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Q 1: Is there special terminology that blackjack players
use?
Answer
Q 2: Is there a special terminology used by card counters?
Answer
Q 3: Why doesHome-Blackjack focus so much on blackjack?
Answer
Q 4: Is casino blackjack a “beatable” game?
Answer
Q 5: What kind of advantage can card counting provide?
Answer
Q 6: Is card counting permitted?
Answer
Q 7: Are casinos allowed to ban card counters?
Answer
Q 8: What is the house edge when playing basic strategy?
Answer
Q 9: Why are multi-deck games worse than single deck
games?
Answer
Q 10: Do bad players sitting at third base have an effect
on expected gain?
Answer
Q 11: Which seat is the best at a blackjack table?
Answer
Q 12: How do you card count?
Answer
Q 13: Which is the best counting system?
Answer
Q 14: Which is the easiest counting system to use?
Answer
Q 15: Which is the most effective counting system in
blackjack?
Answer
Q 16: Is basic strategy expectation affected in any
way by penetration?
Answer
Q 17: What is the correct strategy for late surrender?
Answer
Q 18: What is “multi action” blackjack and what would
be the correct strategy for this game?
Answer
Q 19: What is “Over/Under” blackjack?
Answer
Q 20: What is the counting strategy for Over/Under blackjack?
Answer
Q 21: What are some good blackjack books and some bad
blackjack books?
Answer
Answers
A 1: The special terminology you will hear blackjack players
use is listed and explained below.
Basic terminology
This is a basic playing strategy that, if applied correctly, can
help cut down the house advantage as much as possible
without card counting, dealer tells, or shuffle tracking. Basic strategy is the
foundation for card counting, but is also used by many
players who do not count cards.
Burn Cards
These are the cards that are removed from the deck without ever
being dealt to the players. After the dealer has shuffled the cards
and one of the players has cut the deck, the dealer will remove one
or two cards from the deck before dealing. These are referred to as
the “burn cards”.
Card Counting
The card counting system is designed to help improve the player’s
edge. The player assigns a value to each card face and then sums up
these values each time a new card is turned face up. The player then
uses the count he has been keeping to determine when the game is most
favorable to him so that he can place larger bets and/or make changes
in his playing strategy.
Double Down
Doubling down is when the player doubles his initial wager. When
a player doubles down, he can only receive one more card. Usually,
doubling down is only allowed on the player’s first two cards, although
some casinos will allow the player to double down after splitting
a pair. You will rarely find casinos that allow doubling of hands
that have more than two cards and some casinos in Northern Nevada
only allow doubling down with a two-card total of ten or eleven.
Double for Less
This is the same as doubling down only the second wager is slightly
less than the first. Usually, when a player doubles down, his second
bet can be less than or equal to his first bet but it must not exceed
the first bet.
Early Surrender
This option is too valuable to the player to be offered very frequently
by the casinos. It allows the player to surrender even when the dealer
has a natural.
Even Money
If you take insurance when you are holding blackjack the result
will be a net gain of one bet. At some casinos, the player can get
paid without actually placing the insurance bet. This is referred
to as “taking even money”.
First Base
The player sitting at first base is the player at the table who
acts first on his hand.
Flat Bet
Betting the same amount on each hand.
Hard Hand
This term refers to any hand that is not a soft hand.
Heads Up
Playing alone at a table with no other players.
Hit
To hit is the same as drawing a new card from the deck.
Hole Card
This is the dealer’s card that is placed face down so that no one
can see it.
Insurance
A side bet offered when the dealer’s up card is an ace, this bet
can be up to half of the original bet and pays 2:1 if the dealer has
a natural 21.
Late Surrender
Only offered when the dealer does not have a natural, the late surrender
option allows the player to lose only half of his bet, but he must
also forfeit his hand. If the dealer has blackjack the player still
loses his entire bet.
Natural
A natural 21 is a hand that totals 21 on the first two cards.
Over/Under
This is a bet that the player’s first two cards will total either
more thirteen or less than thirteen when aces are counted as one.
Preferential Shuffling
This is when the dealer shuffles the deck when it favors the players
but avoids doing so when the deck is unfavorable to the players.
Push
A push refers to a tie hand. When the player and dealer tie, the
original bet is returned to the player.
Shoe
The shoe is normally reserved for games where more than one deck
of cards is used and holds the cards that have not yet been dealt
out.
