Blackjack Books:
There are undoubtedly many good
books that are not listed here,
as well as many terrible books
that are not listed here. These
reviews are only the opinions of
the reviewers.
Blackjack:
A Professional Reference.By
Michael Dalton. Spur of the Moment
Publishing, PO BOX 541967, Merritt
Island, FL; 1991. (1964 pages).
Written
by a NASA computer systems engineer,
this book is a comprehensive reference
to the game of blackjack. Over
1000 entries listing books, magazines,
publications, newsletters, articles,
reports, videos, software and other
products available for serious
players of the game twenty-one. Also included is the most comprehensive blackjack
dictionary ever compiled explaining blackjack terminology, system and strategy
descriptions, rules, and miscellaneous blackjack trivia. Complete basic strategy
charts that cover most blackjack games in the world are also presented. Fully
cross-referenced with recommendations.
Blackjack
Video: Winning at Blackjack
with Bobby Singer, JCI Video,
1987, 103 minutes. This video is
a tape of a sales pitch/introduction
to card counting seminar hosted
by Bobby Singer, billed as the "World's
biggest winner at the game of Blackjack" on
the back cover. The tape covers
5 areas: Basic Strategy, Card Counting,
Money
Management, Team Play and Casino Awareness. Unfortunately, the information
is incomplete. For example, the basic strategy section only covers hard and
soft hands and the card counting section only covers the card values for the
Hi-Lo count, but no bet sizing or strategy adjustments. The rest of the information
is available for $149.00. For this price, you get a set of notebooks with lessons
and audio tapes covering the Hi-Lo count and an 800 number you can call to
find out where the best games are in the city you plan to play. I rented the
tape for $1.50 and maybe got my money's worth.
One
interesting point covered in moderate
detail is team play. Singer advocates
playing 4 deck or up shoes with
the "Big Player" approach
pioneered by Uston and others.
He advised using a counter at one
or more tables who flat bets and
uses hand signals (i.e. scratching
the head) to call in a big money
player. The current count is signaled
to the Big Player by the stacking
of chips in front of the counter
in a particular way. The Big Player
can then play out the rest of the
shoe, presumably free of heat.
If the count goes bad, the big
player leaves, proclaiming a trip
to the restroom is needed. The
home study
course is said to have info on bet sizing related/risk of ruin for teams and
individuals.
The
Winner's Guide to Casino Gambling,
Edwin Silberstang, Plume, 1980
and 1989. This is a general overview
of casino gambling with chapters
on casino operations, comps,
junkets, credit and the games
offered.Detailed sections on
craps, baccarat, roulette, keno,
slots, video poker (89 edition
only) and blackjack give the
staff, rules, and procedures
of each game, the house advantage,
a glossary, and the best plays
for each. In addition, there
are anecdotes about playing the
games. As the author has separate
books on poker and sports betting,
there is little information on
them here and Red Dog and Pai
Gow poker are not covered. The
blackjack section has correct
basic strategy information for
1,2, and 4+ deck games with and
without DAS, and a discussion
of Strip, Reno and Downtown rules
variations. He presents the Hi-Opt
I count (not by that name) and
how to use it for bet sizing
and insurance bets, but no strategy
adjustments. There is a section
written by a professional blackjack
player on how to hide the fact
that you are counting and life
as a pro. If you want a single
book as an introduction to casino
gambling, this is it. [Note:
there are 2 versions of the book
out - a small green paperback
from 1980 and a black trade paperback
from 1989 that has been updated.]
Fundamentals
of Blackjack by Chambliss
and Roginski - this book is pretty
much a standard blackjack book,
but it has exceptionally good
tables of information. I advise
buying this book as a supplement
to whatever book you use for
your counting system (probably
either Professional Blackjack,
The World's Greatest Blackjack
Book, Blackbelt in Blackjack
or Million Dollar Blackjack.)
The counting system discussed
in "Fundamentals..." is
not one that you would actually
want to use, but the tables don't
assume this system is used. Unfortunately,
many of the tables were generated
using Snyder's Blackjack Formula,
and so the accuracy is not as
good as would be the case with
computer simulations.
Card
Counting for the Casino Executive
by Bill Zender - this book is
written for casino executives,
as you might suspect, which makes
it insightful reading for card
counters. The book goes into
detail about how pit critters
should go about identifying and
discouraging card counters. It
also lists all kinds of ways
the players can win, both
honestly and by cheating. The author is fairly counter-tolerant, which is refreshing.
Alas, the book is spiral bound, only 138 pages long, and *full* of white space.
Million
Dollar Blackjack by Ken Uston.
This is a good all-around blackjack
book, although the advanced counting
scheme is much more difficult
than most. Ken gives a balanced
view of blackjack, without the
exaggerated claims that many
BJ authors are fond of.
