[CORed]

I've dabbled in counting, but never done it professionally. Some things to think about:

Variance is wicked in blackjack. You need a big playing bankroll and plenty of living expenses saved up. Take your worst poker downswing and multiply it by 5 to get an idea of what is in store.

I don't think there are enough good double deck games around to be sustainable. if you are playing high enough to make a living, it's only a matter of time until you get backed off or barred. Whether you use a comp card or not, if you get barred from one MGM property, you will likely get barred from all of them. They will fax your picture to the others. If you are serious about making a living at it, you will probably have to play shoes, which means bigger spreads, more variance, bigger bankroll requirements.

Consider team play, if you're not hopelessly individualistic. A pooled bankroll and more hands played helps with the variance. Also, spotter/big player tactics, as used by the MIT team, and Ken Uston before him, can make you a little harder to detect.

BJ21 Green Chip is probably your best bet for a forum. It's paid membership, but I think the fee is something like $50 per year, which shouldn't be a problem if you are contemplating playing $200 minimum games.