Soft Hand
Refers to any hand with an ace that can be counted as an eleven
without going bust. In a soft hand, it is always possible to draw
at least one card without exceeding a point value of 21.
Split Hand
In blackjack, players have the option of splitting a hand if the
first two cards dealt out have the same rank. When splitting a hand,
the player must place another bet for the second hand that is equivalent
to the first bet and the new hands are then played out separately.
Spread
The option to place more than one bet before the cards are dealt.
Stand
To indicate to the dealer that you don’t want any more cards.
Stiff (hand)
A stiff hand has a very small chance of winning regardless of how
the hand is played out (usually 12 – 16).
Surrender
This option is rarely allowed, as it is too favorable to the player.
It allows the player to give back his first two cards in exchange
for a refund of half of the original bet. Some hands are so bad (such
as 16 vs. a dealer’s 10) that it would cost the player less to surrender
than play out his hand.
Third Base
The player sitting at third base is the one who is last to act on
his hand.
Up card
This is the dealer’s first card and is dealt face up. Part of making
the correct playing decision requires consideration of the dealer’s
up card.
Back
A 2: Card counters also use a special terminology. These terms
are described below.
Betting Correlation
Betting correlation gives an estimate of the accuracy of the card
counting system. It is a measure of how well the card weights correlate
to the change in how favorable the cards are to the player once the
player has seen the cards and they have been removed from the deck.
Back Counting
Usually done while standing in the back of the players at the table,
back counting is when you count the cards and wait for the count to
become favorable before you sit down to play.
Balanced Count
The balanced count is used by most counting systems and is used
by any counting system that has a count that starts at zero when the
cards are shuffled and ends in zero when all the cards have been exposed.
Bet Spread
The bet spread is the ratio between maximum and minimum bet size.
For example, the bet spread for a player using $20 maximum bets and
$5 minimum bets is 4:1.
Card Weight
Card weight is the value assigned to each card face. As each new
card gets exposed, the weight of the card gets added to the “count”.
Usually, weights are small integer values like –1, +1, or +2.
Count
The count is a number that the player uses to estimate how favorable
or unfavorable the deck is.
Cover Bet
Sometimes card counters will make a bad bet in order to fool the
pit bosses that the player is not counting cards. This is called a
cover bet.
Insurance Correlation
Insurance correlation provides an idea of the accuracy of the card
counting system for predicting when to take insurance. It is a measure
of how well the card weights correlate to the change in how favorable
it is for the player to place an insurance bet.
Penetration
Good penetration is very important to card counters. It refers to
the number of cards that have been dealt before the cards are shuffled.
Penetration is usually expressed as a percentage of the cards, as
in 65% penetration.
Playing Efficiency
This is the effectiveness of strategy variations in tracking the
optimal playing strategy as the make-up of the deck changes. Efficiency
is given by E=AG/PG, where AG is the Actual Gain from making the strategy
changes and PG is the Possible Gain that could be made by using a
playing strategy that is supposed to be “computer perfect”.
Running Count
This is the sum of the weights of all the cards that have been exposed
since the dealer shuffled the deck.
Shuffle Tracking
Some players will try to predict which sections of the deck or shoe
will be most favorable. This is called shuffle tracking and is based
on the locations of favorable sections of the previous deck or shoe
and on studying the method used to shuffle the decks of cards.
Side Count
In addition to the main count, there can be a side count. It usually
involves a single card face, as in an ace side count.
Ten Poor
Ten poor refers to a deck that has a lower than average number of
tens and face cards.
Ten Rich
Exactly the opposite of ten poor, ten rich refers to a deck that
has a higher than average density of tens and face cards.
True Count
The true count is the count that has been adjusted according to
the number of cards that have not been dealt. To get the true count,
players divide the running count by the number of decks that have
not yet been dealt (or half-decks).
Unbalanced Count
As opposed to the balanced count system, the unbalanced count system
is one where the count starts or ends on a non-zero value. Red 7 is
an example of an unbalanced count.
Wonging
Wonging is when a player attempts to improve his edge by placing
wagers only when the count is favorable and sitting out when the count
is not favorable.
Back
A 3: Because blackjack is the most popular table game in American
casinos,Home-Blackjack tries to reflect that popularity
by providing an abundant amount of articles about blackjack.
Unlike most casino games, if you are a skillful blackjack
player, it is actually possible to improve your edge over the house
significantly. It is a very complicated game, however, since the games
and rules vary from casino to casino and even within the same casino.
