that kind of memory. It’s amazing to me. I have a very poor memory for numbers.
He said it wasn’t that hard. Basic odds. for a pair = X two pair =X+N and so forth. You only had to know that the odds of another player having a higher hand than a Full-House 1 in 3. (But then the guy had degree in Statistics unlike History major me)
He didn’t win every hand playing poker, the trick was to limit losses on the hands you don’t win. In other words, he was, I think, saying card counters don’t bluff. He knew what the basic odds of beating three-of-a-kind were and would only push his bets accordingly. If he had a bad hand he try and call early or fold
Since in black Jack you can see all but one or the dealers cards the odds were pretty easy to figure. The casino rule was that if a dealer had a 15 or higher the dealer would hold. They would draw until they reached a 15.
The whole thing still seemed pretty hinky to me.
I asked him if he wasn’t cheating and the casino didn’t care he was doing it then what was he? He replied that he was the casino’s foil, the guy that the drunk idiot would point at and say, “If he can I can!”