In black jack if you hold at 18 (I think 18 is very very generous by the way), and you do win the hand, you win, just exactly the same as if you get 21 and win. You get exactly the same result. If we could just hold at 18 and still "win" just the same as if we had a better coach or if we could just hold at 18 but still end up in a new years day bowl then it might be a better analogy. I assume the difference is that this is good enough for you, so you must still feel like you're "winning if things stay the same. Other people don't feel like we're "winning" by holding. It all lies in your definition of winning