The number of decks used and the particular rules of the casino affect
the strategy to use at the game, which means there is a lot to write
about.
Back
A 4: While there is a general agreement that players
can play with a small, long-run advantage in blackjack,
there is disagreement about how much this advantage
translates to in real casinos. Rec.gamblers has performed some simulations
which have shown different amounts of potential player advantage depending
on strategies, exact rules, and playing conditions
and these simulations have shown gains of about 1% (although in ideal
circumstances this could conceivably get higher). The 1% is equivalent
to about a penny gain for every dollar bet, but the variance is very
high in this game so the slight advantage one might gain is by no
means guaranteed.
Back
A 5: Depending on the skill of the card counter, the
type of counting system used, and the particular house rules
that the player must play under, the average card counter
will have an edge of about 1.5%. You will rarely find a casino with
house rules that would allow the player 2% edge, even with single
deck games. With multi-deck games, the player’s edge is usually less
than 1%.
Back
A 6: Card counting is not illegal even though the casinos
would like you to think it is. Card counters are simply more
skillful players than the average blackjack player
and the Nevada courts have ruled that players are allowed
to use any information that is made available to them to play their
best game provided that there is no collusion between a player and
casino personnel. If, for example, a dealer accidentally holds the
cards in a manner that allows the player to see the hole card, the
player can legally make use of this information without breaking any
laws.
Back
A 7: In the casinos in Atlantic City, card counters cannot
be banned, whereas in Nevada, casinos are free to refuse
service to anyone at any time for any reason. Players
can be barred from playing blackjack or from playing at the casino
entirely and if the player continues to insist on playing at a casino
from which he has been banned, he can be arrested for trespassing.
Back
A 8: The house rules and the number of decks being played
affect the expected gain for basic strategy play. In
the chart below the player’s expectation for a variety
of games are summarized. All numbers are in units of percent of initial
bet.
<-- number of decks -->
| 1 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 20 | 100 |
----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
AC | .1541 -.2228 -.3991 -.4569 -.5368 -.5638 |
AC + LSR | .1761 -.1717 -.3323 -.3843 -.4552 -.4790 |
AC + ESR | .7694 .3952 .2265 .1721 .0968 .0714 |
----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
strip | .0409 -.3214 -.4889 -.5437 -.6245 -.6447 |
strip + LSR | .0707 -.2685 -.4239 -.4744 -.5429 -.5659 |
strip + DAS | .1809 -.1795 -.3472 -.4021 -.4779 -.5034 |
strip + ESR | .6511 .2927 .1320 .0801 .0084 -.0157 |
----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
vegas |-.1527 -.5257 -.7015 -.7590 -.8445 -.8663 |
vegas + LSR |-.1095 -.4594 -.6221 -.6747 -.7469 -.7713 |
vegas + DAS |-.0103 -.3813 -.5570 -.6146 -.6951 -.7223 |
vegas + ESR | .5403 .1720 .0046 -.0493 -.1245 -.1500 |
----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
reno |-.4291 -.7400 -.8906 -.9404 -1.0154 -1.0337 |
reno + LSR |-.3858 -.6737 -.8113 -.8560 -.9178 -.9387 |
reno + DAS |-.3121 -.6176 -.7658 -.8151 -.8840 -.9073 |
reno + ESR | .2639 -.0423 -.1846 -.2307 -.2307 -.3174 |
----------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
Typical Atlantic City Rules
dealer stands on soft 17
doubling down is permitted on any two cards
doubling down is permitted after a split
splitting again after you have already split is not allowed
Typical Rules for the Las Vegas Strip
dealer stands on soft 17
doubling down on any two cards is permitted but not after a split
Typical Rules for Downtown Las Vegas
dealer hits on soft 17
doubling down on any two cards is permitted but not after a split
Typical Rules for Reno
dealer hits on soft 17
doubling down is allowed on a two card total of 10 or 11 only
DAS = Double After Splitting
LSR = Late Surrender
ESR = Early Surrender
Back
A 9: In addition to the more surface differences, such
as the fact that single or double decks are usually
hand held whereas games with for or more decks are
dealt from the shoe, there are some more fundamental mathematical
differences too.
