The most common way of beating blackjack is the technique called "card counting." It is not as difficult as the name implies. Card counters do not count (or memorize) every card that has been played. Card counting does not require tedious and tough mental calculations. With study and prac-tice, almost anyone can learn to count cards.
Card counting is based on the principle that there are certain cards in the deck that favor the player and certain cards that favor the casino. Clearly the player loves 9's, T's and A's. Why? For the player there will be more blackjacks, the double downs will get higher cards, and the dealer will bust stiff hands (hard 12 - 16) more often. Conversely, the favorite card for the casino is a 5 (although, all of the low cards 2 - 7 favor the casino). Note that the 5 will make any stiff hand for the dealer. Moreover, if there is an excess of these lower cards, there will be fewer blackjacks, and the dou-ble downs are more likely to get lousy cards. The only card that is truly neutral is the 8. It plays equally for both sides.
When the game begins, the advantage is exactly as adver-tised by basic strategy. However, what happens next is unique to blackjack. Some cards are dealt out, played, and then placed in a discard tray. Some of these cards are good for the casino, some good for the player. The card counter scans the table, and takes note of how many player-favorable cards have come out and how many casino-favorable cards have come out. If substantially more low cards have come out than high cards, then the advantage shifts to the player.
And how does the counter make this work for him? The answer is easy: bet more when the advantage is in the player's favor and less when the advantage is in the casino's favor.
It is not the purpose of this book to give a careful expla-nation of card counting. Too many excellent books have
already been written on the subject by some of the greats of the game. Following are my top ten book recommendations for blackjack. The one common theme is that all these books have sexy titles (remember my promise for something sexy?).
My personal favorite title is The World's Greatest Blackjack Book. Maybe the author was looking at the "World's Greatest Dad” T-shirt he got for Father's day when the title came to him. We'll never know. Book 9 is the most recent addition to this list; published in 2004, it is an instant classic.
1. Professional Blackjack, by Stanford Wong, Pi Yee Press, 1994.
This book gives a complete presentation of the High-Low card counting system. Next to "Beat the Dealer," this is the most widely read blackjack book of all time.
2. Million Dollar Blackjack, by Ken Uston, Carol Publishing Corporation, 1992.
The story of one of the games greatest players, detail-ing Uston's team play in the late 1970's. It also pres-ents two card counting systems and discusses hole-card play.
3. The World's Greatest Blackjack Book, by Lance Humble and Carl Cooper, Doubleday, 1980.
The definitive treatment of the easy to learn Hi-Opt I card counting system. This system is not as powerful as High-Low; however, it is easier to use and can eas-ily be extended by side-counting Aces to a much more powerful system.
4. Knock-Out Blackjack, by Olaf Vancura, Ph.D. and Ken Fuchs, Huntington Press, 1998.
This book presents the card counting system that has the greatest power when compared to the amount of effort required to learn and implement the system.
The count is called KO, hence the title of the book.
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5. The Theory of Blackjack, by Peter Griffin, Huntington Press, 1999.
This book presents the detailed mathematical theory of the game. It assumes the reader is intimately familiar with statistics, combinatorics, and probabili-ty theory.
6. Blackbelt in Blackjack, by Arnold Snyder, RGE Publications, 1998.
A true giant of the game explains just about every-thing you need to excel. Among other every-things, Snyder discusses basic strategy, the Red 7, High-Low, and Zen card counting systems, shuffle tracking and team play.
7. Burning the Tables in Las Vegas, by Ian Andersen, Huntington Press, 2003.
Tools and tips for surviving as a high-stakes card-counter, including the now famous "Ultimate Gambit."
8. Blackjack Attack, by Donald Schlesinger, RGE Publications, 2004.
The foremost researcher in the history of blackjack, Schlesinger dissects the subtleties of the game like no other. Among his many extraordinary feats, he accu-rately compares the power of card counting systems in a number of different situations and he determines the true effects of rule variations.
9. Blackjack Ace Prediction, by David McDowell, Spur of the Moment Publishing, 2004.
Predicting when an ace will come out of the deck can allow the player to gain a huge edge over the house, as much as 50%. This incredible book will teach you how to identify and exploit the highly profitable ace.
10. Blackjack Wisdom, by Arnold Snyder, RGE Publications, 1997.
A compilation of more than ten years of writings that appeared in the quarterly magazine Blackjack Forum.
Your Homework Assignment
Topics covered include camouflage, team play, sys-tem selection, legal decisions, shuffle analyses, fluctu-ations, rules, and casino countermeasures.
HOMEWORK: Your homework assignment is to read pages 15-79 from Professional Blackjack by Stanford Wong (book 1 in the list). Then skip directly to chapter 41.
OPTIONAL HOMEWORK: Don't do the previous home-work assignment; instead read Chapter 40 of this book (the
$115,400 chapter). Allow this important and valuable mate-rial time to settle.
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