World's
Greatest Blackjack Book by
Humble & Cooper. This is
a good book with a pretty reasonable
counting scheme. The authors
are way too paranoid about cheating,
to the extent that they attribute
virtually all of their losses
to cheating. Otherwise, it is
a good book. These guys have
absolutely nothing nice to say
about Lawrence Revere, so if
you've read Playing Blackjack
as a Business and would like
to read an opposing viewpoint,
this is the book for you.
Blackbelt
in Blackjack by Arnold Snyder.
The Red Seven count in this book
is simple, and quite effective
against single deck games. The
Zen count is more difficult,
but more powerful. Snyder includes
some interesting ideas that aren't
found in other books, such as "depth
charging". This book is
probably not as good for beginners
as are the
previous two books, but is a good book for more advanced readers.
Theory
of Blackjack by Peter Griffin.
This is one of the few good books
that cover the mathematical considerations
of the game. This book is either
a complete must or a complete
waste of time, depending on how
you feel about mathematics.
Beat
the Dealer by Edward Thorp.
This book is a classic, and is
still worth reading. The card
counting schemes are now somewhat
dated, but it is still a good
book for card counters.
Professional
Blackjack by Stanford Wong.
Some people really like this
book, but I didn't find it all
that exciting. It is considered
a classic, and has a lot of good
material.
Playing
Blackjack as a Business by
Lawrence Revere. This is one
of the most accurate books for
basic strategy, and the color
charts are very nice. The numbers
in the tables were provided by
Julian Braun, and are about as
accurate as any available, but
don't believe the numbers that
Revere gives for player's expected
gain. Revere's counting scheme
isn't widely used today, and
Revere's "I'm right and
everyone else is a dope" attitude
is very annoying, although partially
justified if you account for
the date of first publication
and the scarcity of good books
at that time. Revere also makes
many
inflated claims about player's expectation, which Humble & Cooper would
attribute to character flaw.
Scarne
on Cards by John Scarne.
This book is simply wrong when
it comes to blackjack, and Scarne
was too arrogant to even consider
the possibility that he might
have been wrong. He spends a
lot of time trying to discredit
Thorp. This book has negative
value for serious blackjack players,
and should probably be avoided
completely.
Turning
the Tables on Las Vegas by
Ian Andersen. This is an entertaining
book that describes techniques
for disguising your play to avoid
detection by pit critters.
Casino
Tournament Strategy by Stanford
Wong. This book combines previous
Tournament Blackjack and Tournament
Craps book together at a reasonable
price. Covers many of the unique
situations that come up in tournament
play. Worth reading if you plan
to play in tournaments.
Some
other sources of blackjack and
gambling information:
RGE
Publishing, 414 Santa Clara Avenue,
Oakland, CA 94610, (510) 465-6452.
Publishes Blackjack Forum,
$30/year (4 issues). Call for their
very interesting catalog. Includes
books, videos, PC based BJ practice
programs, analyzers and simulators,
and back issues of Blackjack Forum.
Current
Blackjack News, by Stanford
Wong. $95/year (12 issues).
Win
Magazine, 16760 Stagg St.
#213, Van Nuys, CA 91406, (818)
781-9355 Formerly Gambling Times.
$36/year (12 issues). Covers
all gambling and gaming topics.
[very irregular publishing schedule]
The
Experts Blackjack Newsletter,
Gambling Times Incorporated,
16760 Stagg St. #213, Van Nuys,
CA 91406, (818) 781-9355 New,
advertised in WIN Magazine. $30/year
(6 issues)
The
International Gamblers' Club
Newsletter, P.O. Box 73,
Thornhill, Ontario, Canada L3T
3N1 $24/year (4 issues). Founded
by Lance Humble. They'll send
you a free but dated sample if
you write. Mainly BJ but contains
some sports betting information.
(I wasn't impressed with my sample).
Gambler's
Book Club, 630 South 11th
Street, Box 4115, Las Vegas,
NV 89127, (800) 634-6243. Not
a newsletter but call for their
awesome, awesome, awesome catalog
containing not only just about
every blackjack book ever written
but practically every book ever
written on any gambling topic.
They also operate a book store
at the above address in Las Vegas.
[And they have gambling experts
(including card counters) working
at the store most of the time,
willing to answer questions --
Adbul Jalib M'hall]
Las
Vegas Advisor, Huntington
Press, PO Box 28041, Las Vegas,
Nevada 89126, (702) 597-1884.
$45/year (12 issues) (add $5
for first class delivery). Produced
by Anthony Curtis. Lots of information
on deals and freebies available
in Las Vegas. Sometimes includes
valuable coupons or arranges
special deals for
subscribers. (I have personally more than recouped the cost in actual cash
back from coupons for about half year's worth of the subscription. -Hall)
Casino
Player, 2424 Arctic Ave.,
Atlantic City, NJ 08401, 609-344-9000.
$24/yr, (12 issues). It covers
most gambling jurisdictions,
with particular attention paid
to AC and LV. Articles on all
games, by Wong, Caro, Frome,
Malmuth, Snyder, and others.
It's a full color, slick, well
produced magazine, about 60