To begin with, single deck blackjack is usually better for card
counters, basic strategists, and amateurs. Also, with four or more
decks, busts are less likely to occur since a player could conceivably
draw a hand like 2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2 (for a total of 18 points), which
are impossible in a single deck hand. Busting less actually helps
the dealer’s hand more than the player’s hand because, according to
strict rules, must hit more often than the players. In addition, with
multi-deck games, blackjack also occurs less frequently, which is
bad since you get paid 3 to 2 for those. In short, multiple decks
will cost a basic strategist nearly 0.5% in advantage and this is
more than you would get from all but the very best package of favorable
extra rules. This is an intuitive explanation but if you want a complete
mathematically sound proof, there are combinatorial analysis programs
that exist for this purpose.
Finally, for card counters, multiple decks offer less frequent opportunities
for large favorable bets because the count is less volatile. For example,
consider the difference between a jar with one black marble and one
white marble versus a jar with one hundred black marbles and one hundred
white marbles. If you draw half the marbles from the jar with one
black marble and one white marble, there is a one in two chance that
the remaining marble is white. If, on the other hand, you draw half
the marbles from the jar with one hundred black marbles and one hundred
white marbles, there is only a 1 in 100,891,344,545,564,193,334,812,497,256
chance.
Back
A 10: It is commonly believed that wrong plays by the
player at third base might take the dealer’s bust card
or leave the dealer a good card, but this is not true.
As long as shuffling is sufficient to randomize the cards, incorrect
plays made by other players have just as much chance of helping as
hurting. Still, poor players can cause other players frustration,
which may affect how well they play and increase the likelihood of
making mistakes. It is wise to temper your anger if there is a bad
player at the table.
Back
A 11: This depends on a number of factors. For basic
strategy players, where the player sits has no significant
effect on his expected return. For those card counters employing
a variety of strategies, third base is probably the
best seat since it allows you to see the most cards before playing
your hand. For “front loading” dealers, the best seat would be the
one that gives you the best chance at getting a glimpse of the dealer’s
hole card.
Back
A 12: The card counting system that is explained below is an
unbalanced ten count that is 100 percent accurate for
determining when to take insurance. However, as a general-purpose
card counting system it is fairly weak and not recommended.
Nonetheless, it is useful for illustrating many of
the principles behind card counting.
For single deck games:
- Start the count at –4 when the deck is shuffled
- For 10, J, Q, and K count –2
- For everything else count +1 (including aces)
- When the count is positive, bet high. When the
count is negative, bet low.
- When the count is positive, take insurance.
- At all times, play basic strategy.
For N deck games:
- Start the count at (-4 * N)
- The rest of the rules are the same.
Notes: This counting method is unique because it is perfectly
accurate for dealing with insurance. The player has the advantage
when the count is positive so he should take the insurance bet. On
the other hand, the house has the advantage when the count is negative
so the player should not take the insurance bet.
It is best to count the cards by counting several cards at once.
This method is easy to practice if you do the following:
- Counting one card at a time, count through a deck
of cards. Begin at –4 and count through the entire
deck. After you have seen all of the cards, your
count should be zero. If not, you have made a mistake
in your counting. Repeat the exercise until you can
do it quickly without any mistakes.
- Counting two cards at a time, count through the
deck of cards. As you are counting, look for the
following patterns, adding the correct amount for
each pattern:
(X = 10, N = non-ten)
NN: +2
XN: -1
XX: -4
Again, the count should be zero after you have seen all the cards
in the deck. Repeat this exercise until you can do it efficiently.
- Counting three cards at a time, count through
the deck. Look for the following patter, adding the
correct amount for each pattern.
(X = 10, N = non-ten)
NNN +3
XNN 0 (this is a common pattern)
XXN –3
- Practice playing and counting cards against a
computer blackjack game. It might help if you count
the cards by counting an entire hand (either the
player’s or the dealer’s) at once. If there are more
than three cards in the hand, you can mentally break
the hand up into groups of 1, 2, or 3 cards (look
for XNN patterns and ignore them since they add up
to zero). You should also count the cards just before
the dealer picks up the hand unless you are counting
for insurance. In this case, count your cards and
the dealer’s cards immediately.
Back
A 13: There are number of approaches that can be taken to answer
this question.
One approach is to evaluate the different systems by simulation.
This approach tends to obscure the unique advantages of each system
but it does show how a system will perform in one particular realistic
casino playing situation and makes it easy to see the tradeoff between
performance and ease of use.
Another approach estimates several performance parameters of each
system that collectively approximate the system’s inherent potential.
Using this approach it is possible to study the different blackjack
systems in detail. This, in turn, should allow for a better, more
precise comparison of different systems and assist efforts to improve
a particular system. Also, with this approach the results obtained
may be used to determine which counting system is theoretically most
profitable. The disadvantage of this approach is that it does not
address the issue of how easy or difficult it is to use this counting
system under actually playing conditions.
Back
A 14: There are many different types of counting systems
and there is an important tradeoff between the degree
of complexity and theoretical power. The more complex
systems are harder to use and more error-prone.
Below is a summary of a comparison study of different systems. The
study was done by Home-Blackjack.
Guidelines regarding complexity are described in the results paper,
but remember complexity is a subjective measure. Power is the integer
nearest to p/0.05%, where p is the % advantage of the strategy one-on-one
in a single deck, dealer hits on soft 17, no DDAS, splitting a second
time is allowed, game that is dealt down to twenty cards, and using
a 1-4 betting spread. 15,000,000 hands guarantee correctness to within
1 point 99% of the time.
name complex power card weights reference
A 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 X
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
BASIC 0 -5 Steve Jacobs
UNBALANCED 10 2 13 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -2 Steve Jacobs
SUPER-SIMPLE OPT-I 2.5 16 1 1 1 1 -1 WGBJB (1)
REVERE PM 3.5 16 -1 1 1 1 1 1 -1 PBaaB
RED SEVEN 3.5 19 -1 1 1 1 1 1 R:1 -1 BiB
OPT1-6+6 5 18 1 1 1 1 -1 WGBJB
WONG HIGH-LOW 5 19 -1 1 1 1 1 1 -1 PB
ZEN 5 19 -1 1 1 2 2 2 1 -2 BiB
HORSESHOE 6 14 1 2 2 3 2 2 1 -1 -3 MDB (2)
REVERE POINT COUNT 6 17 -2 1 2 2 2 2 1 -2 PBaaB
OPT1-6+6 W/ ACE 7 23 1 1 1 1 -1 WGBJB
ANDERSEN 9.5 16 -2 1 1 1 2 1 1 -1 -1 TtToLV
USTON APC 10 22 1 2 2 3 2 2 1 -1 -3 MDB
WGBJB: "World's Greatest BlackJack Book" by Humble and
Cooper
PBaaB: "Playing Blackjack as a Business" by Lawrence Revere
BiB: "Blackbelt in Blackjack" by Arnold Snyder
PB: "Professional Blackjack" by Stanford Wong
TtToLV: "Turning the Tables on Las Vegas" by Ian Andersen
MDB: "Million Dollar Blackjack" by Ken Uston
(1) with modifications by 'thunk'
(2) with modifications by Paul C. Kim
Back
A 15: The betting correlation, insurance correlation,
and playing efficiency are listed below for several counting
systems. The numbers provide an idea of the effectiveness
of the counting system. Where there are two numbers
listed, it is because an ace side count has been added in addition
to the main count.
EXPLANATION OF COUNTING SYSTEMS
COUNTING COUNTING VALUES "BEST" EFFICIENCY CORRELATION
SYSTEMS 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 X A SOURCE PLAY+ace BET+ace INSURE
-------- ---------------------------- ------ -------- -------- ------
Griffin 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 -1 0 Griffin 64-64+ .85-.95 .85
Hi-Opt I 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 -1 0 Humble 61-63 .88-.97 .85
Hi-Opt II 1 1 2 2 1 1 0 0 -2 0 Humble 67-67+ .91-.99 .91
High-Low 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 -1 -1 Wong 51-63 .97 .76-.85
Ita 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 -1 -1 -1 Sys.Res. 53-63+ .96
Red 7's 1 1 1 1 1 ** 0 0 -1 -1 Snyder 54-64+ .98 .78-.87
Unbal 10's 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 -2 1 Roberts 61-61+ .73-.94 1.00
Uston +- 0 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 -1 -1 Uston 55-64+ .95 .76-.85
Uston APC 1 2 2 3 2 2 1 -1 -3 0 Uston 69-69+ .91-.99 .90
Wong Halves 1 2 2 3 2 1 0 -1 -2 -2 Wong 57-67+ .99 .72-.85
Zen 1 1 2 2 2 1 0 0 -2 -1 Snyder 63-67+ .97 .85-.91
** red 7's +1, black 7's 0
Note: Playing efficiencies have a practical maximum of about 0.7.
"Unbal 10's" is short for "Unbalanced 10 Count"
Back
A 16: Most likely, penetration does not effect basic strategy
expectation . The cards will be in a random order after
the deck has been shuffled unless the dealer is cheating.
It won’t matter if there are several rounds or only a
single round between shuffles unless, of course, the
player is counting cards or using other techniques to gain an advantage.
If, on the other hand, the dealer is using preferential shuffling,
this will hurt both the basic strategy players and the card counters.
Back
A 17: In multi-deck games using Atlantic City rules,
basic strategy for late surrender is as follows:
Surrender hard 16 (but not 8-8) vs. 9, 10, ace
Surrender hard 15 vs. 10
If you are not a big risk-taker, you should also surrender hard
15 vs. ace.
There are some casinos that let you surrender your first two cards.
In this case you lose half of your bet and do not have to play out
your hand. With an early surrender you get back half of your wager
even if the dealer has blackjack. If the dealer has blackjack with
a late surrender, though, you lose your entire wager.
Back
A 18: In multi action blackjack, the player is allowed
to simultaneously place up to three bets on the same
blackjack hand. The player is dealt only one hand and
three bets are placed against the same dealer up card
but each bet gets a different draw card. Many players are nervous
about hitting stiff hands against a dealer’s up card that is a seven
or higher, since they will lose all three bets if they bust. Basic
strategy is completely unchanged in this game, however, and the correct
strategy is exactly the same as if the player had only a single bet
risk.
Back
A 19: This game was introduced by Caesar’s Tahoe at
some of its blackjack tables and it allows Over-13 and Under-13
side bets. These bets are based on the total of the
player’s first two cards when aces are counted as one.
Under-13 bets win when the player’s cards total 12 or under, while
over-13 bets win when the player’s cards total 14 or higher.
Back
A 20: The Over/Under count uses the following card weights:
Count +1 for Ace, 2, 3, and 4
Count –1 for tens and face cards
The deck becomes favorable for counts of +2 and above and for counts
–4 and below. If the count is +3 and above, place over-13 bets, but
if the count is –4 and below, place under-13 bets.
With the counting method described above, almost all of the player’s
profit comes from the over-13 and under-13 side bets. On the downside,
this counting scheme is not recommended for playing the blackjack
portion of the bet because it will only allow the player to play about
even with the house on the blackjack bets. On the upside, however,
the over/under bets can be very profitable if there is good penetration.
A 6-deck over/under game with good penetration can give the player
an edge of 1.5% or more. Single deck over/under games with good penetration,
which are very rare, can give the player an advantage of over 4%.
Back
A 21: There are a number of blackjack books out there
and they, obviously, could not all be included in the brief
book review below.
Dalton, Michael. Blackjack: A Professional Reference. Spur
of the Moment Publishing, PO BOX 541967, Merritt Island, FL; 1991.
(1964 pages)
This book is a comprehensive reference to the game of blackjack and
was written by a computer systems engineer at NASA. It includes over
1000 entries listing articles, books, magazines, newsletters, publications,
reports, software, videos and other products for blackjack players.
It also includes a complete blackjack dictionary explaining blackjack
terminology, rules, strategy and system descriptions, and blackjack
trivia. There are also complete basic strategy charts that cover almost
any blackjack game in the world. It is fully cross-referenced with
recommendations.
Blackjack Video: Winning at Blackjack with Bobby Singer, JCI
Video, 1987, 103 minutes.
This video presents a sales pitch/introduction to a card counting
seminar hosted by Bobby Singer. On the back of the video cover Singer
is billed as the “world’s biggest winner at the game of blackjack”.
There are five areas covered by the tape: basic strategy, card counting,
money-management, team play and casino awareness. The information
provided, however, is incomplete. The section on basic strategy, for
example, only covers hard and soft hands and the section on card counting
covers only the card values for the Hi-Lo count but does not cover
bet sizing or strategy adjustments. For an additional $149 you can
get the rest of the information and this includes a set of notebooks
with lessons and audio tapes that cover the Hi-Lo count and an 800
number that you can call to find out where the best games are in the
city that you plan to play in.
Singer does make an interesting point regarding team play. He advocates
playing 4 deck or up shoes with the “Big Player” approach developed
by Uston. Singer advised using a counter, at one or more tables, who
flat bets and uses hand signals (e.g., scratching your head) to call
in a “big money” player. The counter indicates the current count to
the big money player by stacking his chips in a certain way. In this
method, the big money player is supposed to then be able to play out
the rest of the shoe free of heat. If the count does go bad, the big
player finds a way to leave the table, for example, by saying he has
to use the bathrooms.
The Winner's Guide to Casino Gambling, Edwin Silberstang,
Plume, 1980 and 1989.
This book presents a general overview of casino gambling. Chapters
in the book cover casino operations, comps, credit, junkets and the
games offered. There are detailed sections on baccarat, craps, keno,
roulette, slots, video poker (89 edition only) and blackjack that
give the staff, rules, and procedures of each game, the house advantage,
a glossary, and the best plays. There are also anecdotes about playing
the games. The book does not provide much information on poker or
sports betting because the author has separate books on both subjects.
Consequently, Red Dog and Pai Gow poker are not covered in this book. The
Winner’s Guide to Casino Gambling
includes a section with correct basic strategy information on 1,
2, and 4+ deck games with and without DAS as well as a discussion
of rules variations for the Las Vegas Strip, Downtown Las Vegas, and
Reno. The author presents the Hi-Opt I count (not by that name) and
explains how it is to be used for bet sizing and insurance bets, but
does not present strategy adjustments. Also included with the book
is a section written by a professional blackjack player about life
as a pro and how to hide the fact that you are card counting and.
This is a great book to read if you are looking for a single volume
introduction to casino gambling.
Fundamentals of Blackjack by Chambliss and Roginski
This book includes some very useful charts with good information
but beyond that, it is basically a standard blackjack book. It is
a good source of supplemental material for whatever counting system
you are using. The counting system discussed in the book is not a
system that you would actually want to use, but the tables in the
book at least don’t assume it is the system you would use. Since the
data for the tables is taken from Snyder’s Blackjack Formula instead
of computer simulations the accuracy of the information is not as
good as it would have been had it been taken from the simulations.
Card Counting for the Casino Executive by Bill Zender
As the name indicates, this book was written for casino executives,
which is precisely why it is an interesting read for card counters.
The book pays a great deal of attention to how casino executives can
identify and discourage card counters. There is also a list of ways
that players can win either honestly or by cheating.
Million Dollar Blackjack by Ken Uston
This is a good all-around blackjack book with a balanced view of
the game. The advanced counting scheme described in the book is much
more difficult than most counting schemes, however.
World’s Greatest Blackjack Book by Humble and Cooper
Although this is a good book with a reasonable counting strategy,
the authors come across as extremely paranoid about cheating. In fact,
they blame virtually all of their losses on cheating. The authors
are also very negative about Lawrence Revere so if you are looking
for a book that counters the point of view in Playing Blackjack
as a Business, this would be an appropriate book to read.
Blackbelt in Blackjack by Arnold Snyder
This book presents the Red Seven count quite simply and effectively
against single deck games. The Zen count in the book is more powerful,
but more difficult too. Snyder also talks about “depth charging”,
a subject not usually covered in other books, but this book is probably
more for advanced players than beginning players.
Theory of Blackjack by Peter Griffin
For those of you looking for a good book that covers the mathematical
considerations of the game, this is the book for you. If you are not
big on the mathematics, you may want to skip this book.
Beat the Dealer by Edward Thorp
Considered a classic blackjack book, Beat the Dealer is well
worth the read. It is a good book for card counters even if the card
counting schemes are somewhat outdated.
Professional Blackjack by Stanford Wong
This book is also considered a classic. Many people rate it very
high and it contains a wealth of good information.
Playing Blackjack as a Business by Lawrence Revere
This book has very accurate basic strategy information and includes
some nice colored charts, however Revere’s attitude that he is right
and everyone else is wrong is offensive. Also, while the numbers in
the tables are extremely accurate (provided by Julian Braun), the
numbers Revere provides for player’s expected gain are inflated.
Scarne on Cards by John Scarne
Serious blackjack players should actually avoid this book, as it
presents incorrect information about the game. It actually has negative
reading value.
Turning the Tables on Las Vegasby Ian Anderson
A fun book to read, Turning the Tables on Las Vegas describes
different ways of disguising your play to avoid being spotted by casino
personnel.
Casino Tournament Strategy by Stanford Wong
Sold for a reasonable price, this book provides information on both
tournament blackjack and tournament craps. It provides useful information
about the unique situations that come up in tournament play. It is
definitely worth reading if you are considering playing in a tournament.
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